Crown Castle Developers Forum Recap
Downtown Pittsburgh is facing many challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but two that cannot be overlooked are the over 50 empty storefronts downtown and the clean/safe program". Everybody really wants a safer and cleaner downtown. The panel of the Crown Castle Developers Forum took that question on.
Gregg Broujos, a senior vice president of leasing for the Buncher Co., serving as moderator, asked the panelist for the event at the Union Trust Building what to do about the 50 empty storefronts in downtown Pittsburgh right now as tabulated by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance.
"I honestly look at that and see opportunity," said Mamadou Balde, market leader for the Pittsburgh office of CBRE. "The first thing we really have to do is educate our retailers about the opportunities."
John Valentine, Executive Director of the DNA, said later, "Mamadou is right. We have the opportunity to create something special. An opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime, if that".
Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Pittsburgh Chief Development Officer Kyle Chintalapalli were the other two panelists that explored various aspects of downtown's current challenges. Chintalapalli mentioned that the Mayor's office was working on a plan with the DNA and the County Executive's office to fill all the storefronts.
Fitzgerald said, "part of it comes down to foot traffic." He noted some major development projects he expects will help to bring a critical mass of people back to the Golden Triangle. The County Executive also expects the build out of the Bus Rapid Transit system to help to usher a wave of students and residents of Oakland to want to come downtown, motivated by a higher-speed system taking them there.
Crime and safety issues were also discussed. Balde noted the new downtown Target store that recently opened on Smithfield Street is "doing better than they probably thought they were going to do" and added "Everybody really wants a safer and cleaner downtown, there's a need to improve the level of safety downtown".
Homelessness is a problem all over and the solution to a problem that has been years in the making may not happen overnight but with buildings like Second Avenue Commons being built for shelter and counseling Pittsburgh is moving in the right direction.
