Allegheny County Council votes to replace health building with commercial space

By Erin Block / For The Pitt News

published: Thu, 5 Nov, 2009

County Council plans to sell the Allegheny County Health Department building on Forbes Avenue so developers can replace it with office space, shops, classrooms, a hotel and parking space.

Council members voted Wednesday night to allow the group’s executive committee to sell the building, at 3333 Forbes Ave., to developers Massaro Properties LLC, Langholz Wilson Ellis Inc., Kratsa Properties and Tasso Katselas Associates, Inc. The price of the building is up for negotiation, but the building is expected to sell for about $4.9 million, council members said.

The redevelopment could take as long as five years, said County Councilman Nicholas Futules, a member of the council’s economic development and housing committee.

The county is still looking for a place to hold the 400 employees who currently work in the Health Department building. Futules said they might move to Bloomfield, while councilman Michael Finnerty said it’s possible they’ll use office space in Oakland.

Georgia Petropoulos Muir, executive director of the Oakland Business Improvement District, said she’s “excited” about the new development because it will help provide funding for additional projects throughout Oakland.

Finnerty said the county began exploring the idea of selling the building about a year ago. Futules said the county decided to sell the building because the county uses only one floor of it and because it’s old, potentially requiring “a tremendous amount of money” to restore.