A Hill District group is pressing the Penguins to return to the bargaining table to help complete talks on a community benefits agreement.
In a letter to Penguins President David Morehouse last week, the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition said it "would be productive" to have the team at the table since the new arena deal and the Penguins' role in developing 28 acres near the Hill were the impetus for the benefits discussions.
Hill District residents seeking public subsidies to develop low-income housing, a grocery store and attract jobs to their neighborhood said Wednesday they successfully pressured the Penguins to agree to resume negotiations.
In a letter sent Jan. 25 to Penguins President David Moorehouse, the One Hill Community Benefits Coalition implored team officials to sit down with representatives from the group of residents, business owners and nonprofits.
Hill District residents seeking public subsidies to develop low-income housing, a grocery store and attract jobs to their neighborhood invited the Pittsburgh Penguins to return to negotiating table today.
In a one-page letter to Penguins President David Moorehouse, the One Hill Community Benefits Coalition implored Penguins officials to sit down with representatives from the group of residents, business owners and nonprofits.
A St. Louis-based grocer might be ready to give the Hill District a second chance.
Five years after passing on a chance to locate in the Hill, Save-A-Lot, a national chain with more than 1,200 stores in 39 states, has a renewed interest in the location.
Landmarks Community Capital Corp., a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, plans to introduce the operator at a breakfast meeting today at the Grand Concourse restaurant in Station Square.
A St. Louis-based grocery store chain that specializes in serving inner-city neighborhoods could set up shop in the Hill District, according to the Landmarks Community Capital Corp.
"This is a grocer who has a great connection to this market, is interested in developing in urban markets and is open to minority ownership," said Howard B. Slaughter Jr., CEO of Landmarks Capital, part of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Some say timing poor in light of Hill's talks with team over arena
The Pittsburgh school board voted 7-2 last night to approve a partnership with the Penguins, with most members concluding the issue was separate from a Hill District group's negotiations over conditions for a new hockey arena.
Ten days ago, representatives of the city of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and the Hill District were working full-tilt on a community benefits agreement sought by neighbors of the Penguins' new hockey arena.
Their push for neighborhood benefits stalled, Hill District leaders plan to take their arena concerns to the Pittsburgh Public Schools and City Council, starting with a bid tonight to keep the Penguins out of the middle schools.
City school board member Mark Brentley Sr., who represents the Hill and supports neighborhood demands, said he wants to postpone a vote set for tonight's board meeting on a Penguins' plan to have team officials and staff talk with students about career choices.
Hockey fans love a good brawl, but even the most bloodthirsty Penguins follower couldn't have anticipated this brouhaha.
It seems the Pens, in their bratty demand to receive a new arena under threat of holding their collective breaths until their faces match the team's 1960s blue jerseys, forgot one central rule of negotiating in Pittsburgh: All deals have angles, and theirs runs perpendicular to the neighborhood in which they happen to play.
The Penguins want to swing a wrecking ball around at their leisure, but locals are saying not so fast.
With apologies to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Oprah-endorsed, stark and oddly punctuated novel about post-apocalyptic America, and the basis of a film that will soon begin production in Pittsburgh and other parts of Western Pennsylvania:
A dull sulphur light shimmers in standing water in the roadside ditches black with runoff from the Monongahela. The inclines, a metal memory. Mount Washington shrouded in fog behind them.
Negotiators for the city, county and Hill District's One Hill Coalition say a community-benefits agreement linked to a new hockey arena could be signed within days and forwarded to member residents for a formal vote.
Both sides said Thursday that talks proceeded well, but agreed the Penguins shied away from the bargaining table. One Hill representatives said the group would prepare for "rolling protests" and behind-the-scenes arm-twisting to force team officials to participate.
Hill residents and supporters showed up in droves at Monday’s City Planning Commission hearing to protest the approval of the arena master plan. Older ladies sporting red berets, T-shirts, pins and scarves waited from 1 p.m. until after rush hour to give testimony supporting the signing of a Community Benefits Agreement before approval of the new arena design.
Representatives of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County met members of the One Hill Coalition for three hours Wednesday in an attempt to reach a community benefits agreement to spur housing and commerce in the Hill District.
