Demolitions lag as vacant buildings plague Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — When it comes to addressing dilapidated homes, the city of Pittsburgh has some catching up to do. The number of condemned structures in the city contributes to blight, unwanted pests and safety concerns, to name a few of the common problems.

Meanwhile, the city’s efforts to demolish vacant structures has nearly slowed to a halt.

City records obtained by WPXI show there are currently more than 1,800 condemned properties in Pittsburgh, including nearly 300 owned by the city.

The Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections is tasked with assessing these properties, identifying the most dangerous ones and bidding out demolition jobs to address those with significant safety risks.

11 Investigates found the city issued 33 permits for city-funded demolitions in 2020, 92 in 2021, 112 in 2022 and 105 in 2023. So far in 2024, the city has permitted just six city-funded demolitions. That number is even less than what the city accomplished in 2020 when the world shut down due to the global pandemic.

Meanwhile, emergency crews have responded to a number of collapses and fires at condemned buildings this calendar year.

Two of the six approved permits are for demolitions of the two industrial buildings that collapsed on Marion Street in Uptown late July. The demolitions have faced delays due to the size and scale of the damage.

The massive collapse sent bricks and debris tumbling onto neighboring buildings and into an alley. Video from Drone 11 shows the aftermath of the collapse with gaping holes in the structure and layers of loose bricks.

Emergency responders raced to the area. Although the buildings were condemned and should have been empty, there was a concern that people were inside at the time of the collapse. First responders said homeless individuals are known to stay in the building.

The Marion Street collapse was a close call for Marco Merante, the owner of Merante Brothers Italian-American Market.

“It sounded like a bomb hit right next door,” Merante told Channel 11. “It’s crazy to think one floor saved my life.”

The city condemned the buildings at 1516 and 1520 5th Avenue more than three years before they collapsed.

A twenty-minute drive from that scene, firefighters responded to a partial collapse of a Homewood house in May. Prior to the collapse, neighbors said the home had sat for decades covered in overgrown vines and trees, attracting pests and collapsing piece by piece.

The owner of that condemned property is the city of Pittsburgh.

“It was just heartbreaking,” said Jermanie Hall.

His family has lived next door for generations. The partial collapse in May left the condemned house leaning onto Hall’s house. The left side of the home fell, landing on the siding of Hall’s home.

“I just remember hearing a loud crash. Part of the roof was already caved in,” Hall said. “And I heard the wall hit my side of the house.”

He immediately called the fire department. The city stepped in with an emergency demolition. Hall said the home was torn down within a couple days.

“Really it took for the house to actually fall apart for anything to be done,” he said.

11 Investigates took these issues and more to David Green, director of the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections.

The city budgeted 2.9 million dollars for demolitions in 2024, planning to demolish over 100 concerning buildings, which is typical compared to previous years.

Director Green sent an email to a concerned resident in June reading, “Our 2024 budget allows for the demolition of approximately 100-120 buildings.” A city spokesperson echoed the same statement to 11 Investigates that month, when we first started inquiring about the issue.

At that point, the city had only funded four demolitions, significantly under the pace needed to achieve the 100-120 threshold by the end of the year.

Investigative Reporter Jatara McGee asked Green if his statement was misleading.

“So what we were expressing is the scale of what could be done with those funds,” he replied.

Green blamed the reduction in demolitions this year on how they were funded in the 2024 budget. Two thirds of the money allotted for demolitions is coming from a federal grant. Green said the money will not hit the city’s account until October. When asked, Green said the department became aware of the October timing shortly after the budget was approved and he did not raise the issue with the mayor or council.

During a sit-down interview, 11 Investigates repeatedly asked Green for an updated demolition count PLI is aiming to demolish in 2024.

“How many do you think can actually come down by December 31st?” McGee asked.

“Can I get back to you on that? Because we just got the ARPA funding,” Green said. “I would hope that we would be able to demolish somewhere between 50 - 75 by the end of the year or at least have them awarded and in process.”

The ARPA funding refers to money city council just designated for demolitions from the American Rescue Plan. PLI now has an additional one million dollars, to add to the 2.9 million already budgeted for 2024.

11 Investigates also asked Green about the one to four scale that PLI inspectors use to rank condemned properties. A score of one means structurally intact with no immediate observable danger. A score of two is structurally compromised, unsafe and possibly dangerous. Properties with a three score are structurally compromised, unsafe and dangerous. A score of four means “imminently dangerous” and indicates a risk for serious or life-threatening injury or death.

The city says properties ranked a four are considered for demolition.

The house that fell onto Jermanie Hall’s home was ranked a two.

Condemned row homes that collapsed in May on Camp Street in the Hill District were ranked a one.

11 Investigates found before the industrial buildings in Uptown collapsed, aerial images on Google Earth showed the roof had already begun to cave in. City records show the city knew in June 2021 that the roof collapsed and bricks were falling from the side of 1520 5th Avenue. Inspectors noted in September 2020 there was water damage on the roof, wood rot and holes at 1516 5th Avenue, as well as holes in the foundation.

Still, city inspectors had both buildings ranked a score of one, which would not have flagged the buildings to be considered for the city’s demolition list.

“This is not a structural assessment. Our inspectors are not engineers or design professionals. They’re looking for obvious defects based on visual observation,” Green said. “I do share concern about any collapse of any building, but there are a large stock of buildings in the city of Pittsburgh with deferred maintenance. These conditions didn’t happen overnight.”

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