Gainey pitches vision of Downtown Pittsburgh as entertainment, residential hub

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey made a pitch Wednesday for his vision of Downtown as a vibrant residential neighborhood that serves as a hub of art, culture and entertainment.

During a forum on development held at Point Park University, Gainey trumpeted progress in revitalizing the Golden Triangle and painted a rosy picture of its future.

Though most seem to agree that Central Business District offices will never return to their pre-pandemic occupancy levels, Gainey said Downtown remains a place where people come for recreation and entertainment. The mayor said he wants to continue to build on that theme and encourage more residential development.

Point Park wants to be part of that push, university President Chris Brussalis said. The school is hoping to become a central part of what he called a “cultural corridor” that could link the Downtown campus and the Cultural District, providing expanded opportunities for live entertainment and encouraging new businesses.

That plan includes a proposal the university unveiled last week to build a 2,000-seat community center that would host live performances, sporting events and youth programming.

While entertainment could play a key role in Downtown’s future, Gainey said he’s not looking for people simply to visit Downtown. He wants more people to live there.

“We have to create a neighborhood Downtown,” he told dozens of local leaders at the forum.

Despite the mayor’s boosterism, Downtown continues to deal with nagging crime, homeless problems and vacant offices.

Housing demand

Kyle Chintalapalli, the city’s chief economic development officer and Urban Redevelopment Authority board chair, said there already is demand for Downtown housing.

About 95% of residential units Downtown are occupied, he said.

That stacks up to a 30% office vacancy rate as of March, according to Councilman Bobby Wilson, whose district includes part of Downtown.

More residential units are on the way. A $6 million initiative to encourage converting Downtown office spaces into housing — including affordable housing for the city’s low-income residents — will create hundreds of new units.

Three Downtown buildings — the Triangle Building, the former GNC building and a site at the intersection of First Avenue and Market Street — will be transformed into more than 350 new apartments through that effort alone.

Between 600 and 800 more housing units — about 30-40% of which will be earmarked as affordable for low-income individuals or families — are in various stages of the planning process, Chintalapalli said.

The mayor said he hopes to see housing available for everyone Downtown, from the city’s poorest residents to young professionals and people of all income levels.

Business influx

Bringing more residents Downtown, Gainey and Chintalapalli said, would benefit existing businesses and encourage more to move into the Golden Triangle as demand for shops, restaurants and other amenities grows.

Already, Downtown has seen an influx of businesses, said John Valentine, executive director of the Downtown Neighbors Alliance. His organization helped bring 23 new businesses into Downtown last year, plus 15 so far this year.

“It’s night and day,” Valentine said of recent improvements Downtown. “The future looks tremendous.”

Gainey said his vision includes more green space, revitalized riverfront amenities, additional nightlife and extra entertainment options.

The mayor acknowledged there have been concerns in recent years that Downtown is unsafe. But he said that narrative doesn’t reflect the fact that homicides are rare, new businesses are moving in and developers are bringing more housing online.

There were two homicides Downtown last year, and none so far this year, Cara Cruz, a public safety spokeswoman, said.

Gainey pointed to a 30% reduction in homicides citywide since 2022.

But crime Downtown has not vanished completely. Two nonfatal shootings were reported in the Central Business District so far this year, according to the city’s online crime dashboard. And a recent uptick in violent crime this summer spurred an increased police presence Downtown.

Officials are tearing down a homeless camp Downtown this week amid concerns of drug use at the site.

Cranes and ribbon cuttings

Not everyone shares Gainey’s optimism for the state of Downtown.

“I’m still very concerned,” City Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, said Wednesday. “I’m concerned about the reassessments. I’m concerned about people feeling it’s not safe for their employees.”

As property values Downtown continue to plummet, Coghill said, he’s not convinced Gainey’s pitch to revamp Downtown as a residential neighborhood is feasible.

While Coghill said he’d love to see more housing Downtown, he’s not convinced it can make up for the losses the city felt when businesses moved out of office spaces.

Converting skyscrapers into housing, he said, is expensive. Some of those office spaces would be better suited to remain offices.

“I believe the future of a more residential Downtown is a good thing, but you have to have major city amenities to go with it,” Coghill said. “Major corporations have to stay. Law firms have to stay. We can’t have these tenants moving out on a regular basis.”

Wilson said he supports bringing more residential options to the area, and he’s glad some projects are in the pipeline. But he wants to see more being done quickly to address the pressing problem of Downtown office vacancies.

“I’m looking for cranes in the air and ribbon cuttings on residential conversions,” Wilson said. “I’m not seeing cranes in the air and I’m not seeing ribbon cuttings.”

Wilson said officials should be focused on incentivizing more offices, more housing and more businesses and cutting red tape to make it easier to build and redevelop Downtown sites.

He pointed to a tax incentive he spearheaded to encourage developers to build residential and commercial projects in the Golden Triangle.

Lingering concerns

Though Coghill acknowledged homicide rates are down, he thinks some people are still wary of coming Downtown — or asking their employees to do so — because of a perception that it’s unsafe.

He pointed to violent incidents that have generated media attention — like a 73-year-old man being hospitalized after a brutal daytime attack in June — as reasons some people may still fear the area.

Coghill said some people also feel uncomfortable walking by homeless camps Downtown.

“It’s going to take time to reinforce that Downtown Pittsburgh is safe,” he said. “It’s going to take time to reinforce that it’s a good place to do business.”

Wilson, too, said he thinks people have legitimate concerns about safety Downtown.

“If someone perceives it as less safe, that matters,” Wilson said.

Those perceptions, he continued, keep people from wanting to visit the area or returning to Downtown offices.

Gainey on Wednesday said he felt that extra police patrols — as well as other initiatives, like the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s ambassador program — have improved safety and made people feel more welcome.

He also touted increased efforts to keep Downtown clean. That includes extra attention from the city’s Department of Public Works Crews and a team from the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership dedicated to cleaning up the area.

More than steel mills

Brussalis said it will take continued partnerships between the city, local businesses, philanthropic organizations and other entities, like Point Park University, to help Downtown remain vital and quell concerns.

Gainey said he hopes to leverage major events — namely, the 2026 NFL Draft that will be hosted in Steelers Nation — to show the world an image of Downtown Pittsburgh as a vibrant neighborhood.

The goal, Chintalapalli said, is to use events like the draft to demonstrate that Pittsburgh is not just “dusty steel mills” but a great place to visit or live.

Gainey said he hopes to convince people who have left the city to come back home and encourage new people to move to Pittsburgh, live Downtown and launch businesses in the Golden Triangle.