Pittsburgh 2018 Preview: Building Boom Looms

PITTSBURGH, PA - The coming year should see a bevy of new construction projects begin around Pittsburgh, while others already underway should be completed and open before it’s time to welcome 2019.

The various projects include medical facilities, codos, apartments, hotels and technology space. Here are some of the more significant ones:

• UPMC Vision and Rehabilitation Hospital, Uptown

Construction is slated to begin on this first of three new specialty hospitals that UPMC plans to build as part of a $2 billion expansion plan. The vision and rehabilitation hospital will be built on the UPMC Mercy campus, the UPMC Heart and Transplant Center will rise on the site of the former Children’s Hospital in Oakland and the UPMC Hillman Cancer Hospital will be be built on the UPMC Shadyside campus. The vision and rehabilitation hospital is expected to open in 2020.

• New Allegheny Health Network hospital, Pine

UPMC’s rival medical provider will break ground on a new 160-bed, full-service hospital in Wexford as part of a billion-dollar investment in new facilities and capital projects in southwestern Pennsylvania. The projects will include four new neighborhood hospitals, the first of which will be built in Hempfield.

• Kaufmann’s Grand, Downtown

2018 is the year the more than $100 million redevelopment of the former Kaufmann’s department store at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street should be substantially completed. In the spring, 311 luxury apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy and an Even Hotel should open in the building. The ground floor will have as yet unannounced restaurants and retail shops, and the rooftop will have an infinity pool, tennis court and running track.

• 350 Oliver, Downtown

Located on the site of the former Saks Fifth Avenue department store, the project’s initial component, a 580-space parking garage, opened in November. A retail portion will be completed in 2018 and include Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse, which is expected to open in the spring. Construction is slated to begin soon on Lumiere, a 10-story, 86-unit condominium to be built on top of the garage.

• The Glasshouse, Station Square

The property used to be home to a row of nightclubs that included Woodson’s All-Star Grille, Philthy McNasty’s, Hooters, Matrix and Whim. Then it was an asphalt parking lot for several years. Now rising on the site is the five-story, $60 million Glasshouse, which will include 319 apartments, restaurants, retail and indoor parking for 335 vehicles.

• Empire Apartments, Oakland

By the time the 2018-19 school year starts, this 17-story apartment building targeted for University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University students should be ready for occupancy. The first six floors will be for parking, the seventh floor will have a swimming pool and gym and floors 8 through 17 will be a mix of various sized apartments. The building is located on a former public parking lot at the intersection of South Craig St. and Centre Avenue.

• Mill 19, Hazelwood

Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that the state will award $15 million in tax credits to redevelop a 264,000 square-foot abandoned steel mill on the site of Hazelwood Green, formerly known as Almono.
The project will feature a “building within a building” concept by including a new, high-tech, three-story building under the old mill’s existing steel skeleton. When completed, the building’s primary occurants will be Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and CMU’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative.

Rendering via UPMC.