Development News

The Olde Allegheny Community Gardens are teaming up with Randy Gilson for the first ever Randyland Celebration on August 28. Guests can enjoy a diverse range of cuisine made with food grown a block away by the 30 community gardeners, including homemade mozzarella, fresh honey, locally caught fish, and eggs from actual Northside chickens.   Local wines from Carlo's Garage Winery and house-made sausage provided by Right by Nature will also be available.

Since 1996, Gilson's incredible Northside DIY dream home on Jacksonia Street, christened Randyland, has been catching the attention of national media and passersby for its vibrant pastel colors, murals, handmade art, and topiaries. In addition to being the architect to his personal vision, Gilson had a key role in shaping the nearby community gardens throughout the 80's and 90's, which feature 40 plots growing food and flowers. While Gilson has proudly shown off his home to the press, the Randyland Celebration marks his first invitation to the public to gather in the fruit of his labor.

"There's going to be food served buffet style, and other food served on trays by the garden chef of the day, and there will be recognition of the people working on the Northside's green spaces," says Olde Allegheny Community Gardens co-coordinator Jana Thompson. "There's also going to be a Chinese silent auction."

The Randyland Celebration occurs Saturday, August 28 at 6 p.m. at Randlyland, on the corner of Jacksonia and Arch Streets. Admission is $15 at the door, or $12 in advance. Admission is free to children under 16. To purchase tickets, email kniess1@comcast.net.

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Source: Jana Thompson, Olde Allegheny Community Gardens
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farley
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Innovation Oakland, a community-wide infrastructure initiative, will unveil a model of their new state of the art information kiosks for the public to test out on August third, in the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital lobby.

The electronic kiosk was designed by four students at CMU's Entertainment Technology Center, and will utilize sophisticated phone and website applications to help Oakland residents and visitors better navigate the neighborhood's shopping, dining, and cultural options. The kiosk is the prototype for phase II of Innovation Oakland, an initiative created two years ago by the Oakland Task Force, the Oakland Business Improvement District, UPMC, and Oakland's three universities to better connect the public to locations and happenings in Oakland's commercial district through new technologies. Based upon the public's response to the prototype, many more kiosks will be placed in both indoor and outdoor locations around Oakland.

"What really guided this project is that we have over 100,000 people in Oakland, in and out on a daily basis. People come here whether they're studying, living here, or working, and there's so much that they just may not be aware of," says Georgia Petropoulos Muir, Executive Director of OBID. "We wanted to come up with a system that could be managed remotely, in terms of keeping information updated."

The Oakland Task Force found a precedent for Innovation Oakland in Zaragoza, Spain's Digital Mile Program, which uses technology to help people navigate the city's commercial area. After talking to the creators of The Digital Mile, and conducting surveys and meetings with the Oakland public, the members of The Oakland Task Force began working on the kiosk model.

"This is a prototype, so we can always tweak it and grow it," says Muir. "We're going to see how the public likes it, and how they interact with it."

Come try out the new technology for yourself beginning at 9 a.m. in the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital lobby in Oakland on August third.

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Source: Georgia Petropoulos Muir, Executive Director of OBID
Writer: John Farleyread on…

Last Thursday, 100 East Liberty community members, along with The Community Builders Inc. and The Urban Redevelopment Authority celebrated the grand opening of the $12.3 million East Liberty Place North, a mixed-use and mixed-income redevelopment of the Northern section of the former East Mall high rise.

East Liberty Place North features 54 apartments, with rents ranging from $325 to $11,000 per month. In addition, the building contains 11,000 square feet of retail space, which is expected to fill up quickly. The Community Builders began construction on East Liberty Place North in March of 2009, using a wide range of green building practices, which they anticipate will make the building eligible for LEED Gold certification.

