Residential high-rise, parking planned for cultural district

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is taking the first steps in its plans for a new residential high-rise at Ninth Street and Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Downtown.

It intends to start the process of seeking a developer for the project overlooking the Allegheny River by mid-summer after demolishing the former Duff’s Business Institute Building now located at the corner by the middle of May.

The proposed high-rise is part of the Cultural Trust’s bold plan to build as many as 800 to 900 units of housing in the Downtown cultural district, with most of the activity centered around the Eighth Street block, where it owns much of the property.

Cultural Trust officials will brief the city planning commission Tuesday on the proposed demolition of the vacant six-story Duff’s building, a property that the trust acquired in 2000.

It hopes to start the demolition in early March. The Cultural Trust moved into position to raze the structure after securing a $516,660 state grant and a $774,990 state loan for the project in November.

The grant and loan are expected to cover the entire cost of the demolition, estimated at $1.2 million.

Once the building has been removed, the Cultural Trust intends to offer the site as a staging area for a $175 million mixedused development being proposed by The Davis Companies of Boston and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority at Ninth Street and Penn Avenue.

That project would include up to 185 high-end condominiums, 30,000 square feet of street-level retail and a new 935-space parking garage to replace an existing 583-space garage.

Two Cultural Trust-owned surface lots adjacent to the development site are expected to be part of the project. The existing garage is located next to the Duff’s building.

The Cultural Trust also is proposing to potentially activate the