At its annual meeting on Thursday morning, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership said that after wrenching changes caused by the coronavirus, the region’s business hub has a bright future ahead. But it won’t look quite like the past.
The nonprofit’s leaders provided a recap of 2021, and announced several initiatives aimed at restoring the neighborhood’s vitality as effects of the pandemic linger. Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, meanwhile, urged leaders to ensure that the area’s resurgence is shared by all.
“If Pittsburgh is going to become a city where everyone who lives here and works here can thrive here, we must have a vibrant and thriving Downtown neighborhood,” Gainey said in a keynote address. His speech was delivered by video: He and his administration are in Washington, DC to advocate for infrastructure funding.
Gainey said his office has been working with local and state partners to convert underused office space into new housing, and hopes to make a funding announcement “in the coming weeks.”
“The transformation will ensure that people can live near where they work, create more opportunities to invest in affordable housing for everyone in our city, and create a new feel and vibrancy for our Downtown,” he said.
PDP’s annual report opened with a similar tone about how the pandemic’s challenges have created new opportunities. President and CEO Jeremy Waldrup and PDP board chair Lucas Piatt of Millcraft Investments wrote that Downtown’s recovery is “undoubtedly underway,” but that “we will need to realign our expectation that things will return to exactly what they were in 2019.”
“People are the most important component of Downtown, and we are excited to welcome folks back to the heart of the city,” Waldrup said in a release. According to PDP, an average of 81,000 people spent time in Downtown in March. That’s the highest daily activity since 2020, but it is still just more than half of the neighborhood’s traffic prior to the pandemic.
In addition to an effort to create new housing, PDP announced a $250,000 investment from the Bentner Foundation to support the continuation and expansion of outdoor dining in the Cultural District. The money will be parceled out to 25 restaurants.
An anonymous donation of $3 million will also allow PDP to create an endowment fund for the district. The money will be used to support placemaking efforts, events and public art.
Officials say that as part of their shared efforts to restore and reimagine Downtown, a new approach to policing will be crucial. Gainey said his administration is working to ensure police officers are “walking the beat every single day. It is critical in building lasting community police relationships.”
With the support of PNC Bank and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, work is underway to convert Downtown’s police substation into a Public Safety Center, Gainey said. The center is intended to become a community hub where people can go to be connected with critical services.
In addition, Second Avenue Commons is slated to open later this year, Gainey said, which will provide “much-needed” living space and outreach for people experiencing homelessness.
PDP’s Outreach Team already works to connect people with shelter, drug and alcohol counseling, and other resources such as job assistance. According to the organization’s report, the team conducted more than 600 “interactions and engagements” last year.