"East Liberty Place North reflects our vision for creating vibrant city neighborhoods by combining the energy of residents and retail uses," says Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. "The new professionally managed apartments will provide spacious and quality housing options for both the former residents of the East Mall high rise, who lived in substandard housing for much too long, and newcomers to East Liberty, who have high expectations for what city life has to offer."

Demonstrating the growing demand for new housing in East Liberty, only four of the building's apartments have yet to be leased, and The Community Builders report that they have letters of intent with tenants for all of the commercial spaces on the building's ground floor.

Plans to transform the Southern part of the former East Mall high rise are currently in predevelopment, but The URA and The Community Builders anticipate East Liberty Place South will hold 75 apartments and 24,000 square feet of retail space.

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Source: Gigi Saladna, Chief Information Officer for the URA
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farley


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Rarely do alcohol related entrepreneurial endeavors begin with pregnancy, but that's sort of the case with Arsenal Cider House and Wine Cellar.  After six years of making beer, wine, and cider as a hobby, Bill Larkin learned that he and his wife Michelle were having twins.  "We were trying to figure out a good way to keep her home from work, and that's what we came up with," laughs Mr. Larkin.

It took two years of renovating the first floor of their house on 39th Street, investing in the proper equipment, and getting permits to turn what was once Bill's hobby into a full-fledged hard cider retail space and tasting room, which opened June 19th.  Arsenal Cider House and Wine Cellar is named after the old Allegheny Arsenal across the street from their home and business, and the Civil War theme is making its way into the Larkin's branding, as their bottles will soon come artfully decorated with war related imagery.

Currently, the Larkin's have several fermenting tanks in their basement, where they make their cider, fruit wines, and wine coolers.  The beverages, which are certainly unique to Pittsburgh's craft alcohol scene, can be purchased in growlers during their business hours, when guests can sample different concoctions in the tasting room.  "Right now, a new customer can come in and buy a growler, then they can keep the growler and come back in for refills at a lower price," explains Mr. Larkin.

There's something very cozy about the renovated tasting room, with its barrels and antique-looking pine furniture, that somehow go hand in hand with cider.  In the future, the Larkins would like Arsenal Cider House and Wine Cellar to sponsor charitable events and have wine tastings, but as a parent of three children, "I'm just trying to figure out what I'm going to do tomorrow," jokes Mr. Larkin. 

Arsenal Cider House and Wine Cellar is located at 300 39th Street.  They are open from Wednesday through Saturday, from noon to eight p.m., and Sundays from noon to four p.m.

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Source: Bill Larkin, Arsenal Cider House and Wine Cellar,
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farley

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South Craig Street will get a bit more delicious in the coming weeks when Dozen opens a branch store in Oakland.

"The market of Oakland has been probably the largest single location market for us. We just decided that it was time for us to have presence in that area," says James Gray, who owns Dozen, along with Andrew Twigg.  "We could do greater volume and be in greater proximity to the people who already want our product."

The Craig Street location is the result of a merger between the Southside and Squirrel Hill stores. In turn, those locations will ultimately close and the Oakland store will be the central provider for those areas.

Since its opening four years ago, Dozen has been named one of the "Best cupcakes in the country" by MSN City Guides and "Best cinnamon roll in the city" by Pittsburgh Magazine, among numerous other honors. All baking is done in their main Lawrenceville store and doled out to its five locations. Oakland will be its sixth satellite store.

Located next to Starbucks, there is still no official grand opening for Dozen's newest site. Gray said they hope to open its doors within the first few weeks of August. Dozen's full menu will be offered.

"We're very excited to be a part of Oakland," says Gray. "The stars aligned, and there was a space there. Everything kind of worked out for us."

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Source: James Gray, Dozen Bake Shop
Writer: Alex Audia

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Join the residents of Wilkinsburg this Saturday as they celebrate the opening of the Whitney Avenue Art Gallery with a street party.  The gallery is located on the 700 block of Whitney Avenue...the whole 700 block.  That's because WAAG is composed of ten abandoned buildings on and adjacent to Whitney Avenue, which have been decorated with works of art based on the theme "houses in waiting."

