Plans call for vacant lot to become town square

Public space to host markets, gatherings

If all goes as planned, a vacant lot in the heart of Braddock will be transformed into a public square, concluding the redevelopment of a prominent piece of real estate once occupied by UPMC Braddock hospital.

Braddock Civic Plaza will serve as a gathering space, accommodating activities such as farmers markets and music shows, along with food trucks. It will stretch over the size of about a football field along Braddock Avenue, between Fourth and Fifth streets.

Once complete, the plaza will represent an “important step toward making Braddock a better place to live, work and raise a family, and toward restoring vitality and a sense of purpose to Braddock Avenue …,” said Laura Zinski, chief executive of the Mon Valley Initiative, or MVI.

The Homestead-based economic development coalition is the lead developer on the project, and it plans to start seeking bids for construction in coming months, said Patrick Shattuck, director of real estate for the nonprofit. Construction is expected to begin later this summer and could finish in the fall.

The plaza is estimated to cost nearly $1 million, which includes a reserve fund for maintenance and public works expenses, Mr. Shattuck said. It has drawn funding from a number of foundations, and late last month the MVI announced that it had received its first public money: a $200,000 grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Stretching over about two square blocks, the site began reemerging not long after the closure and demolition of UPMC Braddock in 2010. About half of it is now occupied by contemporary townhouses, part of a development called the Overlook that was completed in 2013.

Across Fifth Street, on what once was the hospital parking lot, a 20,000-square-foot commercial building was erected, with an Allegheny Health Network urgent care center as the anchor tenant. Across Braddock Avenue from that building, the Free Press buildings were rehabilitated by the MVI, remade into apartments and commercial space that includes a social justice organization and a studio specializing in wool jewelry and glassware.

The renewal, Mr. Shattuck said, has made the borough a “stronger community,” generating a “hub of activity” in its commercial district.

Redeveloping the site became the focal point of a yearslong