The coalition wants $2 million from the city and the Penguins to help bring a grocery store to the Hill District, create job training and youth service programs and guarantee jobs for Hill District residents at the team's new arena when it opens.
The city school board debated Wednesday night whether to bench a proposed partnership with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
If the board approves the proposal on Jan. 23, representatives of the Penguins would make presentations in Pittsburgh Public Schools on the skills needed for success, the need for computer competency and how math and science skills can help students master technology.
PITTSBURGH -- Negotiations between representatives for the city of Pittsburgh, Allegeheny County and One Hill Coalition lasted three hours Wednesday, wrapping up just before 7 p.m.
"Today, we met to discuss some of the more difficult points on both sides," said Evan Frazier, chief negotiator for One Hill Coalition.
Frazier stated that the negotiations went well and progress continued, but a final agreement was not reached.
A Pittsburgh Planning commissioner went to a University of Pittsburgh men's basketball game instead of listening to emotional public testimony from Hill District residents.
Todd E. Reidbord, 49, of Squirrel Hill refused to comment Tuesday when approached at the offices of his company, Walnut Capital Partners in Shadyside, where he is listed as president and principal on the company's Web site.
"It's my personal policy not to comment to the press," Reidbord said, refusing to say why he attended the Monday night game or precisely how long he stayed.
PITTSBURGH -- A member of the city planning commission voted for the Pittsburgh Penguins' arena master plan after seeing Mayor Luke Ravenstahl at a college basketball game and being told he should get back to the commission's meeting.
The master plan for a new arena won a key approval yesterday despite a determined defense by Hill District advocates who wanted guaranteed neighborhood benefits first.
The city planning commission voted 5-3 to approve the overall layout of the arena site and a 500-space parking garage, after adding some 17 conditions. That vote allows the Penguins and city officials to move forward with more detailed planning in a process that will involve several more votes.
New Pens arena master plan OK'd PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Pittsburgh Planning Commission has approved the master plan for a new $290 million home for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 5-3 vote comes despite pleas from a neighborhood group that wanted a community benefits agreement before the plan was approved. The One Hill group wants a development fund from public subsidies and money from the hockey team. The group also wants a grocery store and first opportunity on jobs.
Adamant and sometimes angry protests didn't stop the Pittsburgh Planning Commission from voting to approve controversial plans for the Penguins' hockey arena and Majestic Star Casino.
Other business at the Planning Commission is moving slower than a 17 year-old sheepdog with glaucoma, but we can highlight three bits of news we've learned from One Hill.
1) Everything in the Blueprint for a Livable Hill (B4LH) is on the table, likewise nothing from the B4LH is off the table. You may want to consult your pocket copy of the B4LH to figure out why this is news.
2) Further negotiations with the city and county "are being scheduled through the rest of the week."
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the city Planning Commission won't delay a vote this afternoon on the master plan for the $290 million Pittsburgh Penguins arena.
Talk of delaying the vote has been part of negotiations between Hill District residents and the city, Penguins and Allegheny County officials. Hill District community group One Hill Coalition is seeking a detailed, legally binding community benefits agreement from the city and county before the Planning Commission votes to accept or reject the arena master plan at a meeting this afternoon.
Brian Sullivan scowled at the suggestion that a full-service grocery store couldn't survive in the Hill District, where he makes a living washing cars.
"Survive? It would thrive," said Sullivan, a Bedford Dwellings resident of 19 years. "There's plenty of people who would shop at a grocery store here in the Hill, with all of the new housing and new development that's going on -- not to mention the institutions like Pitt and Duquesne."
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Some last-minute negotiating took place in an effort to try to come to a community benefits agreement for Pittsburgh's new arena.
Members of the group One Hill showed up at 10 a.m. to finish hammering out details of the Hill District community benefits agreement that would come out of development of the $290 million Uptown arena.
PITTSBURGH -- Local leaders said they are making progress in the Hill District arena talks, but no agreement was reached during another meeting Monday. All sides have agreed to meet again -- perhaps as early as Tuesday -- but no meeting time was set.
Government officials and representatives of a Hill District group worked long into the night yesterday to reach an agreement that would benefit the Hill and allow the Penguins' new arena to be built unchallenged.
