Council committee backs Manchester-Chateau TRID plan to capture development taxes for neighborhood infrastructure and affordable housing

Pittsburgh city council on Feb. 19 gave an affirmative recommendation to Bill 12-34, a resolution to adopt the Manchester-Chateau Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID) Phase 1 implementation plan. The measure directs the city to pledge a set of parcels for value capture under state TRID law to finance on-site and neighborhood investments tied to a proposed riverfront redevelopment.

Council President Lavelle and multiple council members described the proposal as a long-sought effort to redirect new tax revenue generated by redeveloping the Esplanade parcels back into the Manchester neighborhood. Sushila Nemani Sanger, executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), and other URA staff walked the committee through the TRID mechanics and intended uses.

Under the plan discussed in committee, during the TRID term the city and other taxing bodies continue to receive base taxes while a portion of new incremental taxes is diverted to a URA-managed fund that will underwrite on-site infrastructure, affordable housing and off-site neighborhood improvements. URA staff said the TRID statute allows for a 20-year value-capture term for each pledged parcel (the overall district period may be longer), and that pledged parcels’ clock begins when the county assessor reassesses those parcels after development.

URA officials presented high-level financial estimates from an economic impact study: ongoing annual tax revenue at full build-out estimated at about $20 million, of which roughly $8 million could be the diverted property- and use-tax revenue during the TRID term; URA staff said the project could generate thousands of construction jobs and several thousand permanent positions in the longer term. The URA also said approximately $25 million of TRID proceeds would be earmarked for affordable housing investments on- and off-site, while an estimated $13 million would go to infrastructure.

Council members asked how the neighborhood commitments would be safeguarded. URA staff said the URA board will approve individual expenditures and that the implementation plan describes the intended allocation; council members pressed for ongoing community engagement and noted that the URA has already voted to adopt the plan. Members also asked about how the TRID would support reconnecting Manchester across Route 65; URA staff said separate federal planning funds (a Reconnecting Communities grant) are studying options, and TRID proceeds could be used as local match to leverage state and federal funding for any recommended reconfiguration.

Multiple council members described the plan as a funded, place-based approach to capture new tax revenue and reinvest it in a historically under-invested neighborhood. After several council members voiced support, the committee recorded an affirmative recommendation on Bill 12-34; the city will need the county and the school district to approve the TRID as it proceeds through required intergovernmental steps.

The committee record shows the resolution authorizes adopting the TRID phase 1 implementation plan and related agreements, pledging parcels to a value-capture district that will finance on-site infrastructure, affordable housing and off-site neighborhood investments.