Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
About the URA
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) is more than a redevelopment authority -- it is the City of Pittsburgh's economic development agency. As a developer of last resort, the URA develops properties which the private sector will not undertake. Our goals are to create jobs, increase the city's tax base, and improve the vitality of businesses, neighborhoods, and the City's culture as a whole. See our Showcase Projects.
Incorporated in 1946, the URA was one of the first redevelopment authorities in Pennsylvania. The URA undertook the first privately financed downtown redevelopment project in the United States -- Gateway Center. Since then, the URA has constructed and rehabilitated tens of thousands of homes, reclaimed thousands of acres of environmentally contaminated brownfield and riverfront sites, and assisted hundreds of businesses in neighborhoods throughout the City of Pittsburgh.
Today, the URA administers programs that range from helping low income people achieve home ownership to reclaiming abandoned brownfields for new development to helping communities reinvent themselves.
In many cities across the nation, the activities carried out by the URA are administered by a variety of different agencies. In Pittsburgh, these activities are administered under one umbrella: the URA.
The URA operates housing programs and economic development programs, and an array of other activities including: business assistance and financing, home ownership and improvement financing, international relationship-building through the Sister Cities program, and assistance with the development of residential, commercial, industrial and mixed use sites through site assembly, environmental remediation and a variety of financing options.
These activities include local, state, and Federal programs utilized by Cities across Pennsylvania and the United States. These programs are critical economic development tools. The URA makes these programs work in the City of Pittsburgh.
The URA-using its public powers and creativity to harness private investment-has implemented plans; initiated rebuilding with the private sector; negotiated with the federal, state, county and local governments for public funds and facilities; nurtured neighborhoods, responded to the needs and recommendations of community groups; and adapted its powers and programs to deal with political, social, and economic upheavals over five decades. It is sustained in its urban improvement efforts through strong public/private/neighborhood partnerships.
The URA's history is a story of projects. It is a story of people. It is a story of partnership and leadership. Most of all, it is a story of building a better Pittsburgh.