GAME DAY CLASH

Peduto says Steelers stalling North Shore development over parking, tailgating

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto is throwing the political equivalent of a penalty flag on the Steelers, claiming the football team is refusing to develop a North Shore parking lot because it wants to continue using the site for revenue and tailgating.

But the company hired in part by the Steelers to develop land between Heinz Field and PNC Park wants the mayor to pick up the flag, saying the lot is targeted for development — just not yet.

The site in question is known as Gold Lot 2, a 200-space surface parking area located at West General Robinson Street and Chuck Noll Way behind the North Shore Place I and II office complex.

It is part of the land that is to be

developed by the Steelers and the Pirates under their agreement with the Pittsburgh Stadium Authority, which owns the parcel.

In an interview, Mr. Peduto maintained that the Steelers are refusing to develop the space because they want to continue to use it “for eight days a year for the purpose of tailgating.”

“It’s an ATM for them. They’re getting all this cash and what they say is they need that parking for eight days a year for Steelers games,” he said.

The lot is leased to Alco Parking by the stadium authority. For Steelers games, Alco gets half the revenue and the authority gets the other half, with that portion going directly to the football team.

During Pirates home games, the revenue again is split between Alco and the authority, with the authority’s portion going to the baseball team.

Mr. Peduto’s comments came in response to a recent Steelers statement about the prospects of Pittsburgh hosting an National Football League draft, in which a spokesman said in part, “Right now we can’t even get the authorities who we work with to commit to making sure our fans have adequate parking on game day. We have a long way to go.”

The mayor tied that comment directly to the Lot 2 dispute. He said he wants to see the lot developed for residential use. But the Steelers, he said, are resisting — and don’t want the public to redevelop it, either.

Under the agreement with the stadium authority, the Steelers and the Pirates have development rights over the land until May 2021. Parcels not developed by then would revert back to the stadium authority.

“And what [the Steelers are] saying is they don’t want to give it back. They don’t want to develop it. They want it for parking eight days a year,” Mr. Peduto said.

“They want the public to give up their right to develop that site and to give up their right to take the site back from them for not developing.”

But Barry Ford of Continental Real Estate Companies, which was hired more than a decade ago by the Steelers and the Pirates to develop the land between the two North Shore sports venues, said the football team is not necessarily opposed to taking on Lot 2.

However, Continental and both teams first want to get Lot 4 — a parking area adjacent to the Hyatt Place Hotel — “completed and stabilized” before any development decisions are made regarding Lot 2, said Mr. Ford, Continental’s president of development in Pittsburgh.

“I think everybody wants to see what happens on Lot 4 first before we turn our attention to Lot 2. That’s a fair statement,” he said.

Continental, Mr. Ford said, is close to announcing a plan for Lot 4, one that would involve an eight-story

building with 35 to 40 condos at the top and offices and retail below the residential.

Part of the proposed development would include a “really cool entertainment and retail piece” near the home plate entrance to PNC Park, Mr. Ford said.

“A big element of the project is focused on and facing home plate and plays off that entry to the ballpark,” he noted.

As for Lot 2, there’s “just the concern that we don’t get ahead of ourselves” with the start of the Lot 4 development looming, Mr. Ford said.

He acknowledged there are concerns about what happens with parking, given that the Lot 4 development will remove about 300 spaces. Continental and the teams want to see what impact that project has on parking before moving on to Lot 2.

For the Steelers, “That’s their front door. Their concern is that development happens logically, sequentially, and that parking gets replaced if needed,” Mr. Ford said.

If additional parking is needed, “At that point we would sit down with the city and have a discussion” as to who would be responsible for providing it, he added.

As for what could be developed on Lot 2, “whatever makes sense,” Mr. Ford said. “Definitely, residential would be considered.”

Lot 2 is located behind the Burgatory, Bar Louie, Southern Tier and Tequila Cowboy restaurants. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newsroom is located in the North Shore Place I and II office complex.

For a Steelers regular season game, the Lot 2 parking rate is $40. For the playoffs, it is $45 a game. A presold fullseason parking pass is $490. For a Pirates game, the rate is $15.

On nonevent days, parking revenues are split between Alco and the stadium authority, with the authority’s portion used to pay off the bonds floated to finance the West General Robinson Street and the Gold 1 garages on the North Shore.

At one time, the stadium authority had looked at Lot 2 as a potential garage site but now is targeting it for development.

The Pirates also are interested in developing a small lot next to the West General Robinson Street garage, Mr. Ford said. The goal is to do some landscaping and to “make it feel better, look better,” he said.

“I think everybody wants to see what happens on Lot 4 first before we turn our attention to Lot 2. That’s a fair statement.” — Barry Ford, Continental Real Estate Companies