The Pittsburgh Penguins are back in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District redevelopment project after the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) approved a plan to advance the construction of the First National Bank headquarters in the project. The plans were approved during a virtual meeting on Thursday. The URA delayed a vote last week on the land, saying it did not have enough time to review paperwork beforehand. The Pittsburgh Penguins then backed out of the deal to develop the old Civic Arena site, citing the economic times and a lack of support from the URA. The Penguins released a statement Thursday saying they look forward to rebuilding the Lower Hill alongside city leaders. Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said First National Bank will give $11 million up front for the URA to invest in housing and economic development in the Hill District.Peduto also said it will be the largest community development agreement in the history of the city.City officials said the project would generate more than 1,300 construction jobs and include a commitment to long-term career-building jobs to provide to Hill District residents. Read the statement from the Pittsburgh Penguins President/CEO David Morehouse below: "We are encouraged by today’s approval by the URA board to advance construction of our $200 million, 26-story F.N.B. headquarters development in the heart of the Lower Hill. We all have a lot of work ahead of us, and together we need to build a development process better rooted in transparency and accountability. First and foremost, we thank F.N.B. for their continued commitment to Pittsburgh and to the community. This building alone will generate $11 million in direct and immediate investment in the middle and upper Hill District, create thousands of family sustaining construction and permanent jobs during a global pandemic, and catalyze almost $1 billion of private investment in our city. We thank organized labor, in particular Darrin Kelly, President of the Allegheny County Labor Council, for stepping up to fight for jobs that will benefit more women and minority owned businesses than any development in our city’s history. Finally, we are grateful to Mayor Bill Peduto and his Chief of Staff Dan Gilman, County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Representative Jake Wheatley and Councilman Daniel Lavelle for their leadership, and we look forward to rebuilding the Lower Hill, together."Read the full statement from Peduto below: “The plans set for a vote tomorrow not only include a new headquarters for First National Bank but represent an extraordinary $200 million investment in the heart of Pittsburgh that will help brace our local economy in a time of great need."If approved by the board after a week of deliberation, this will include the monetization of the previously approved LERTA tax abatement and parking tax diversion, which will make available an upfront $11 million to the URA to invest in community-driven housing and economic development initiatives in the greater Hill District. "This funding could be used to support the developments on Centre Avenue of minority businesses and development teams that the URA approved at its February 2020 board meeting. The agreement also takes the next step with the formalization of a First Source Hiring Center to spur workforce development and jobs on-site for Hill District residents, including minority hiring commitments."This entire site will be providing good paying union construction jobs. The proposed agreement also includes a commitment to long-term career-building jobs on the site to provide Hill District residents with family sustaining wages to rebuild the middle class. "This is in addition to the commitments from the Penguins and BPG with the last parcels taken down, which included an investment in Rec2Tech in the Hill, improved recreation facilities, the completion of the Curtain Call public art installation, and the new Catapult MWBE small business incubator on the Lower Hill site."Tomorrow’s vote will follow timely votes from the URA, Sports and Exhibition Authority (SEA) and City Council to take down the first parcels, approve a parking tax diversion, provide millions of additional dollars to the Greater Hill's affordable housing needs in the form of a Hill District Housing Reinvestment Account, and begin the take down of this next parcel."This entire project has been a partnership among the community stakeholders, URA, SEA, the Housing Authority, myself, and the Penguins with the leadership of David Morehouse and Kevin Acklin."Finally, this entire project has been driven by my clear goals of economic growth, family sustaining jobs, investment in the historic Centre Avenue, investment in affordable housing, workforce development, opportunities for youth, and support for MWBE small businesses in alignment with the Community Collaboration Implementation Plan."I urge the URA board to approve this critical next step, and move this long-promised development forward.”