The Pittsburgh City Planning Commission gave the green light to the $740 million project in the city’s Chateau neighborhood, called the Esplanade, on Tuesday.
The Esplanade has been in the works since 2017 and plans include a giant Ferris wheel on the bank of the Ohio River, an apartment building with a mix of high-end and affordable units and a pavilion filled with restaurants and shops. The roads and paths that weave through the site include pedestrian-friendly features like raised tables to slow traffic, well-lit sidewalks and bike lanes.
“Often communities really want the one little piece — what we keep calling a silver bullet — like the one project that's going to change the whole neighborhood and community,” said Peter Quintanilla, commissioner on the city of Pittsburgh Planning Commission. “And this is not a silver bullet. This is like a massive, humongous bullet because it's quite a large project and it's one of those transformational projects.”
Right now, the site is a 15-acre slice of brownfield and old industrial buildings between the Ohio River and State Route 65. Piatt Companies, the real estate developer for the project, have a plan for the first phase of development that includes an outdoor plaza, the apartment building with 20% of the units marked affordable, a restaurant and retail complex and a parking garage. The entire site will be raised to prevent flooding, since it sits on a floodplain. And Piatt will spruce up the Three Rivers Heritage trail that winds alongside the development with lighting and bathroom facilities.
Future phases could include an office tower, more apartments or condos and a hotel with a large aquarium attached.
It’s part of a broader vision to link the industrial Chateau with the historic Manchester neighborhood, which are currently separated by Route 65 and layers of concrete overpasses. Other plans include making Beaver Avenue that runs alongside the development into a two-way street and putting in paths for pedestrians and bikes through the underpass at Juniata Avenue.
Piatt’s CEO, Lucas Piatt, said this project could lead that reunification, “from Manchester back to the riverfront, improving the riverfront so it can be enjoyed by everybody, creating public spaces that your kids can come and enjoy.”
So far, Piatt has secured $25 million in grants from the state to get started on this project.
Each building in the Esplanade will be up for individual review and vote before they start building. The developers want to break ground early next year and hope to finish the first phase of the project by 2028.
