Published in the Pittsburgh Business Times, by Tim Schooley

September 10, 2014

The Commonwealth Finance Authority has awarded more than $6.3 million in grants through its Multimodal Transportation Fund to help kickstart major real estate development projects in Allegheny County.

The new round of grant funding by the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett includes major funding for a new garage at Bakery Square 2.0, and the new mixed-use project on Smithfield Street downtown by a partnership of Millcraft Investments and McKnight Realty Partners that includes a parking garage as well as to Oxford Development for its mixed-use Three Crossings project in the Strip District.

The grants also include funds for streetscape upgrades for communities throughout the county.

Corbett said in a prepared statement: “Having a strong transportation network is critical to attracting jobs and investment and to protecting the health and safety of our citizens – and it all starts at the local level. The multimodal transportation fund will make additional dollars available to strengthen our ports and railways, develop infrastructure and improve pedestrian safety in our communities.”

The allocations for projects in Allegheny County were a portion of a total of $40 million in grants statewide.

The multimodal fund was created out of Act 89, the $2.3 billion transportation bill that was passed in 2013 and signed by Governor Corbett. The multimodal fund is designed to provide grant support to all kinds of transportation funding, including ports and waterways, freight and passenger rail, transit, bicycle and pedestrian as well as aviation.

The grant amounts, their recipients and their intended uses are…

(Tim Schooley, "Corbett awards more than $6.3 million in grants to Allegheny County development projects," Pittsburgh Business Times, 9/10/14)