Carl Redwood Jr., chairman of the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, said his group was determined to get an agreement before today's city planning commission vote on an arena master plan. If no deal is arrived at, he said, One Hill wants the planning vote postponed until an "agreement in good faith" is reached.
Decisions expected today on two of Pittsburgh's largest developments -- the Majestic Star Casino and the Uptown arena -- will reshape the city's landscape and could change the political panorama for Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh's city planning commission gave the go-ahead Monday night to two projects that will literally change the face of the city.
The design for the North Shore Casino and its controversial parking garage, which has been criticized for being too tall, will go ahead.
The commission also approved a master plan for the new Penguins hockey arena in the Lower Hill District, despite objections from Hill District residents.
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and Hill District leaders met well into Sunday night to hash out a deal for development in the Hill District with the building of a new arena.
The parties met tonight after their lawyers worked earlier this weekend to draft some language for a deal.
With the vote set for Monday on the Master Plan for the new Penguins arena, local officials and leaders came together tonight to continue talks on a Community Benefits Agreement; KDKA's Lynne Hayes-Freeland reports.
Robert R. Lavelle has been saying for more than a half-century that the Hill District is the most valuable land in the city, and now some big players are seeing things his way.
Mr. Lavelle is 92 and says, "If you ever heard about God's grace, I am the chief recipient.'' Well, maybe, but hundreds of homeowners are on the Hill because, starting in the 1950s, Mr. Lavelle found a way to get them mortgages when the banks were redlining blacks right out of the American dream.
Hill District activists moved closer Friday to a community-benefits agreement, but left a negotiating session with city and county officials without the legally binding deal they want before the Penguins begin building a $290 million arena.
The most significant progress at the three-hour meeting is the promise of $2 million from the city of Pittsburgh and the Penguins toward attracting a grocery store in the Hill District.
PITTSBURGH -- What will the Hill District of the future look like once the new Penguins arena is built?
About a week after members of the One Hill Coalition burned a revitalization plan by Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, talks were back on.
For the first time in weeks, Ravenstahl, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and members of One Hill sat down to work out their differences over a community benefit agreement linked to the development of the new arena.
After three hours of private talks, leaders in the Hill District and city officials make substantial progress toward an agreement on how a new arena will benefit the community. CLICK LINK TO SEE VIDEO
Pittsburgh and Allegheny County officials are expected to meet today with Hill District leaders in an 11th-hour bid to reach consensus on a community benefits agreement in advance of a vote Monday on the master plan for the new arena.
The meeting will be the first since members of the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition and other neighborhood leaders on Tuesday rejected a deal offered by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
Hill District residents scored another chance Wednesday to fight for control of development near the planned Penguins hockey arena.
The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority yesterday called a negotiating session for 3 p.m. Friday with the One Hill Coalition, which is frustrated over vague promises city and county officials have made to support a long-sought grocery store, social service programs and arena jobs for Hill District residents.
That was the response of Hill District community members to the Community Benefits Agreement proposal made by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and County Executive Dan Onorato on Jan. 3. At a press conference four days later, Hill leaders denounced the proposal as a "tremendous insult," and then set a copy of it aflame on the steps of the Hill House Kaufmann Center.
Hill District residents seeking public subsidies in exchange for hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins new arena will get a final chance to negotiate with city and county officials before the $290 million arena plan goes before the Planning Commission for final approval Monday.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said Tuesday he won't budge on his offer to Hill District residents seeking public subsidies in exchange for playing host to the Penguins' new arena.
Hill District leaders pressed their case for a legally binding benefits agreement for a new arena yesterday, even as their pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Less than 24 hours after rejecting an offer from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition led a bus tour through the neighborhood to show off potential development sites that could be helped by such a deal.
Two dozen Hill District activists rallied today during a tour of their neighborhood's historic and cultural highlights in hopes of persuading city and county officials to reopen negotiations for a community benefits agreement.
"The mayor and county executive have walked away from the table and are not negotiating at all," said Carl Redwood Jr., chairman of the One Hill Coalition, which is made up of nonprofits, residents and business owners who want improvements made to the Hill District before the Penguins build a $290 million arena along Centre Avenue.
PITTSBURGH -- Hill District community groups made a dramatic refusal of the city's offer for local improvements, setting fire to the papers on Monday night.
