City planning board not sold on North Shore ‘Pirates Plaza’
The Pittsburgh planning commission wasn’t that thrilled Tuesday about the vague plans for a “Pirates Plaza” being contemplated as part of the proposal for a new North Shore retail, office and condominium development.
Members wanted more details about the plaza, including its expected cost, since it helps developer Continental Real Estate Companies get the bonus points it needs under the city’s new riverfront zoning to build the eight-story complex on lot 4 adjacent to the Hyatt Place Hotel and PNC Park.
Columbus-based Continental is using the plaza’s public art to help get more height. It would give the developer three of the seven bonus points it needs to build to just under 130 feet high. That’s more than double the 60foot baseline set for height under the riverfront zoning ordinance. Without bonus points, the developer could not build higher.
During a briefing Tuesday, representatives for Continental and the Pittsburgh Pirates gave only a bare-bones description of the plaza.
Bryan Stroh, the Pirates senior vice president of business affairs and general counsel, said there will be open space for fans and visitors to the North Shore to enjoy as well as public art. It also could be a gathering spot before and after games.
“We’re very excited about the plaza, though it’s not finally designed,” he said.
Afterward, Mr. Stroh confirmed that one of the ideas under consideration is some type of tribute to the nine Pirates who have had their jerseys retired and to Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play Major League Baseball. His number has been retired by all major league teams.
However, he did not mention the tribute in the briefing.
“We’ll certainly have plenty of Pirates tieins to the plaza,” he said afterward. “But that’s one of the ways it might look, and when we’re ready to announce the final plaza designs, we will do that.”
Under Continental’s timetable for the mixed-used development, construction of a
445-space parking garage will begin this summer, followed by the start of work on the eight-story building two to three months later. Plaza construction won’t start until spring 2021. It would be completed in conjunction with the building in 2022.
Given the timetable, it’s important for the commission to have firm commitments on the public art, particularly since it is crucial to the points needed for the additional height, commission member Becky Mingo said.
“For us to agree to let you build an additional three stories without some assurances is difficult for us to do at this point,” she said.
Zoning administrator Corey Layman said one possibility could be to draft a conceptual public art plan for the development.
Mr. Stroh told the commission the Pirates and Continental, hired by the baseball team and the Pittsburgh Steelers to develop the land between PNC Park and Heinz Field, would provide as much detail as they could before it considers a vote on the development and the plaza in two weeks.
Afterward, Michael Hudec, vice president of development for Continental, said the commission will get “an understanding of what the cost will be. They’ll have an understanding of the process we’re presenting for approval of the art and implementation of the art.”
In addition to the 15,000-square-foot plaza, the overall development would include the parking garage and the mixeduse building with four floors of office and retail and four floors of condos, 45 to 50 in all. Continental has yet to determine the prices of the units.
There also will be an entertainment component as part of the plaza. That likely will be a restaurant, although Mr. Stroh noted the plaza could be programmed for small concerts for fans after games.