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Pittsburgh City Council

Land Bank seeks staffing funds as inventory grows to 5,000 parcels with thousands more eligible.

Written by Amy Whipple

As the Pittsburgh Land Bank’s inventory grows, so does its staffing needs.

 The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) requested $157,175 to help cover land bank staffing costs. Council initially allocated the money as part of the 2025 capital budget, but it went unused because the URA spent down its remaining federal pandemic dollars instead.

Sally Stadelman, director of the land bank, said the money will cover between 37% and 50% of staffing costs as well as administrative fees paid to the URA, depending on whether the land bank hires a real estate development manager before the end of the year.

Stadelman said a shift in inventory from primarily land to primarily structures requires in-house expertise for structural review, bidding out stabilization work and creating work plans for properties listed for sale.

Last year, council approved a cooperative agreement with the land bank, the county, and school district. This allows the land bank to use sheriff’s sales and helps prevent abandoned structures from deteriorating to the point of needing to be demolished.

According to Stadelman, the three taxing bodies now hold approximately 5,000 parcels in the land bank. There are an additional 7,000 tax-delinquent structures that are eligible for tax foreclosure. While there are about 2,000 properties on the condemnation list, she said that about a half only require stabilization and don’t have to be demolished.

Council is scheduled to vote on the request next week.

Connections to this story

Topics:
Housing & Land Use
Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · March 24, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0254 — amending Resolution 930 of 2024, which authorized the Mayor and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to…

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