Boarded-up storefronts on Pittsburgh’s Smithfield Street — below Mellon Square Park — will be getting a facelift through a new partnership.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh is set to enter into an agreement with a local architect firm to “reimagine the function of the retail spaces.”
The agreement is with Indovina Associates Architects, LLC, which is based in the Strip District, for $110,000.
It will be funded by a Richard King Mellon Foundation grant, according to the URA’s Thursday meeting agenda. The Mellon Foundation in May said it would chip in $250,000 to launch an effort to transform the Mellon Square Park storefronts.
Local officials are exploring opening a restaurant on the first floor that would lead into an outdoor dining space in the square.
Ryan Indovina, the principal at the architecture firm, told TribLive he will be leading the process.
“We are thrilled at the opportunity to work with the URA and their downtown partners to reimagine the retail portion of such a vital and architecturally important piece of Pittsburgh’s history,” he said.
Earlier this year, the URA requested proposals for the Mellon Square feasibility and related architecture and engineering services.
The URA received 19 proposals and ended up choosing Indovina as “the best candidate to lead this effort” by providing consulting services.
“Indovina will analyze and determine the feasibility for the development of a new restaurant and activation of multiple retail spaces at the ground and upper levels of the existing Mellon Square structure,” according to the URA.
Indovina said the company will collaborate with downtown stakeholders “to identify the highest and best use” for the existing retail space, while creating a design that will enliven Smithfield Street and the park space.
The URA said the west side of the plaza is currently lined with large tree planters and a walkway with limited seating — “causing it to be denser and less accessible than the east side.
Indovina will complete the consulting services through data collection, reviews, field surveys and coordination with public and private agencies and utilities, according to URA’s agreement.
A feasibility study will then be produced, which will include “realistic and actionable concepts for building out the space to reach its full potential,” the URA said.
As of now, Indovina said there is not a specific direction for the space.
“One of the initial main goals will be to understand what any current deficiencies are and how they have impacted the functional success of the space in the past,” he said. “We would then take that information and use it as the basis for moving forward with the study.”
David Glickman, president of Keystone Real Estate, said he believes there’s excellent potential for leasing the retail spaces.
“There’s a lot of foot traffic there — a lot of people living and working close by,” he told TribLive. “That’s very centrally located downtown.”
Glickman said he believes there haven’t been tenants there for a few years, but prior, the space was “always occupied.”
Glickman notes that it’s close to major office towers, hotels, schools and residential areas.
Citing the redevelopment of Market Square, the Arts Landing project and incoming Convention Center hotel, Glickman said there’s numerous improvement projects underway in the city.
“There’s a long list of great things happening downtown that sometimes get overlooked,” he said.