WAAG is the brainchild of Project Manager Lazae LaSpina, who received grant money to develop two community workshops, one for children and another for adults and seniors, with the intention of beautifying some of the blighted buildings on Whitney Ave. 

"It was really about having community workshops, where people could get together, participate in something, and have a conversation about what's going on in the neighborhood," says LaSpina, an artist and Wilkinsburg resident.  When the grant money for the project came through, LaSpina enlisted the help of two lead artists to help run the workshops. 

Longtime Wilkinsburg artist Ernest Bey ran the youth workshops, and Kate Joransen, who recently exhibited at The Mattress Factory, ran the adult workshops.  The workshops took place on the weekends, when Bey and Joransen would have discussions with community members about how they could best interpret the "houses in waiting" motif, and helped the groups produce a large number of paintings to hang in the windows and doorways of the vacant spaces.  The Whitney Avenue Neighborhood Group contributed greatly to the project, landscaping the ten overgrown yards with donated supplies from Soergel Orchards and Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery.  

The hard work will be displayed at the free opening party party from four to nine p.m. on July 31st, where a special projection art performance by CMU student Zena Ruiz will be take place.  Guests can bring t-shirts to get screen printed with the WAAG logo.  Food and beverages will be available, and information will be available about the new Landmark Housing Resources Center opening a block away from the project site.

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Source: Lazae LaSpina, Project Manager for WAAG
Writer: John Farley

Image courtesy Whitney Avenue Art Gallery

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Hank Williams may have had a tear in his beer, but there have been times when Western Pennsylvania's hop lovers haven't even had a glass to cry into, as Pittsburgh has lost nearly 20 breweries throughout its history. Fortunately, an intrepid coalition of microbrewers, like Church Brew Works and East End Brewing Company, have been reversing the trend in the recent years, and the newest crew of ambitious brewers at Full Pint Brewing are getting in on the action.

Full Pint is composed of five partners, four of whom used to brew at John Harvard's Brew House in North Huntington. After John Harvard's shut down, the former co-workers teamed up last year with aptly named Mark Kegg to keep beer flowing from the facility.

"We've been in the building for a while, but we weren't allowed to brew, because of zoning issues. April was our final hearing, when we became legal," says Full Pint partner Sean Hallisey.

Since then, Full Pint has spread to approximately sixty taps in bars across Pennsylvania, and just recently began their bottling operation. Like many young breweries, the members at Full Pint are in it for the love of the beer, currently making ends meet with other jobs and enlisting the help of loved ones.

"When we bottle we have a lot of friends come in and help us," says Sean. "As far as brewing goes, we try and designate as much time as possible. There's always somebody there every day of the week."

Full Pint Brewing's facilities can potentially produce about 11,000 barrels per year, and this year they hope to reach production of 5,000 barrels. Be on the lookout for Full Pint's brand new bottles in Pittsburgh bars, which include their Chinookie Imperial Pale Ale, All-In Amber Ale, and White Lightning Belgian ale.

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Source: Sean Hallisey, Full Pint Brewing
Writer: John Farley

Image courtesy Full Pint Brewing
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When Pop City last reported on the $150 million mixed-use development at Bakery Square, tenants and plans were gradually being lined up on a sliding scale of tentativeness and rumor. As the summer passes the halfway mark, many of those businesses and improvements have finally arrived in the East Liberty building, which once housed the Nabisco factory.

Three weeks ago, Coffee Tree Roasters and Anthropologie began operating in the building. Anthropologie, the popular chain store specializing in women's fashion, antiques, and home décor is located in a 12,000 square foot space, complete with a one of a kind interior composed of wooden floors and various rustic touches. Pittsburgh-based Coffee Tree Roasters' newest space contains three garage doors, which open to provide customers with an indoor/ outdoor café vibe.

