East Liberty Neighborhood Revitalization Plan

Design Collective was engaged by East Liberty Development Inc (ELDI – the local CDC) and The Community Builders (TBC) to prepare a Revitalization Plan for East Liberty, an historically low-income, African American neighborhood in the city of Pittsburgh.

1960’s Urban Renewal unjustly demolished 1,200 homes and displaced 3,800 people and 500 businesses, to make way for 3 high-rise public housing towers with 1,800 units – all supported by surface parking. Penn Circle, a four-lane, one-way road, was intentionally built to encircle and isolate Penn Avenue, the neighborhood’s 6-block Mainstreet, and the BRT Station from adjacent neighborhoods and newer public housing. As a result, the neighborhood experienced significant disinvestment, large swaths of vacant land and boarded homes, and loss of population and local businesses.

The master plan included a series of workshops with residents, stakeholders, and city officials, who called for the demolition of high-rise public housing, and a 1 to 1 replacement together with new mixed-income and market-rate infill rental and for-sale housing, mixed-use development, and phased streetscape and infrastructure investments to transform the neighborhood to what it once was - a thriving, ethnically diverse, and safe working-class community with a vibrant shopping street, locally-owned businesses, a vibrant transit station, and a strong sense of pride. The plan has guided the replacement of high-rise public housing with low-rise mixed-income and market-rate housing, reconstruction of the historic street and block grid, conversion of Penn Circle back to a 2-way street, and the restoration of Penn Avenue. 

Over $500M of combined public and private development investment, including a $15M 2014 Tiger Grant matched with $24M in City and Port Authority funds, includes an “urban” Target, a Whole Foods, and the complete redevelopment of the BRT Station, including a shared garage, new streets, pedestrian bridges, and new transit infrastructure. Penn Avenue, a once deteriorated and isolated Mainstreet, is now a more walkable, vibrant, and neighborhood-serving commercial district that supports small locally-owned businesses. Design Collective partnered with Mosites, the Port Authority’s P3 partner, to design and construct Eastside Bond, a $100M mixed-use project that includes 3 new buildings, 360 housing units, ground floor retail and restaurants, new streets and blocks, and a new BRT transit station.  These catalyst investments have spurred home renovations, increased homeownership, elevated housing values, generated 400+ jobs, and advanced broader neighborhood stabilization.