Retail Recruitment Plan
In 2023 and 2024, a total of 73 retail businesses were engaged by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance, comprising various categories. The outcomes of these engagements include 37 businesses opened and 4 businesses closed.
Engagement efforts were strategically prioritized based on business types and community needs. The first priority was food establishments, particularly restaurants, due to their popularity and demand in the community. Clothing retail was the second priority, aiming to enhance the shopping experience downtown.
While an exact vacancy rate for retail spaces has not been established due to incomplete data, we initially started with 76 empty storefronts. This number increased to 81 due to additional closures and other factors. Thanks to ongoing efforts, the current count of empty storefronts has been
reduced to 48.
The recent business engagements have significantly decreased the vacancy rate. The increase in certain business types, particularly food establishments, has contributed to the overall reduction in empty storefronts. Meanwhile, some businesses have unfortunately closed, emphasizing the need for continued support and engagement.
The following is an outline of a plan by the Downtown Neighbors Alliance (DNA) to revitalize Downtown Pittsburgh post COVID-19.
The vision is to create a unique, urban village with independent boutiques, cafes, and other retail that you will not see in malls. This will include music, outdoor and diverse ethnic dining, cafes and shopping with a focus on independent minority boutiques.
A primary component of the plan is to create jobs and increase diversity in the Golden Triangle. A goal we will achieve is to have thirty percent of the new retail businesses we recruit downtown be minority owned. It is of the utmost importance that people from all walks of life are included increating our vision of a diverse Downtown.
DNA has partnered with commercial real estate agents to assist in recruiting independent businesses to fill the empty storefronts. This partnership has now brought over 30 new businesses downtown with the plan to attract more businesses to the street fronts of Downtown.
Our team not only recruits Pittsburgh entrepreneurs but we travel to other cities looking for diamonds in the rough, unique retail, that will add a flavor to Downtown Pittsburgh that has not been seen here before. The staff at the DNA previously put a database together of over seventy empty storefronts that dot the landscape of Downtown Pittsburgh. Our goal is to change that landscape to have every storefront occupied in three years.
Along with the plan for storefront retail recruitment, a second-floor economy program has been created with a database of second-floor retail availability. The DNA feels that we can fill the upstairs spaces with attractions that will go into the second-floor units (IE: salons, dance studios, martial arts, yoga studios etc.).
Importantly, Smithfield Street will have a total remodel. By adding more boutiques and cafes to this corridor we will create an identity for Smithfield Street that will transform the street to become a shopping district.
The DNA's impact will be job creation (we estimate over 250 new jobs), minority wealth, a brighter, more vibrant downtown and national recognition as Downtown Pittsburgh is by far the most visited neighborhood by tourists and businesspeople.
We also believe a vibrant, unique village will create a community where more potential residents will want to reside and a domino effect will take place as more businesses, office and retail, will look to locate here.
