State of the Strip District: Pittsburgh iconic neighborhood undergoing historic transformation
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The weekend is here and especially on Saturday mornings, Pittsburghers converge on the Strip District.
It's become one of Pittsburgh's fastest changing neighborhoods - emphasis on neighborhood.
Wholey's is coming down, the Benkovitz Lot is empty, apartment buildings are underway, and more is to come.
It's a whole new world along the Allegheny River.
This has always been the calling card of Pittsburgh's Strip District - Penn Avenue.
"It attracts people from [the] multistate region," said Pam Austin, president of the Strip District Neighbors. "It's our marketplace, people love it."
"I mean, Penn Avenue is still Penn Avenue, all the old stores are still there," said David Regan, the owner of Harp and Fiddle. "I think the charm is still there."
Now, old-time charm is meeting the all-new Strip, with the revitalized Terminal, the centerpiece of new businesses throughout the Strip.
According to Austin, seven places have opened since their last town hall in October and there are another eight on the list.
The old Wholey's warehouse is making way for a multi-story office building and as for Benkovitz Austin said it will be, "[a] completely residential development, there will be units facing Smallman Street, which will be nice to cross from the church and then more units on Railroad Street with some walking paths through the development so that people can still access the riverfront."
New residential developments are everywhere you turn and there's more to come, with many waiting to call the Strip District home.
"We also are a really nice flat area so people can walk and bike here which is not always true of other neighborhoods in Pittsburgh," Austin said. "With all of the breweries and distilleries and the more experiential retail, I think that does it attract a younger crowd."
"Or retirees who have sold their home and moved into an apartment or a condo so we get it from top to bottom," Regan added.
That means the sidewalks no longer roll up at dusk.
"A lot of people living here now, that made nightlife a lot more active," Regan said.
More than 2,500 people live in the Strip with another 1,600 housing units on the way, more than 11,000 people work there every day, 2.5 million visit the strip each year, and there are 400 hotel rooms with 140 more coming.
But does that mean we're reaching a point where there's nowhere else to build?
In fact, a lot of old buildings are being converted and more and more development is happening toward the Lawrenceville end of the Strip.
It used to be that there wasn't much beyond the Harp and Fiddle, but that is no longer the case.
