Long-Closed Pittsburgh Music Venue To Reopen

PITTSBURGH, PA — The owners of the former James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy in the North Side are renovating and expanding the building and will return live jazz music to the space. The move was announced Monday by the city Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is loaning $500,000 to speed the project.

Jonathan Iams of 442 Foreland LLC, which purchased a building a year after the gastropub closed in 2017, hopes to have it open by February. The $5 million renovation of the 123-year-old, 18,700 square foot building will include the bar-restaurant, office and apartment. He did not indicate whether the gastropub name would be retained, but hinted in a news release that the bar could go back to its old name, the James Street Tavern.

”The James Street Tavern has been the home of jazz in Pittsburgh for more than half a century,” Iams said. “I am excited to see the building thrive again as a place for the community to enjoy great food, music and art in an architecturally significant building.”

Mayor Bill Peduto applauded the move.

“This is a historic property that transformed into a place where music lovers can come to hear good live music and build community,” he said. "When James Street closed its doors, the community was clear that they wanted music to come back and we promised we’d make that happen."

442 Foreland LLC.