Officials Field North Side Development Plan

Project Near PNC Park Would Be Privately Financed

UPDATED: 3:22 p.m. EDT July 21, 2000

City and county officials are considering the first pitch of what could be the first privately financed development near PNC Park.

The development team of Walnut Capital Partners, a Shadyside-based company, and Alco Parking Company, the city's largest parking lot operator, are looking to build an office, restaurant and possibly a hotel near the new ballpark.

Alco Parking owns the site for the proposed development, which lies at the corner of General Robinson and Federal streets, just north of the ballpark. If the plan is approved, Alco would also acquire a nearby parcel of land now owned by the Sports and Exhibition Authority.

If given the nod, the work on the development would be done in phases. The office space would be built first, and one or two restaurants would be placed on the first floor of the office building.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the developers hope to start construction by Pirates opening day in April.

While the exact cost of the Walnut Capital/Arco proposal is undetermined, no public funds are expected to be needed, the paper reports.

Of the $262 million cost of PNC park, the public provided all but $40 million. The Steelers are paying $113 million of the $284 million for the new Steelers stadium; the rest will be publicly funded.