"We also have a jazz trio playing in the courtyard every afternoon on Saturday," says Gregg Perelman, the managing partner for Walnut Capital, developers of Bakery Square.

In addition to the retailers, a 110 room Marriot Springhill Suites, and 40,000 square foot Urban Active Fitness center arrived in June.

"Anyone who stays at Springhill Suites is allowed to use the Fitness Center," says Perelman.

It's been a long time coming, but Google will finally be moving its Pittsburgh offices from CMU to Bakery Square on August 16th. Google has reserved two floors, totaling 40,000 square feet, for its software development facilities.

Walnut Capital has put a significant amount of energy into making it easier for people to get to Bakery Square, including the construction of a new bike path on Penn Avenue, road improvements, enhanced lighting, and new traffic signals.

Another added bonus is a shuttle, which will run every hour, looping through Squirrel Hill, the PITT and CMU campuses, and back to Bakery Square.

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Source: Gregg Perelman, Walnut Capital
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farley

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Neighbors in the Strip, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting economic development in the Strip District, has been awarded designation as an accredited National Main Street Program by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The prestigious designation is based on a ten point set of criteria, which ultimately demonstrates that an organization has leveraged local historic and business assets to thoroughly promote revitalization of a neighborhood business district.

Neighbors in the Strip was formed in 1999 by stakeholders wishing to better promote economic transformation in the neighborhood, while maintaining its historic character. A decade ago, "the perception of crime in the strip was very high," notes Becky Rodgers, Executive Director of NITS. "Looking back over the past ten years, with a lot of hard work from the police, the DA's office, and the stakeholders, crime has decreased in the Strip by 58 percent. If you want to keep economic development happening, you have to keep crime down."

In addition to making the neighborhood safer, NITS works with local proprietors to promote business. In fact, forty new businesses are scheduled to open soon, including a public market, which will be opening in August.

"We're mainly zoned urban-industrial in the Strip, which is sort of the wild west of zoning," says Becky. "So when a new project comes along, there are certain zoning exceptions that have to go in front of the zoning board, and we go with business owners to the board to support those variances."

Other factors that lead to the Main Street designation include NITS' strong cooperation with its partners, which include the City, the URA, and a large number of non-profits, as well as the substantial grant programs they offer. Neighbors in the Strip has played a key role in helping the neighborhood evolve into a residential area in the 2000's, aided by their Upper Floor Grant, which encourages the residential development of underutilized floors above commercial businesses.

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Source: Becky Rodgers, Executive Director of Neighbors in the Strip
Writer: John Farleyread on…

Music is one of the most universal forms of self-expression, yet equipment costs, lessons, and ticket prices often make music inaccessible to many.

"We don't care if people read music, we don't care if people are going to play shows, we don't care if people break even," says Joy TouJours. "We want people to play music like they'd play a board game. It's not something to stress out about."

Those sentiments could be considered central to the ethos of Project 53, a free and family friendly music resource center that TouJours, Joseph Reichenbacher, and a group of volunteers operate out of a house in Polish Hill.

After renovating the building, Project 53 began last Fall as a space to host free all-ages music shows, as well as an eclectic library of instruments ranging from guitars to glockenspiels, designed for anybody to buy (or in many cases, just have), borrow, or simply play around with. In the last year, Project 53 has evolved into far more, and even its creators can't fully define just what it is.

"I'd thought of us more as a resource center for people who already played music, but I think we're going to be working a lot more with kids who maybe haven't ever played music," says TouJours.

Besides having shows, movie screenings, free instrument repairs, and an ever-growing assortment of instruments to do pretty much whatever you want with, Project 53 has been conducting workshops for children around Pittsburgh, which involve bringing a truck filled with instruments for kids to try out, with the hope that they'll become hooked on music.

Project 53 is located at 3345 ½ Melwood Avenue, and their open hours are 1-4 p.m. on Saturday. You can reach them at 412-897-6943 for more information.

