More than four years ago, the city of Pittsburgh set aside $40 million to buy and renovate the Downtown offices for its OneStopPGH.
Tuesday, City Council approved adding more than $3 million to the project.
Just like when the project was first brought to the council, the request for an additional $3.2 million was approved but was met with some resistance: The vote Tuesday to increase the budget passed by a vote of 6-2.
Council member Deb Gross and council President Theresa Kail-Smith voted against upping the budget on the new office project at 412 Boulevard of the Allies.
The city purchased the building, which used to be the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, in 2018 to be the new home of city operations such as OneStopPGH, where residents can get certain licenses and permits.
For its share of ownership — the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh are co-owners — the city budgeted $40 million, which was to also cover renovations.
As 2022 comes to a close, though some operations have taken place in the building, renovation isn’t done.
In other business: City Council has been down a member since District 5 Council Member Corey O’Connor vacated his seat in order to accept his appointment as Allegheny County controller.
The next council meeting on Dec. 12 is the swearing-in ceremony for Council Member-elect Barb Warwick, who handily won the seat with 74% of the vote last month.
With the addition of Warwick, the council returns to full strength — and an odd number of voters.
Solomon is a features writer at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.