The three foundations that have been working to save the debt-burdened August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh have reached an eleventh-hour deal to buy the property for $8.49 million, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

To preserve the center as a hub for African-American arts and culture, the Pittsburgh Foundation, Heinz Endowments, and Richard King Mellon Foundation, along with the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority and Allegheny County, raised their collective bid from $7.2 million to $8.49 million. The center's court-appointed conservator, Judith Fitzgerald, had tentatively approved the sale of the building for $9.5 million to 980 Liberty Partners, a New York real estate development firm that planned to build a hotel above the existing structure and provide limited space, for free, to the center. The deal was reached on the day a case was set to begin in Allegheny County Orphans' Court on whether deed covenants placed on the land by the URA years ago prevented the sale to 980 Liberty Partners.

The source of the additional money has yet to be revealed. Tim McNulty, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto, told the Post-Gazette that the terms are confidential at this point, while Heinz Endowments president Grant Oliphant said the foundations, which previously had increased their portion of the offer by $200,000, to $5.2 million, were not contributing additional funds. County executive Rich Fitzgerald said some of the extra money might be coming from private donors or corporations.

Under the settlement, Dollar Bank will be paid the $7.9 million it is owed on the mortgage the center defaulted on last year, while Judith Fitzgerald and two advisors will be paid $590,000, about half of what they estimate they are owed. The URA will provide another $360,000 — not included in the sale price — to reimburse 980 Liberty for its expenses.

"During the path to this moment, strong opinions have been voiced about how best to preserve the August Wilson Center as a resource for the good of our whole community," Oliphant said in a statement. "But whatever solution the various parties have supported along the way, what has always been clear is that we share a desire to ensure the survival of an African-American cultural center that befits Pittsburgh’s extraordinary heritage and the people whose stories and history are represented there. This agreement is not a victory of one side over another but a coming together in the true spirit of community. We are thrilled to have reached this resolution, we thank everyone involved, and we look forward to what our community will accomplish next by working together and finding common ground as we have here."