Neighborhood jobs center to open before construction on Lower Hill redevelopment

Hill District residents and others who want one of the thousands of jobs when construction starts on the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site will soon have a resource to seek employment.

The Lower Hill First Source Employment Opportunity Center will open in mid-May at the Hill House, 1835 Centre Ave. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buccini/Pollin Group, the entities leading the project, made the announcement Monday.

“We are excited to help bring job opportunities to residents in the heart of the Hill District,” Dorin Dickerson, director of development for the Penguins, said in a statement. “The opening of the First Source Center is timed with our advancement of redevelopment on the Lower Hill, which will bring thousands of construction jobs and thousands more permanent jobs to the city and the Hill District community.”

Construction on the first phase of the project, which will be anchored by a new $220 million headquarters for FNB Corp., is expected to start in the summer, said Jeff Turconi, president of PJ Dick, general contractor for the project.

The project include a parking garage with 288 spaces, a live entertainment venue along Logan Street between Bedford and Wylie avenues and two residential buildings at the southeast corner of Wylie Avenue and Fullerton Street — one six stories and the other 12 stories — with 288 apartments and a 221-space underground parking garage.

The development also coincides with a $32 million PennDOT project to build a cap across Interstate 579 that will be topped with a park linking the Lower Hill District and Downtown. The park is set to be finished by fall, PennDOT said.

At the First Source Center, residents can learn about job opportunities, career training and how to be involved in the redevelopment of the site.

The space was leased for two years from E Properties and Development, the owner and manager of Hill House.

The center delivers upon commitments made by the Penguins and the development team under what’s known as the Community Collaboration and Implementation Plan (CCIP) that has guided the project.

To operate the center, the Penguins and Buccini/Pollin Group are partnering with the Massaro and Mascaro construction companies, Partner4 Work, PA CareerLink, Builders Guild of Western Pa., A. Philip Randolph Institute, Community College of Allegheny County and Riverside Center for Innovation.

The center is part of what the developers say will be a comprehensive effort to reach out to, involve and inform Hill District residents as the project moves forward.