In-person center for building, business permits opens in Downtown Pittsburgh
With the opening of the OneStopPGH service counter at 412 Boulevard of the Allies Monday morning, three city departments are now officially under one roof .
The building, which already hosts the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority and its Housing Authority, will now serve as home base for the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections, the Department Mobility and Infrastructure, and the zoning division of City Planning.
"I'm excited for the impact that this will have on our businesses, on our residents and the entire city," Mayor Ed Gainey said at the space's opening. "The more we come together, the better we serve our city. And when we serve our city, the quicker we move projects, the smoother we move projects and the more seamless the effort it takes to get development done."
The three departments had previously been located in separate offices along Ross Street, and their employees began to work remotely at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Applications have stayed online ever since, in preparation for the move to the new building.
In the new space, customer-service desks line a renovated waiting area, where Pittsburghers will be able to apply for permits and planning applications. Such applications are needed for building and development, business licenses, trade licenses, general contracting permits, and more.
Residents can still use the online portal to access the departments' services. The in-person counter will not accept cash, but it will accept checks, credit and debit cards, and money orders. Residents can sign up for an appointment online, or walk in and wait.
DOMI director Kim Lucas was excited about the space's possibilities for her department.
"By bringing together those relationships and those people in one physical room, we're really excited that OneStop will help us build those relationships and keep strengthening the work that we do for our city," said Lucas.
Kyle Chintalapalli, Pittsburgh's chief economic development officer, described the new counter as a "physical manifestation" of how the three departments have already been working together. He said their work would help make "a more predictable and streamlined process for our applicants and our customers."
"Now that they're going to be in the same building and here with staff at the same counter, that will hopefully just allow for that natural sort of sharing, collaboration, cooperation to just strengthen what we've already started to build," he said.
The retrofitting of the building was slowed by the pandemic after former Mayor Bill Peduto bought the building in 2018 for $40 million — a move that has been criticized by some local officials . As of July this year, the city had spent around $10 million on renovations, according to the controller's office.
City Councilor Deb Gross is still somewhat doubtful of the investment's merits .
"The concept that was pitched by the Peduto administration was that it would be a walk-in desk for all kinds of permits. And I guess that part remains to be seen, whether or not going downtown to talk to a live person was a $50 million investment that needed to happen," she said.
She noted that the building seemed overpriced in 2018, and wondered how the price tag would compare now that downtown commercial real estate prices have fallen since the start of the pandemic.
"I voted no [at the time] because it seemed like an expensive, overpriced concept that almost was a solution looking for a problem," Gross said. "It didn't seem right at the time, and I'm still skeptical."
