Fifth, Forbes poised to turn the corner
Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 01:00PMPittsburgh Post-Gazette - January 04, 2009
By Mark Belko
Don't put away the champagne just yet. In 2009, there finally might be something to celebrate in Downtown's Fifth and Forbes corridor, long plagued by boarded-up storefronts and low-end retail.
After the collapse of high-profile city-led redevelopment efforts over the past decade, the corridor appears poised to turn the corner, with the completion of several projects that could reshape Downtown in ways not seen since Renaissance II more than two decades ago.
The latest resurgence, totaling more than $300 million, will be built on housing, with nearly 140 units to be finished this year, as well as a mix of office and retail space.
Next month, the first residents will be moving into luxury condominiums at Piatt Place, the former Lazarus-Macy's store, at Fifth Avenue and Wood Street. About four months later, the Three PNC Plaza building, also on Fifth, Downtown's first new skyscraper since 1987, will be greeting its first tenant, the Reed Smith law firm.
By late July, the new Downtown YMCA will open in the former G.C. Murphy store on Fifth, and the first of 46 apartment residents will be settling in, as part of a $40 million transformation.
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