Pittsburgh’s parking authority will conduct a wide-ranging study to evaluate current and potential future parking demand and pricing, as well as whether it should sell off any property for commercial or residential development.
The city has seen a dropoff in activity and parking Downtown since the COVID-19 pandemic began, a trend seen in many other cities around the country, meaning more open spaces and less revenue for the parking authority. It reported just under $27 million in revenue this year through the end of July, a significant jump from last year but still down 21% compared to the same period in 2019.
The authority solicited bids this spring to conduct the study, but only one firm, Desman Inc., ended up applying for the contract after nine companies initially expressed interest. The authority’s board voted Thursday morning to approve a $75,000 contract with the company to perform the study.
Kimberly Lucas, who sits on the PPA board and also leads the city’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure, said in May that she was concerned there was only one bid and requested the board not award the contract until she reviewed contract documents.
PPA executive director David Onorato said at the Thursday board meeting that the authority helped answer questions from board members about the contract and also reached out to the potential bidders to understand why they didn’t end up submitting. He said the reasons varied from the study being too large for their company to complete to the timing being bad due to existing contracts already booked.
After the meeting, Onorato told the Union Progress that the study will take about four months to complete once a contract is signed.
One of the authority’s properties best positioned for redevelopment is the site of a former garage Downtown at the corner of Ninth Street and Fort Duquesne Boulevard.
A Boston-based firm had been selected in 2017 to redevelop the property, as part of a larger project with adjoining vacant properties owned by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. But a disagreement between the firm and the Cultural Trust ultimately ended what would have been a deal featuring retail space, a new parking garage and hundreds of luxury condominiums.
Another property likely to see redevelopment is an inactive parking lot in Bloomfield, just off Liberty Avenue on Pearl Street, measuring about 19,000 square feet.
The parking authority acquired the lot, behind St. Joseph’s Church, in September 2018 for just under $700,000 from the church. Notes from a PPA board meeting in 2021 show the authority had at one point started working with the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority on a potential sale of the lot.
Jon, a copy editor and reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and working as a co-editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Reach him at jmoss@unionprogress.com.
