PITTSBURGH — Neglected properties are plaguing Pittsburgh’s neighborhoods, and the city’s efforts to remove the most dangerous ones continue to lag behind previous years.
In April, the city promoted Robert Columbus to the role of assistant director of code enforcement and demolition manager.
According to the job description, he is tasked with overseeing “PLI’s capital budget program to demolish condemned properties.”
The program has been under scrutiny for years and the subject of a Channel 11 investigation after we noticed city-funded demolitions dropped dramatically in 2024.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE >>> Demolitions lag as vacant buildings plague Pittsburgh
There are nearly 2,000 properties on the city’s list of condemned buildings. They are supposed to be routinely inspected by city code inspectors for code violations and possible safety concerns.
11 Investigates has repeatedly reached out to Columbus to request a sit-down interview about the program, challenges it is facing and any progress he has been able to make in his new role. Those requests have been denied or ignored.
But a conversation Columbus had with city council members this summer is shedding light on how he feels about the city’s efforts and the biggest challenges with demolitions.
The city council Committee on Hearings and Policy held a hearing with Columbus in June. Many council members repeatedly hear concerns about condemned properties in their districts from their constituents.
It is Columbus’ job to identify the most concerning ones and lead efforts to bid out demolitions to contractors.
In the hearing, Councilperson Bob Charland emphasized his passion for the topic, saying he believes it is the city’s most important issue. He said he desires to work with the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections to make improvements to the city’s policies and procedures.
“The way that we tackle urban blight is the issue that I’m most passionate about. I do believe that there is a lot of room to grow in the way that we handled demolitions,” Charland said.
In response, Columbus called demolition “a very complicated issue” based on determining what to demolish and engaging with the community.
Despite frustrations raised by several councilmembers about how long it takes to demolish a concerning building and communication issues with PLI officials, Columbus seemed to praise the program.
“Currently, we have a pretty efficient program,” Columbus said. “The holdups being, as with all municipalities, would be funding.”
“I think the message that I’d like to get across is with discretionary funding being what it is, we try to be prudent and hold that money for emergencies that may come and then spend it further on in the year,” Columbus told council.
Last year, that never happened. And the city isn’t on track to perform much better this year.
City records show PLI approved just 25 permits for city-funded demolitions in 2024 and 51 in 2025, as of December 10. Compare that to an average of 102 for the three years prior (2021: 90, 2022: 108, 2023: 109).
2025’s low numbers are despite an over $5 million budget for city-funded demos. The city has spent roughly $2.8 million of that, according to a review of every city-funded demolition approved for 2025.
11 Investigates also found that, of the 51 buildings on the approved and completed demolition list this year, 65% had already partially collapsed or caught on fire before the city approved demolishing them.
Internal emails uncovered by 11 Investigates show a PLI city supervisor, after being warned of a collapsing building, acknowledged the property was dangerous and still questioned if the city should remove it. That building collapsed the next day.
Just two weeks ago, emergency crews responded to a partial collapse at a condemned home in Perry South. The city had to bid out an emergency demolition to remove the rest of the building.
Then last week, firefighters responded to a condemned apartment building in East Liberty that should have been vacant. They found four people shouting for help from a second-floor balcony. Two of those people went to the hospital. Officials said others were inside the building when it first caught fire and escaped.
One of the big problems with emergency demolitions is that they cost significantly more money. Contractors tell 11 Investigates they charge more when a building has already started to collapse or was significantly damaged by fire, because they have to mobilize quickly and stabilize the building before they can demolish it, for safety reasons.
“All I can say definitively is that … the demolition program is, um, is active,” Columbus told council, stammering and choosing his words carefully. “It does have room for improvement. It does have room to grow.”
That is Mayor-Elect Corey O’Connor’s plan. After seeing what 11 Investigates has uncovered about the program, he is vowing to make changes. He takes office next month.
In response to our most recent story, the city sent 11 Investigates a lengthy statement mentioning the volume of inspections the city’s code inspectors complete, how condemned properties are currently scored and the funding sources PLI has for demolitions. You can find that statement here.
PLI officials still have not agreed to an interview.
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