Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital Plans Major Expansion

PITTSBURGH, PA — Allegheny General Hospital plans to add three new towers to its North Side campus over the next decade. The expansion proposal is detailed in the hospital's new institutional master plan, which will be the topic of a June 13 public hearing before the Pittsburgh Planning Commission.

The Sandusky, James E North Avenue and Hemlock towers would add approximately 840,000 gross square feet of space to the North Side complex. The three buildings would be used for as-yet unspecified medical purposes.

Details on the towers:

• The Sandusky Tower would be built at the corner of Sandusky Street and East North Avenue and replace an existing two-story building. The 12-story, 290,000-square-foot building would include the overbuild of the existing AGH Academic Cancer Center. Existing Sandusky Street parking structures would be demolished to accommodate the new building, but the lost spaces would be replaced elsewhere.

• The James E North Avenue Tower would be built at the corner of East North Avenue and James Street. The 288,000-square-foot building would encompass nine stories above ground and two below. The site currently is occupied by two business-based buildings that would be razed to make way for the new tower.

• The Hemlock Tower would be constructed at the Corner of Hemlock Street and James Street. To be built on a currently unoccupied site, the 260,000-square-foot building would be eight stores above ground and one partially below.

The institutional master plan does not provide a construction timetable and cautions that all three towers might not be built within the next 10 years.

"Implementation of the projects will be prioritized based on the critical needs of the hospital, and the extent to which each site best fits the need," the document states. "Although the sites identified may not all be realized over the next decade, development of these sites is needed to fulfill the mission of AGH to create a remarkable health experience."