The city Stadium Authority has completed the sale of one of two prime pieces of North Shore property where the Pittsburgh Steelers want to build a 178-room Hyatt Place and a companion year-round entertainment complex.
The purchase price for the 3.96-acre site near Heinz Field was $1.38 million, according to documents filed Tuesday with the Allegheny County Real Estate Department.
The buyer was PSSI Stadium Corp., which manages Heinz Field.
The price was approved by the authority for the entertainment portion of the development.
"We are pleased that we were able to close on the purchase of the property for the entertainment center," said Steelers President Art Rooney II in a statement. "We are looking forward to moving ahead with the final planning and development phase of the property."
Rooney said the plan is to develop an indoor/outdoor year-round entertainment venue that would seat 5,000 people outdoors and 2,000 indoors.
Officials previously said PromoWest Productions of Columbus, Ohio, will operate a concert venue at the site similar to one it operates in Ohio.
The sale is another blow for North Side United, a pro-labor neighborhood group that filed a lawsuit to stop the sports team from buying an adjoining property known as Lot 6 that is targeted for the hotel.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph James threw out the lawsuit in a ruling last month.
The Stadium Authority voted Aug. 6 to sell that 3.53-acre site for a price of $1.32 million. Officials of the authority could not be reached for comment.
North Side United claimed that price shortchanged taxpayers because it was 10 times under its market value. However, the authority argued in court papers that the group's members don't have legal standing to stop the authority from selling the parcel.
With the sale, the land would go on the tax rolls.
The Stadium Authority has set a Dec. 1 deadline for Continental Real Estate Cos., the Columbus-based developer working with the Steelers and Pirates to develop property between Heinz Field and PNC Park.
That deadline could be extended to April 1, 2009, if Continental is "diligently" pursuing efforts to secure government approvals past Nov. 30.
"We are working to get the various approvals needed so we can get the development started," Frank Kass, Continental's chairman, said yesterday.
Kass previously said Continental would seek $4 million in state funds to support the development.
"We strongly object to this land deal," said Michael Glass, co-chair of North Side United.
He said the group plans to appeal James' ruling on the lawsuit and will oppose any public funding allocation for the project.
"We see this as virtually free land based on a back-door deal ... that was done with complete disregard to the needs of North Side residents," he said.
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