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Source: Joy TouJours, Project 53
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farley
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After three years of planning and construction, the $6.4 million Glass Lofts development at 5491 Penn Avenue, in the heart of the Penn Avenue arts district, is ready for residential occupancy, and they're inviting interested buyers to a quirky open house event on the evening of Thursday, July 22.

Friendship Development Associates, with the help of Obscure Games Pittsburgh, is hosting the Glass Lofts Hide and Seek event in the building, where guests can have free run of the building's excellent hiding spaces, such as retractable glass garage doors and open-air balconies. An assortment of free food will be provided by the contemporary American bistro, Avenue B.

The Glass Lofts were designed by architect Arthur Lubetz, and feature high efficiency heating and cooling, low impact materials, high ceilings with skylights, and concrete floors. The eighteen loft spaces, which will be set for move-in by the beginning of August, range from 845 to 1,873 square feet, and start at $180,000. In addition, the Glass Lofts features several artist studios, and a 3,200 square foot restaurant space.

If you'd like to come hide, seek, eat, or receive more information, you can contact Sarah Dileo at 412-441-6147 extension 7, or at sarah@friendship-pgh.org.

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Source: Sarah Dileo, Marketing and Communications Manager for Friendship Development Associates
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farleyread on…

On July 7, the Hill House Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with Shop n' Save, announced that it signed a lease agreement with grocer Jeff Ross to run a new Shop n' Save grocery store on Centre Avenue in the Hill District.  The announcement is a reason for many neighborhood residents to celebrate, since the Hill District has not had a full service grocery store in over two decades.

The store will be located at the corner of Centre Avenue and Heldman Street, and will feature an array of amenities, including fresh produce, a deli, bakery, prepared foods, and a Pump Perks Gas Reward program.

"The grocery store will not only benefit the physical health of community residents, but the economic growth of this community," says Victor Roque, President and CEO of HHEDC.

Ground will be broken on the new 29,500 square foot facility in late Fall, and is expected to be completed by Thanksgiving 2011.  The HHEDC will own the building, and lease it to Mr. Ross, who owns four other Shop n' Save businesses in Western Pennsylvania.

"We believe the Hill District is more than just a promising business opportunity," says Mr. Ross.  "It's a storied neighborhood, and we are thrilled to be part of its comeback."

The Hill District community has been an active participant in the process of getting a grocery store in the neighborhood, having taken part in a number of meetings as part of the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement.  The agreement was signed in 2009, between residents, the Pittsburgh Penguins, Sports and Exhibition Authority, Urban Redevelopment Authority, and Allegheny County. 

The HHEDC notes that the new grocery store is coming at a great time, not only for residents, but for people coming to the neighborhood from other places to enjoy the revival of cultural institutions, like the Kaufman Center, The Crawford Grill, and Granada Theater.

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Sources: Tiffanie Williams, Communications Manager for HHEDC
                Jeff Ross, Independent Grocer
Writer: John Farley

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While the lower Strip District bustles with restaurants, sports memorabilia, and an army of woodwind buskers, the stretch of Penn Avenue that runs roughly between 25th Street and Lawrenceville is sort of a no man's land, save for a handful of warehouses and wholesale stores.  Now there's a reason to go there with the addition of Salem's Market and Grill at 2923 Penn Ave.

After years of operating a successful halal grocery store in Oakland, Mr. Abdullah Salem and his family opened a restaurant, and soon to be market, in the Strip last January.  Don't judge it by the somewhat bare bones interior.  What Salem's lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in delicious and authentic food, hospitality, and yes, consciousness.

Salem's offers a large menu, replete with fresh baked breads, sticky (in the good way) desserts, shish kabobs, gyros, soups, shawarma, and more.  All their meat is locally and sustainably sourced, and always slaughtered halal.  Halal butchering entails the individual, hand slaughtering of an animal out of view of other animals.  The quick cut of the throat results in a very fast death, and while that description might not make have you salivating, halal slaughter is generally considered a very humane and ethical method of producing meat.  Did we mention that nearly every item on the menu clocks in under seven dollars?

