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Philadelphia firm to draft proposal in 90 days

Friday, April 11, 2003

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The Urban Redevelopment Authority has hired a Philadelphia firm to develop a plan for reviving the Hill District's long-ailing commercial corridor.

The agency yesterday gave New Markets LLC a 90-day exclusive deal to prepare a revitalization plan for the Centre Avenue retail district, which is pocked with vacant and boarded-up buildings and litter-strewn vacant lots.

At the top of the list, said URA Executive Director Mulu Birru, will be a supermarket, so Hill residents don't have to go to Oakland or the South Side for groceries.

One longtime businesswoman praised the effort. "I've seen the good times of the '50s and '60s in the Hill and I've seen the Hill torn down," said Roberta Brassell, owner of Black Beauty's Lounge at Centre Avenue and Erin Street, who plans to open a bakery across the street. "Now it's coming back, and I've said I want to be a part of this rebirth."

Brassell wants to hear more about a "needs assessment" the URA wants New Markets to do -- a list of stores and services the Hill lacks and the areas where the new stores would go.

New Markets official Rob Farmer said it's too soon to say what kinds of businesses the company would go after, but said he may have more to say next week.

"We are still in the early stages of this," he said.

Birru said that if 90 days isn't enough for New Markets to come up with a plan, he is willing to give the company an additional three months.

The URA has acquired vacant properties along Centre Avenue, and with the nine lots it bought yesterday now has more than 100, Birru said. Six of the new nine are in the 2100 block of Centre, bordering Brassell's tavern and bakery.

Such extensive control of properties will speed the renewal process, Birru said.

New Markets will work on the redevelopment plan with the Hill District Community Development Corp., a nonprofit neighborhood group led by Andrea Wright-Banks, and Ebony Development Co., led by Irvin Williams and his daughter, Jania Williams.

In the past five years the Williams firm has developed two office buildings, Williams Square and One Hope Square, along Centre. He wasn't sure yet what his role will be in the latest renewal effort.

The target area is bounded roughly by Heldman Street on the west, Wylie Avenue on the north, Soho Street on the east and Rose Street on the south. Centre runs through the area.

City Councilman Sala Udin, who represents the Hill, applauded the choice of a development team.

"I can't tell you how excited the Hill District community is about the long-awaited possibility of revitalization -- not just about the Centre Avenue area but about what it will spur for the whole Hill," he said.

New housing has been built on the fringes of the Hill, including Crawford Square near Mellon Arena and the Oak Hill apartments on the border of the Hill and Oakland and housing replacement and renovation has begun along Bedford Avenue.

Udin said a key will be getting a supermarket and other stores that new and old Hill residents need.

Even though the Hill is predominantly black, Udin said that for most of its history "it has been a multicultural mecca in the city," and noted that former Mayor Sophie Masloff and County Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht grew up there.

"It just shows how much of the history of Pittsburgh the Hill District represents," he said. Over the years, he added, "People have come long distances to get to the Hill for great food, great music and cultural amenities."

The Hill's central location between Downtown and Oakland makes its revitalization even more important for the welfare of the city, he added.

"Many people want to restore the Hill to greatness," he said.