A stretch of Penn Avenue between Fifth Avenue and East Liberty, dubbed “Bakery Row,” is the subject of a community meeting on October 4, at 7 p.m. Co-sponsored by the
Shadyside Action Coalition (SAC) and
East Liberty Development, Inc. (ELDI), the meeting is being held at Calvary Church at 315 Shady Avenue.
An address by councilman Bill Peduto will be followed by discussions facilitated by Maureen Hogan and break-out sessions on topics such as future plans for Reizenstein School and Bakery Square, a mixed-use development that will bring condos, a small hotel, offices and retail to the 495,000 sf Nabisco building.
“All of a sudden there are a bunch of huge parcels that might become available. We are going to educate folks on the nature of these sites,” says Rob Stephany, director of commercial development with ELDI.
Participating architect
Rob Pffafmann hopes to engage community stakeholders, Mellon Park users and Point Breeze, Shadyside and East Liberty residents. “We want people to understand how the place came to be. This will reflect both a reality check and what neighbors want.
“We all thought Giant Eagle and Reizenstein would be there forever,” says Pfaffmann, who describes the area as East Liberty’s Strip District. “Now, Reizenstein is up for sale and Ellis is doing a master plan. This is a great opportunity to extend the success of downtown East Liberty and the Baum-Centre corridor.”
Public transportation and traffic patterns are a core issue. “In terms of how East Liberty is or is not connected to Shadyside, the bus way was always sort of the Berlin Wall of the two neighborhoods,” says Pfaffmann. “The advent of
Whole Foods and EastSide is starting to knock down that wall.”
Writer: Jennifer Baron
Source: Rob Pfaffmann, Pfaffmann + Associates and Rob Stephany, ELDI
Image courtesy of ELDI