Riverfront 47 inching closer to start of park and trail

Design team finalists for the Riverfront 47 park and trail have been whittled to four, developers announced.

They include two Pittsburgh-based firms, Environmental Planning and Design and LaQuatra Bonci .

Environmental Planning and Design was the master planner for Aspinwall Riverfront Park, which abuts the R47 property.

LaQuatra Bonci’s projects include the Frick Environmental Center, a certified Living Building that achieved platinum LEED status.

Also in the running to formulate the trail that will wind 1.5 miles through Aspinwall, O’Hara and Sharpsburg are Balmori Associates of New York City and Olin of Philadelphia.

Firms were chosen in response to a national request for proposals distributed by the National Association of Planning Professionals and American Institute of Landscape architects.

Final interviews are scheduled for Aug. 28.

Riverfront 47 is a proposed mixed-use development expected to bring 500 housing units, light industry and retail shops. Development plans have not yet been submitted. It is a project of The Mosites Company and Fox Chapel resident Susan Crookston.

Crookston, project manager for the park and trail, said an advisory group comprised of specialists and local officials weighed in on the finalists.

The group includes Davitt Woodwell, president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Darla Cravotta, manager of special projects for Allegheny County, and Trish Klatt, board president of Aspinwall Riverfront Park.

Aspinwall and Sharpsburg council presidents, Tim McLaughlin and Brittany Reno, also reviewed proposals, Crookston said, along with O’Hara Manager Julie Jakubec and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Curator Susan Rademacher.

“We had great responses to the request,” McLaughlin said. “The four finalist each have a body of work that the group felt would best enable them to address the unique task of tying the trails into the current landscape that already exists.”

The R47 land represents more than 75 percent of the unfinished Three Rivers Heritage trail segment between Aspinwall and Millvale, and ends about a half-mile before the planned Etna Riverfront Park section.

Crookston said the site is complex and faces issues most riverfronts in Pittsburgh do, including sewer overflow problems.

“But it’s also exceptional in that it’s a complete watershed and the natural edge of the site is still intact,” she said.

Members of the same advisory group helped R47 developers narrow the design finalists from 10 to four, and Crookston said she hopes they will provide advice and insight at key moments throughout the entire process.

Public input also will be critical to the design, she added, and will be sought when the final consultant is selected. She expects to distribute an all-ages survey in coming weeks.

In May, R47 was awarded a $250,000 planning grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. Money was made available through its Greenway, Trails and Recreation Program.

Developers are paying $50,000 toward the design phase.

Final plans will be submitted for review and approval to Aspinwall, O’Hara and Sharpsburg.

Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya at 412-782-2121, ext. 2, tpanizzi@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tawnyatrib.