West End Village is launching a comprehensive master plan to outline for future development in the changing neighborhood.
The master plan, which will take about six months to complete, is made possible by a $150,000 grant obtained by Senator Wayne Fontana with the help of the URA. The consultant team is lead by Massachusetts-based architecture and urban design firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz (CKS), and includes Wilbur Smith Associates to focus on transportation, parking and pedestrian services; City Visions to focus on real estate development; and Klopfer Martin Design Group for landscape design.
Key investors and representatives will be presenting the master plan at 3:30 p.m. today at Artifacts, 110 S. Main St. in West End Village.
Dru Simeone with West Pittsburgh Partnership says the plan will look at riverfront property, creating trail access into Downtown and the North Side, determining the best use for key sites in the core Main Street area, possible construction of new housing, and tourism opportunities around the historic Old Stone Tavern.
Essentially, West End Village wants to be identified as something quite different than the West End and all the implications that has, and wants to be the kind of neighborhood to which artists, eaters and shoppers flock. Simeone says West End Village already is a destination neighborhood, but can become even more so with the right planning. Current destination spots include James Gallery, Sue's Cozy Corner Cafe, Moop handmade handbags and Zoe's Tea & Herb Café, as well as a slew of home goods store such as Artifacts, Ceramiche Tile & Stone, Frame Foundry, Jacob Evans Kitchen & Bath and Caldwell's Windoware.
"West End Village has been on a very consistent path to growth. We see the master plan as not only keeping up that pace but taking it to the next level," says Simeone.
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Writer: Caralyn Green
Source: Dru Simeone, executive director, West Pittsburgh Partnership
Photograph courtesy of West Pittsburgh Partnership