City, HACP and URA Host Tour on Renovations at 412 Boulevard of the Allies and One-Stop-Shop for Resident Needs

PITTSBURGH, PA (November 2, 2021) The City of Pittsburgh officials, Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP) and Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) joined Mayor William Peduto today to present renovation progress on the new 412 Boulevard of the Allies building Downtown. The nine-story building was jointly purchased by the three co-owners in 2018 in order to relocate offices and services from the over-century-old John P. Robin Civic Building at 200 Ross Street into a new facility better equipped to ser ve the public and offer efficient services.  

The building is currently in various stages of renovation, with the URA’s renovations completed and operational. The building will also house HACP and the City’s Departments of City Planning (DCP), Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) and Permits, Licenses and Inspections (PLI) to make their services more accessible to the public. The entry level will serve as a user-friendly “One-Stop-Shop" for residents’ needs, complementing the City’s online OneStopPGH permit and licensing system, as well as HACP resident services. Individuals will be able to easily apply for any kind of permit or license at the “One-Stop-Shop" without having to navigate complicated p rocesses involving visiting several different floors and offices, as was the case in 200 Ross Street.  

Upon purchase, the building had previously undergone renovations to the core, shell and mechanical systems. The current renovations will bring the building into Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) certification, offering cost savings through energy efficiencies. Each of the three owners are designing efficient, purpose-built spaces that are currently in various stages of design, maintenance and construction to fully build out a facility that meets to needs of employees and the public they serve.  

“We are glad to be here with all of our partners on this project to create a green, healthy working space for our staff and a more modernized, welcoming experience for our visitors,” said Mayor William Peduto. “I’d like to thank the URA and HACP for their partnership in this project, the Department of Public Works for their hard work in transforming the space and our Departments of City Planning, Permits, Licenses and Inspections and Mobility and Infrastructure for committing to delivering much easier walk-in services.”  

City of Pittsburgh offices will be housed on the second, third and fourth floors with HACP on floors five, six and seven and the URA already occupying the eighth and ninth floors.  

Renovation of 200 Ross Street, the previous home of the three entities, was cost prohibitive for the City. The building was over a hundred years old with chronically malfunctioning and antiquated heating and cooling systems, unreliable elevators and an unwelcoming floor plan for providing public services to visitors. The City is preparing to sell the iconic building, which was built as the administrative headquarters for Jones and Laughlin Steel, to save taxpayers money and encourage its redevelopment.