North Shore garage expected to open in May
Will not be ready for Pirates home opener
The new 1,000-space parking garage on the North Shore will be ready this spring, but not in time for the Pirates home opener April 7.
Mary Conturo, executive director of the city’s stadium authority, said Tuesday that the six-floor garage will open to the public in early May after nearly a year of construction.
The massive $24.5 million structure, built in lot 1 next to Heinz Field, will add 600 new spaces on the North Shore and replace 400 others lost to the start of construction last summer.
Ms. Conturo said the authority knew when construction contracts were awarded last year that the garage would not be ready for opening day. But it could be available by the third home stand of the season in early May.
In anticipation of the opening, stadium authority board members approved the parking rates for the new garage at their meeting Tuesday.
The daily rate on non-event days will be $8. The rate will be $15 for Pirates games and $40 for Steelers games. Monthly leases will range from $140 to $300, which includes parking on event days. The rate for Stage AE events will be $12.
Board members also authorized several increases in the rates at the nearby West General Robinson Street garage to correspond with those at the new parking facility.
Night and weekend rates, for example, will increase from $4 to $5, as will the 0-2 hour rate. The monthly lease that includes event day parking will jump from $250 to $300.
Those changes will take effect when the new garage opens.
The authority is required to replace parking on the North Shore under its agreement with the Pirates, Steelers, and Columbusbased Continental Real Estate Cos. for development of the land between Heinz Field and PNC
Park.
More than 500 spaces have been or will be lost to recent or new development.
That includes the recently opened North Shore Place I and II office and retail complex, where the Post-Gazette is a tenant; a new riverfront office building; and a proposed apartment development.
Also on Tuesday, stadium authority board members approved a maximum of $28 million in short-term borrowing with PNC and Dollar banks to pay off a $15 million loan on the new garage and a $12.5 million loan on the West General Robinson Street garage.
The board decided to do so while the authority investigates the feasibility of longer-term permanent fixed-rate financing for the structures. It is using revenues generated by the garages to pay off the debt.