PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA) – The Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund received over $7.1 million from the development partners on the Lower Hill development site to invest in development projects and other community needs in the Greater Hill District.
"I am grateful that we are not only seeing the development in the Lower Hill move forward to right the wrongs of the past and create opportunities in the historic Hill District, but that our development partners are demonstrating their commitment to the Hillcommunity by providing community investment funding up front," said Mayor William Peduto. "I'd like to thank all of the partners in this development and the Hill District community for creating a model where communities and developers can work together to help ensure the community benefits and drives investment in their neighborhood from these developments."
A condition for the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund was that the developers committed to giving the money for the 10-years worth of payments up front so the community could use the money immediately.
The money comes from the Lower Hill Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) district which allows property owners on the development site to receive real estate tax abatements from the Pittsburgh Public School District, City of Pittsburgh, and Allegheny County on each parcel for 10 years. Half of that money then goes to the Fund.
"The advancement of the LERTA dollars is in keeping with the commitment that I made to the Hill District Community: that the development of the Lower Hill would be for the explicit benefit of residents of the Middle and Upper Hill District," said Councilman Lavelle.
