Pittsburgh’s Bridging the Gap Development (BTG), led by chief executive officer Derrick Tillman, is pushing the boundaries of what an energy-efficient redevelopment in an underinvested area can accomplish. Its Fifth and Dinwiddie project, a $66 million mix of new construction and existing building rehabilitation, will provide 171 new apartments—20 percent of which will be affordable—alongside […]
The Century Building is the first affordable housing development in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The building contains 28 workforce units, and 32 market-rate units, along with street-level commercial, retail, and amenity spaces. It was the first mixed-use residential development in Pittsburgh to achieve LEED Gold certification for green building practices, with recycling on every floor, Energy Star appliances, efficient light fixtures and windows, low-flow water fixtures, and dual flush toilets. The Century Building is the adaptive reuse of a historic 1907 office complex, developed by the TREK Development Group and designed by Koning Eizenberg Architects with Moshier Studios.
Asthma and allergy rates for residents have reportedly decreased, in part due to the property’s non-smoking policy, nontoxic building materials, open-loop geothermal system for consistent heating and cooling, recovery ventilation system for fresh air, and energy-wheel to manage heating and odors. A bright green bicycle mural on the building’s north wall welcomes city cyclists and calls attention to a collaboratively-financed secure Bicycle Commuter Center on site. The property also includes a fully-equipped fitness facility, a community room, and a green rooftop deck with views of downtown that serves as a gathering space for residents.
Located at the intersection of Center and south highland avenues in Pittsburgh’s east Liberty neighborhood, phases I and II of EastSide comprise a 5.1-acre (2.0-ha) development that includes retail, restaurant, and office uses, with surface and deck parking. They include 4,724 square feet (439 m²) of office, 112,835 square feet (10,483 m²) of retail, and 472 parking spaces.
Eastside transforms a patchwork of 14.3 acres (5.8 ha) of distressed properties in the heart of Pittsburgh’s east end. The project borrows economic strength from the more affluent adjacent neighborhoods of Shadyside, Friendship, and Highland Park to fuel the redevelopment of East Liberty, a commercial center plagued by decades of decline. Eastside phases I and II are complete, tenanted, and operating. Eastside V opened in July 2011 as a two-level Target store. Eastside III and IV are in planning.
The redevelopment of a former Pittsburgh industrial site, the Cork Factory features 297 loft apartments throughout three historic buildings, an organic grocery store, a restaurant, and a 427-space parking garage. Financed through an imaginative mix of historic tax credits, a facade easement, and city and commonwealth grants, the US$78 million project has exceeded the expectations of the developer, McCaffery Interests. The 4.1-acre (1.6-ha) site had proven resistant to redevelopment, but today the Cork Factory leads the residential and retail resurgence in the historic Strip District.
Because investing posed a high risk for private developers in this Pittsburgh neighborhood, local government played a pivotal role in early revitalization efforts. Located near downtown, East Liberty borders both a more affluent community and a lower-income community. A key first project, a home-improvement center brought residents together and kicked off two decades of revitalization. As the neighborhood transformed, perceptions of the market changed, and private developers gained the confidence to invest more heavily. The proportion of government subsidies declined, housing values rose dramatically, and crime fell by half.
SouthSide Works is a 37.2-acre (15-hectare) mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented urban village on a brownfield redevelopment site located in Pittsburgh’s South Side neighborhood. It lies south of the Monongahela River and just 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) from the city’s central business district. The project comprises 288,143 square feet (26,769 square meters) of retail and restaurants, 524,860 square feet (48,761 square meters) of office space, 83 apartments, and a ten-screen cinema, all of which are oriented around a central square and landscaped open space. Future phases will include a hotel, additional multifamily buildings, additional office buildings, an outdoor performance venue, and a destination restaurant and brewery.
Crawford Square is an 18-acre residential development located on the eastern edge of downtown Pittsburgh that provides a gateway between the downtown business district and the nearby Hill District and creates a new and vital neighborhood recalling the architectural traditions of the neighborhoods to which it is connected. Crawford Square provides quality mixed-income housing in a friendly, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood to residents with a wide range of incomes. The project’s street grid is an extension of the Hill District street grid, stitched into the fabric of the existing community.
PNC Firstside Center is a large-scale, environmentally sustainable facility that is used for operations, processing, and many other traditional back-office functions for PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Completed in September 2000, this five-story, 650,000-square-foot (6,038-square-meter) structure has achieved the distinction of being a LEED-certified green building under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. Located on a former brownfield in downtown Pittsburgh, the edifice offers an employee-friendly environment with plenty of natural light, fresh air, and sustainable building systems. As a benefit to the city of Pittsburgh, the redevelopment of this formerly idle site brought new life and activity to this underutilized section of downtown.
Completed in 1999, 900 Penn Avenue Apartments is an urban residential project located on a 0.12-acre (0.04-hectare) site in the overlapping Cultural and Penn/Liberty National Historic Districts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The development includes 22 rental units and 3,600 square feet (335 square meters) of retail space. The first historic restoration involving housing development in the city’s Cultural District, it is notable for its preservation and adaptive use of an abandoned structure–an iconic printer’s building–as well as for its partnership with a local nonprofit group to arrange financing and lease-up of the apartments. The project was the first new residential rental restoration project to occur in downtown Pittsburgh in over 15 years.
Remediation and redevelopment of a 42-acre island in the Allegheny River near downtown Pittsburgh into a high-quality multiuse development featuring office, light industrial, residential, and recreational uses. Through the commitment of significant local, state, and federal resources, the city of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh have transformed a derelict urban brownfield site into a premiere business and residential location offering waterfront amenities and secluded views of the downtown skyline.