Hill District Benefits Agreement Signed

Today the benefits deal is done and signed by the One Hill Neighborhood Coalition. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports some of the details of the plan, which includes money towards the development of the grocery store, creation of a "master plan" and the introduction of a resource center that will somehow connect residents of the Hill District with jobs. The details in this article are pretty skimpy. In a previous post I discussed that the grocery store, which will be located at Centre Avenue and Heldman Street was narrowed down to Save-A-Lot and Kuhn's. More importantly, the Post-Gazette article leaves out the critical difference between the two. The Save-A-Lot is intended as a freestanding grocery store and the Kuhn's proposal is part of a 100,000 square foot complex! I have noticed that in general, reporting on developments in Hill District tends to be given short shrift and isn't exactly late-breaking. This isn't limited to the Post-Gazette and that paper has given the area some good attention in recent weeks as this deal neared closure. Personally though, any neighborhood that is on the verge of being re-energized deserves attention.

In this case the ne'er do wells at the Tribune Review have far superior reporting in the article they published here. It basically explains that a deal has been agreed to, but a lot of the details have yet to be fleshed out. Some highlights of the detail include:

1.) Hill residents will get first crack at some job openings at the new arena.

2.) YMCA community center for the Hill

3.) $3 million over 5 years from new casino ownership for development projects

4.) Money for a grocery store, which is TBA.