Allegheny County Council last night approved the sale of the county Health Department building in Oakland, which developers intend to tear down to make way for a new hotel, office building and parking garage.

Council members said the sale of the building at 3333 Forbes Ave. and the three-acre property will bring the county $4.9 million as well as boost tax revenue.

The building, adjacent to the Carlow University campus, is located at the entrance to Oakland's bustling commercial, medical and university corridor.

Some members questioned acting on the sale before it was determined where to move the 400 employees currently working in the department's administrative offices. But Councilman Michael Finnerty, D-Scott, assured his colleagues, "We will have the Health Department there, and they will have space. We will find newer space for them in Oakland. ... It will be 21st-century space, and it will be affordable."

Councilman Matt Drozd, R-Ross, suggested stipulating that the developers could not resell the property to a nonprofit. The council's legal advisers, however, cautioned that such restrictions on the owners' property rights could be illegal.

The development group, which includes Massaro Properties LLC, Langholz Wilson Ellis, Kratsa Properties and Tasso Katselas Associates, reiterated its intention to build a 120-room hotel, an office building and a 500-space parking garage.

The sale was approved by an 11-1 vote, with Councilwoman Joan Cleary, D-Brentwood, opposing and Councilman Nick Futules, D-Verona, abstaining because of a potential conflict of interest.

The council also approved an amendment proposed by Councilman Chuck McCullough, R-Upper St. Clair, putting the money from the sale in a fund separate from the county's general fund so that the money could be better controlled by the council.

Mr. McCullough likened the money to "a rainy day fund" and said the council would avoid making mistakes that the city of Pittsburgh had made "selling off capital assets and using them to pay your operating bills."

There would be no restrictions on the money, Mr. McCullough said, and the council could tap into it whenever it needed. The amendment, he said, amounted to "better fiscal housekeeping that doesn't tie our hands."

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