Redeveloping the sprawling site of the former LTV coke works in Hazelwood could take decades.
But part of the recipe for successfully redeveloping the site and revitalizing economically distressed Hazelwood is finding ways to attract visitors to the area immediately, a panel of visiting experts told Pittsburgh officials Thursday.
“Undeveloped space can be activated by events,” said Ignacio Bunster-Ossa, an architect and urban planner with Philadelphia-based firm Wallace, Roberts & Todd, citing festivals, concerts and recreational events as potential draws.
Andre Brumfield, regional director of planning and urban design at Gensler Chicago, said a three-day concert led by the Dave Matthews Band on the 575-acre site of U.S. Steel's former South Works in Chicago drew more than 120,000 people to the long-dormant area and generated excitement about proposed redevelopment there.
“The sooner you get people to the site, the sooner it becomes real to people,” Pittsburgh Planning Director Ray Gastil said.
Bunster-Ossa, Brumfield and seven other experts — in fields including architecture, urban policy and real estate development — traveled to Pittsburgh this week through a fellowship program offered by the Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership.
They analyzed the proposed $1 billion Hazelwood redevelopment. On Thursday, they issued preliminary findings and recommendations.
The developers suggested ways to improve the connection among the 178-acre site, Hazelwood and the Greater Pittsburgh area — including commercial centers in Downtown and Oakland. Their suggestions centered on the neighborhood's transportation network, which is in dire need of improvement, and on ensuring that redevelopment of the site goes hand-in-hand with development in the surrounding areas.
Redevelopment efforts are expected to start with a 1,600-foot-long building known as Mill 19, one of two former industrial buildings left standing. Developers haven't decided how the building will be used, but they want to retain its gritty, industrial character.
Brumfield, a co-chairman of the visiting group, said the first phase of development should include work in the surrounding Hazelwood area, where about a quarter of the 5,000 residents live in poverty and the business district is riddled with closed storefronts and run-down buildings.
“We think it's the right message to send to the neighborhood and to Pittsburgh,” Brumfield said, noting that many people with whom the group met tended to regard the development site and the neighborhood as “almost different worlds.” That shouldn't be the case, he said.
Fellow co-chairman Bert Mathews, president of Nashville's The Mathews Co., said he is “a little bit skeptical” about plans for 2,700 residential units on the site, given the area's lack of walkability or other amenities. The project originally called for 1,300 units.
Tom Fontaine is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7847 or tfontaine@tribweb.com.
