Pittsburgh Public Schools board member Dwayne Barker says he’s interested in bringing community stakeholders together for a meeting on a North Side development known as the Esplanade.
The $740 million project promises to bring a mix of shopping, restaurants and housing to the riverfront Chateau neighborhood. Renderings include a giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the Ohio River, an apartment building with a mix of high-end and affordable units and a commercial pavilion.
The city’s planning commission gave developers the green light to start building last month.
Earlier this month, leaders with Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) presented school board members with a plan to divert tax revenue from the project back into the neighboring communities. The Manchester-Chateau Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID) would allow the URA to invest revenue from the Esplanade into public infrastructure and affordable housing.
The URA’s board approved the first phase of the plan in November, though its success relies on all local taxing bodies accepting the plan and entering into a cooperation agreement. The bodies would divert 75% of any new tax value created by the development to the TRID and collect the remaining 25%.
Officials estimated the first phase of the project would dramatically increase the district’s tax revenue within the Chateau area, despite diversion. The district, as well as the city and the county, are expected to vote on the TRID in the coming months.
“Leveraging this private development for on- and off-site investment is a pretty good long-term game,” URA director Susheela Nemani-Stanger told board members.
While the Manchester Citizens Corporation was among the groups engaged in a 2022 planning study of the TRID, several residents told school board members Monday that they haven’t had sufficient opportunity to weigh in.
“We need to know what is going on,” said Tracy Turner with the group Manchester Neighbors, which is separate from the Manchester Citizens Corporation.
“[Developers] have not communicated with us, nor have we had any meetings in the Manchester area.”
Turner and several others urged school board director Barker — whose district includes Manchester PreK-8, Pittsburgh Conroy and other nearby schools — to bring all stakeholders together for a meeting.
Barker told WESA that he’s open to collaborating with city officials to host one.
“[Manchester Neighbors is] the first group that spoke up about this,” he said. “And I think as a director it's my job to certainly listen to all parties involved.”
The Esplanade would transform a 15-acre slice of brownfield and old industrial buildings between the Ohio River and State Route 65, which divides Chateau and the neighboring Manchester community. According to Nemani-Stanger, TRID funds would be used to reconnect the two neighborhoods in a way that’s safe for pedestrians.
Barker said he’s excited about the potential for a new tourist attraction on the North Side. But like many of Monday’s speakers, Barker also expressed concern that the development could increase the cost of living in Manchester, a predominantly Black community.
“Uprooting families, deleting the history that the families may have had where they can't go back to the neighborhoods that their parents grew up in — those are the disheartening things that I don't agree with at all,” Barker said.
Deborah Blackwell with Manchester Neighbors told board members that her family has already been priced out of Manchester.
“I'm always looking for housing for my parents, who can no longer afford to live in Manchester,” she said. “Even trying to buy a house in Manchester is out of the question almost if you are low- and moderate-income.”