In addition to the quality of the food, the Libyan family and their staff warmly greet you when you walk in, and provide helpful advice regarding your order.

After some typical business-related delays, Salem's plans to have the market portion of their Strip District location in action by August, and will offer a wide assortment of fresh halal meats, seasonings, and Middle Eastern ingredients in the part of the building next door to the restaurant. 

Salem's is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.  On Fridays they are closed between 1 and 2 p.m. for prayer.

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Sources: Mr. Abdullah Salem, Salem's Market and Grill
Writer: John Farley

Photograph copyright John Farley


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The City of Pittsburgh, through the Department of City Planning, is beginning the process of creating OPENSPACEPGH, one of twelve components of PLANPGH, a comprehensive plan for the city's development over the next 25 years. The purpose of OPENSPACEPGH is to determine the best uses for open spaces in the city, and the organizers are asking Pittsburgh residents to fill out an online survey, in order to provide public input into the decision-making process.

"The survey is just one prong of public engagement. The ultimate goal is to try and cast as broad a net as possible, and try to reach as many segments of the population as possible. We will have traditional public meetings, where we will be presenting the plan as we move forward, and we'll be having events in the parks," says Department of City Planning Senior Planner Andrew Dash.

The overall plan for OPENSPACEPGH, along with the other components of PLANPGH, is expected to be completed by mid to late 2011, when it will be adopted by City Council. The initiatives encompassed in the plan will take four to five years to complete.

So far, the ideas for the plan include utilizing vacant land in the city for traditional parks, as well as storm management, energy production, urban forestry, and public gardens.

"All the data and population indicators state that the decline in population is really going away, and as we're starting to turn the corner, it makes a lot of sense for us to start planning for natural areas to be preserved as we move to an era where there will potentially be a population increase," explains Andrew.

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Sources: Andrew Dash, Senior Planner for the Department of City Planning
               Noor Ismail, Director of the Department of City Planning
              Joy Abbot, Deputy Director of the Department of City Planning
Writer: John Farley
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Architecture for Humanity Pittsburgh is hosting a fun event for a good cause on Saturday, July 24.

Your mission is to assemble a two to five person team, armed with digital cameras and transfer cables, for a photographic scavenger hunt.  Teams will explore a route by foot, starting at Voluto Coffee and ending at The Sharp Edge, documenting the beautiful and the ugly in Pittsburgh's neighborhoods. 

"We're going to finish with a happy hour at the end of the scavenger hunt, where we'll look at the photos, and talk about the locations, using them as a starting tool for discussion," says Architecture for Humanity member Sophia Berman.  The participants will pose questions about the spaces they've photographed, such as, "could we put a bench here, could we fix this place up, and who do we need to talk to in order to get these projects going," Sophia adds.

Prizes will be awarded to the teams that produce photographs which best identify needs that could be met, and include a $50 gift certificate to Construction Junction and a four class pass to BYS Yoga on the Southside.  Architecture for Humanity will also be selling screen printed t-shirts and bags at the event.

Registration for the scavenger hunt begins at Voluto Coffee on 5467 Penn Avenue at 9:30 a.m.  The hunt will end at The Sharp Edge on 302 St. Clair Street at four p.m.  Registration for student teams is $15, and $25 for professional teams.  Pre-registration is encouraged, which can be done by contacting Architecture for Humanity by email.

Architecture for Humanity Pittsburgh is a grassroots organization that provides pro-bono design services for the purpose of improving the city.  Some of their past projects have included designing a fence in Lawrenceville, to make a vacant lot more appealing as a community space, and making dollhouses out of recycled products for under-privileged children. 

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Sources: Sophia Berman, Architecture for Humanity
Writer: John Farley

Image courtesy Architecture for Humanity.




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