KDKA Investigates: Some downtown offices say workers don't want to come back

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - There's been shootings, robberies and thefts. The once-bustling sidewalks have become home to the homeless, mentally ill and a criminal element who moved in during the pandemic. Only about half of downtown's office workers have returned while the rest continue to stay away.

Downtown hollowed out during the pandemic and office workers haven't returned to fill the void, complaining of street people, crime, garbage and a general lack of vitality. The big employers PNC, UPMC and Highmark would like them back but won't order them to do so.

"The job market is very tight and a lot of employers don't want to force their employees to come back because they're afraid they will lose them," Dan Adamski of JLL said.    

While employers did encourage their workers to return after Labor Day, the downtown workforce saw only a 5 percent jump in September, bringing their total participation to 57 percent. And still, most of those are working hybrid schedules and only come in two or three days a week.

"It varies for the day of the week as you can see Mondays are quiet, Fridays are quiet," Adamski said.

Others don't come in at all. 

John Conti, the president and chief executive officer of the law firm Dickie, McCamey and Chilcote, says female employees are especially reluctant to return. He says one was recently followed and had to run to her car. From his office overlooking Market Square, Conti blames inaction on the part of the city for letting the situation with street people get out of control.

"The inaction is evident by the fact that nothing changes. The proliferation of homeless, the mentally ill, that you have to navigate just to get a coffee at Starbucks or walk to your car," he said. 

But Maria Montano, the mayor's press secretary, said: "We've heard from our business community that their employees have concerns so we've begun to address that."

The Gainey administration says it is stepping up, including ordering increased police patrols downtown at the beginning and end of the workday. The city's been grappling with the homeless crisis and is pointing to the imminent opening of a downtown shelter as a solution. The mayor's spokesperson says they're looking to get people out of riverfront encampments and then take them down.

"We want to make sure we don't see the growth of that space again and together we will come up with plans to decommission them," Montano said. 

Sheehan: "Are we in danger of becoming the next Detroit?"

Adamski: "We want to avoid becoming the next Detroit."

But business leaders say time is of the essence. There is now a 20 percent vacancy in downtown office buildings and many owners are considering converting them to apartments and condos -- a plan that won't work if the environment doesn't change.

"I think a healthy downtown is key to the entire region," Adamski said. "This is the heart of our region, we have to pay attention to it, and we have to make it safe. We have to make it a place that people want to work and live."