On July 10,
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced the selection of the RiverParc design team for a $460 million project that will become the country's first master-planned "green" mixed-use, arts/residential neighborhood.
The riverfront development spans the Allegheny, from Fort Duquesne Boulevard to Penn Avenue and from Seventh to Ninth street. The six-acre site will feature 700 residential units, 160,000 square-feet of retail and a 225-room boutique hotel. The development will create 9,200 jobs. Housing will include a variety of high, mid and low-rise lofts, condos, flats and townhomes.
The RiverParc team is led by master developer
Concord Eastridge of Washington, D.C., and Phoenix. Participants include: Behnisch Architekten of Stuttgart, Germany; architectsAlliance of Toronto; Gehl Architects of Copenhagen, Denmark; WTW Architects of Pittsburgh; climate engineer Transsolar; Gateway Engineers of Pittsburgh; Turner Construction of Pittsburgh; financier Merrill Lynch; retail advisors S. Hamilton Group LLC of Washington, D.C.; parking advisors Walker Parking Consultants of Denver; legal advisors Keevican Weiss Bauerle & Hirsch LLC of Pittsburgh, and Howard Hanna.
“We are thrilled to partner with the Cultural Trust. We believe this vision is truly exciting. Retail and cafes will spill into downtown’s alleys,” says Susan Eastridge, CEO of Concord Eastridge.
The plan includes LEED-certified and environmentally sensitive buildings, parks and green spaces, vertical winter gardens and roof terraces, and an art gallery.
The announcement marked the conclusion of a 12-month competition and a 20-year effort by the Cultural Trust. The competition drew more than 100 interested developers, architects, artists and design professionals, and a distinguished panel of local, national and international jurors guided the selection. Juror Robert Campbell, architect and Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic of the
Boston Globe, referred to the decision as an “extraordinary outcome.”
“This is world-class development, design and architecture,” says James E. Rohr, chairman of the
Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
“Downtown Pittsburgh is an asset without equal in the U.S. today. We can move forward at a great pace,” says Thomas L. VanKirk, project chairman of the Riverfront Development. VanKirk added that project criteria included an open and inclusive approach, connectivity to the water and surrounding communities, outstanding and sustainable design, and an emphasis on housing and retail.
“This is economic development, a key leg of the revitalization of downtown. As Pittsburgh goes, so goes the region,” says Dennis Yablonsky, Pennsylvania's Secretary of Community and Economic Development.
This fall, the team will engage residents, artists and members of community organizations during public forums. Construction starts in mid-2007 and residential sales begin in January.
The Urban Land Institute calls the project one of the most significant urban planning developments in the nation.
Writer: Jennifer Baron
Rendering courtesy of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust