URA Under Investigation

The Tribune-Review today gives a brief mention to the fact that our city’s redevelopment authority is under investigation by a federal grand jury:

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s office announced the probe. And that’s a hoot, considering there was no love lost between the mayor’s office and the URA during Pat Ford’s tenure at the latter. City Controller Michael Lamb previously said the URA gave mortgages to a developer on properties at double their assessed value. This could get interesting.

Thanks to the URA’s (and others’) mortgages to the aforementioned developer (read speculator), the Beechview neighborhood has massive vacancy in the heart of its business district. The politics of development in this city need to be brought into check and if it takes a federal investigation to do so, let’s go.