Bakery Square, a $113M mixed-use project planned for a former Penn Ave. Nabisco facility, has received a $10 million tax increment financing package (TIF). On Dec. 17 Pittsburgh City Council voted to award the TIF to the 495,000-square-foot project, which is under development by
Walnut Capital Partners.
“The tax financing allows us to do the office component. There really is a need for more office space in this corridor. We already have quite a bit of interest in it,” says Anthony Dolan, with Walnut Capital, of the project's 216,000 square feet of office space. “We’re anxious to move forward. One of the pieces of the puzzle is to foster continued development in the core of
East Liberty.
Two-and-a-half million of the TIF will go back to the City for redoing the intersection near the bus loop.”
The TIF package will also support necessary infrastructure improvements on roads and traffic signals. "It's a very important step for the project and for the revitalization of the surrounding community, and will help with converting Penn Circle back to two-way traffic," says Robert Rubenstein, with the
URA.
Bakery Square also calls for a 110-room
SpringHill Suites hotel, which
is outside the TIF district. “Our intent is to start full-blown
construction during the spring of 2008,” adds Dolan, who also emphasizes the importance of the project's 850-space garage. “You really need more of a daytime population in that
corridor. The quantity and quality of restaurants can’t survive without that." The 6.5-acre project will also house 135,000 square feet of retail and a 41,000-square-foot fitness center.
Writer:
Jennifer BaronSources: Anthony Dolan, Walnut Capital; Robert Rubenstein, URA
Photograph copyright Brian Cohen