Penguins ready to start project at Civic Arena site

1,000-unit residential development on tap

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As the Pittsburgh Penguins chase the Stanley Cup on the ice, they finally are ready to start another big quest off it — rebuilding the former Civic Arena site.

The team and St. Louis-based developer McCormack Baron Salazar have submitted a letter of intent to the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority and the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority to start the first phase of a 1,000-unit residential development there.

They hope to begin construction of the first 255 units, 20 percent of which will be affordable to households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income, in early 2018. They plan to buy the 5 acres, including 1 acre of open space, needed for the first phase featuring two mid-rise buildings in October.

The first units — studios, one-, two- and a few three-bedroom — will be built along Crawford Street between Centre Avenue and the newly constructed Wylie Avenue in the shadow of the Crawford Square housing development.

At the same time, the team is talking with potential partners