Reporters, community leaders and elected officials were taken on a bus tour Tuesday morning, as local activists pointed out the areas that are growing and other parts where they say help is most needed.
Bram has been covering this far more than I have, but even a caveman can realize that this can't be good. From the PG:
Lifelong Hill District resident Brenda Tate held up a copy of a proposed community benefits agreement for the new Penguins arena and asked: "Anybody got a match?"
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― A coalition of community groups in the Hill District is firing back at a proposed community benefits agreement for the city's new multi-purpose arena.
The One Hill Coalition says the city and county have fallen short on their plans for the community.
A group of Hill District activists overwhelmingly rejected a city-county offer to bring a grocery store, job training, youth programs and other social services to the neighborhood that will host the Pittsburgh Penguins' $290 million arena.
Members of the nonprofit One Hill Coalition -- made up of dozens of small neighborhood and nonprofit groups -- voted Monday during a meeting at the Kaufmann Center on Centre Avenue to turn down a seven-point offer made last week by Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
Lifelong Hill District resident Brenda Tate held up a copy of a proposed community benefits agreement for the new Penguins arena and asked: "Anybody got a match?"
Her words summed up the feelings of neighborhood leaders assembled at the Hill House Association last night to formally reject the agreement offered by the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County for the development of the new arena.
Group Rejects, Burns Document On Proposed Development
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Several Hill District groups met Monday night before rejecting the city and county proposal on neighborhood development associated with the new Penguins arena.
They were insulted that last week's offer was delivered through the media and felt the proposal has none of the guarantees or specifics they asked for.
At a meeting of the One Hill CBA coalition this evening, representatives of the "minister's group" offered to stand alongside them at a One Hill press conference scheduled immediately afterwords.
A group of Hill District activists announced today it will decide tonight whether to accept or reject an offer from city and county officials that could eventually mean a grocery store, job training and other benefits for residents of the Hill District.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato signed a community benefits agreement Thursday in answer to Hill District residents' worries about added crime and traffic that a new Pittsburgh Penguins hockey arena will bring once built it opens along Center and Fifth avenues in 2010.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― A coalition of community groups in the Hill District is threatening to block approval of a new multipurpose arena slated to be the new home of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
One Hill says the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County have fallen short of their request for a community benefits agreement. Local government officials have signed off on a series of development plans but they do not include cash payments to a community investment fund.
The Hill District may get a grocery store as part of a new arena plan, but it won't get control over development under a "community benefits agreement" released by city and county officials yesterday.
Hill District leaders noted that if there is an "agreement," it isn't with them.
They said they will confer over the next few days and decide whether to oppose a scheduled Jan. 14 city planning commission vote on the master plan for replacing Mellon Arena.
Neighbors of the proposed $290 million hockey arena got their most optimistic report Thursday on being able to score a Hill District grocery store, social services center, job training program and other improvements.
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato signed a letter that offers a seven-point plan for the area around the home of the Penguins. It grants many, but not all, of the wishes Hill District community leaders say the neighborhood deserves.
CBA negotiations for t
In the Blogosphere
30 Jan 2008
Hill residents and supporters showed up in droves at Monday’s City Planning Commission hearing to protest the approval of the arena master plan. Older ladies sporting red berets, T-shirts, pins and scarves waited from 1 p.m. until after rush hour to give testimony supporting the signing of a Community Benefits Agreement before approval of the new arena design.
PITTSBURGH -- A member of the city planning commission voted for the Pittsburgh Penguins' arena master plan after seeing Mayor Luke Ravenstahl at a college basketball game and being told he should get back to the commission's meeting.
Adamant and sometimes angry protests didn't stop the Pittsburgh Planning Commission from voting to approve controversial plans for the Penguins' hockey arena and Majestic Star Casino.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Some last-minute negotiating took place in an effort to try to come to a community benefits agreement for Pittsburgh's new arena.
Talks between the One Hill Coalition, the Penguins, the Sports and Exhibition Authority and local political leaders resumed at this afternoon.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said Tuesday he won't budge on his offer to Hill District residents seeking public subsidies in exchange for playing host to the Penguins' new arena.
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― A coalition of community groups in the Hill District is firing back at a proposed community benefits agreement for the city's new multi-purpose arena.