URA presents Manchester Esplanade TRID update to Pittsburgh Public Schools; questions raised about outreach and affordability

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) presented an update on the Manchester Esplanade Tax Revenue Increment District (TRID) to the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) Business & Finance Committee on Monday, Feb. 3, focusing on community engagement outcomes, projected tax revenues and planned uses of TRID dollars.

The URA presentation, delivered by James Ura, outlined a development strategy centered on the Esplanade site and said TRID capture tied to that development could produce roughly $8,000,000 in annual tax revenue across three taxing bodies once the site is fully activated. Ura said the URA’s projections estimate about $6,000,000 would be used for TRID debt service and about $2,000,000 would be retained by the taxing bodies during the roughly 20‑year capture period.

Why it matters: The URA told the committee the TRID would create a dedicated neighborhood investment package of roughly $54,000,000 — about $25,000,000 for affordable housing and about $13,000,000 for public‑space and infrastructure improvements — and that PPS’s share of tax receipts from the site would grow from roughly $37,000 currently to an estimated $640,000 per year during the TRID period and about $2,500,000 annually after the debt is retired.

During the presentation, Ura said the TRID proposal and related planning work trace to the Manchester neighborhood plan and a TRID study completed around 2019–2021; he also noted an earlier TRID in the city in 2016. The URA described multiple engagement efforts: more than 45 stakeholder interviews and meetings, five public meetings with about 400 attendees in total, and three surveys with more than 100 unique responses. Ura acknowledged that some community members said engagement felt insufficient and said additional hearings remain in the legislative schedule.

Committee members and staff asked specific process and detail questions. A board director asked whether minority‑ and women‑owned businesses (MWBE) would be included in retail and office leasing; Ura said discussions are ongoing and that retail-level opportunities are expected to include MWBE and local businesses. Legal counsel to the district, identified as Weiss, told the committee there is no special public‑hearing requirement beyond standard public‑hearing processes.

On affordability, URA staff and Tom Link, chief development officer at the URA, said guidelines for the proposed off‑site affordable‑housing fund are still being finalized. Ura and Link said the fund would be administered by the URA and would accept applications from developers; the URA is discussing affordability tiers that could include units at 50% area median income (AMI) and 80% AMI, and a potential workforce tier between roughly 81% and 120% AMI. URA staff said those guidelines will be finalized with public input and will come back to the URA board for approval.

Several committee members and attendees raised concerns about whether community outreach reached representative neighborhood residents, how many interview participants lived in Manchester, and requests by neighborhood groups for meeting minutes and additional meetings directly with developers. Ura said the URA and vendors distributed leaflets and used multiple outreach methods but acknowledged challenges in achieving high survey response rates and said the URA would follow up to provide any available respondent breakdowns and to track the council president’s January meeting records.

Project mechanics discussed included a URA minimum payment agreement the developer would sign to guarantee TRID payments in the event assessed values fall short, and development conditions tied to URA land sales: site preparation could proceed after a land sale, but developers would return to the URA board before vertical build phases that use URA land.

The committee was told the next public hearing on the TRID before Pittsburgh City Council is scheduled for Feb. 12 at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers; committee leadership said they will monitor turnout at that hearing and return to the school board with timing for any district vote. No formal action, motion or vote on the TRID was taken by the Business & Finance Committee during the Feb. 3 meeting.

The URA also identified planned TRID uses that include a Beaver Avenue two‑way conversion, improvements at the Juniata underpass to increase safety and activate the corridor, Allegheny Avenue public‑space improvements, and a Route 65 planning‑study implementation tied to a federal Reconnecting Communities grant. The URA estimated the Esplanade development itself would add about 300 housing units on‑site.

Committee members asked for more detail on: final affordability targets and the geographic definition of “off‑site” affordable units (URA staff said “off‑site” refers to other parcels within Manchester and nearby Allegheny West), the vendor reports on who responded to outreach, and the interactions planned between neighborhood groups and the developer. URA staff and Tom Link said fund guidelines and related documents will include at least two public input opportunities before final URA board consideration.

The Business & Finance Committee concluded the presentation after Q&A and said it will be in touch about placing the item on a future agenda for a vote after the City Council hearing and further legislative steps.