Downtown Population increased 25% since 2000 (Pittsburgh, Lebanon: grocer, marketplace, suite)

[pman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Indeed, but you might have to mandate such a solution to them.

certainly something that might happen if million dollar condos are in the neighborhood.
actually, I stayed at the hampton inn in philadelphia many years ago (13th and race) and there's a little street behind it (clarion) that struck me as interesting because the hampton inn clear presents its ass end but they did a nice job dressing it up. the people in these homes couldn't have been uber rich and powerful at the time given the down at the heels condition of the area. it's not as good as an actual entrance but it's better than a loading bay and dumpster...or dumping cars onto the little street.

206 N Clarion St, Philadelphia, PA - Google Maps

[BrianTH]

Any project like that will require enough variances, permits, public expenditures, and so on that you could easily require them to at least design the north side reasonably well.

[pman]

Fredrick’s Soul Food is now open Monday through Saturday on Smithfield Street, in Downtown Pittsburgh, serving breakfast at 6:30 a.m. Fredrick’s specializes in chicken and waffles, ribs and wings, yams, greens, and mac & cheese... Ross says the menu consists of family recipes, and his kitchen staff is headed by his daughters Maya and Seaera. ... 633 Smithfield Street. 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. ..Sal’s City Deli is opening soon in downtown, and will feature made-to-order sandwiches, fresh salads, and homemade soups. It will be located at 245 Seventh Street,... In addition to locations in East Liberty and Cranberry, BRGR’s gourmet burgers are now available to downtown lunch crowds via The BRGR Food Truck. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. it will be parked at Grant Street and Forbes Avenue, Monday through Friday. It also makes regular appearances in the Strip District, on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 21st Street and Penn Avenue.

Eat + Drink: Wild Purveyors Market Stand; Benjamin's Burger Bar; soul food and mobile food

[FreightTrainRunning]

Downtown Living episode of WQED's Experience program. Nice little tour of different apartment buildings and condos downtown.

[pman]

Downtown Pittsburgh seeks evening shoppers, diners - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[pman]

Lucas Piatt, chief operating officer of Millcraft Industries, the Piatt Place owner and developer, said a market is among the uses under consideration for an empty 15,000-square-foot space on the Fifth Avenue side of the former Lazarus-Macy's building...While the space available at Piatt Place totals 15,000 square feet, another 15,000 potentially could be added by expanding into a vacant lot next to the building, Mr. Piatt said...A grocery or market also is under consideration at PPG Place, the six-building complex at the edge of Market Square purchased last year by Raleigh, N.C.-based Highwoods Properties. If Highwoods moves ahead with the project, the market could replace the 20,000-square-foot food court in the lower level of Two PPG Place...

Downtown Pittsburgh residents may get a place to buy their groceries - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[greg42]

Originally Posted by pman

Downtown Pittsburgh residents may get a place to buy their groceries - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Now is the time to strike on this one I think. There's a huge new batch of residential units coming online and as long as you put it in a good central location (i.e. not way over on the end of 7th St like Rosebud) and have a good mix of stuff that will also appeal to the lunch crowd, I don't see why it couldn't work. In the right spot it will also appeal to Point Park students. The need for more space with a high rent makes it a little tougher maybe but should be doable.

15000-2000 square feet seems a little huge though! That's already more than a whole Trader Joe's, for example. I think they'd better keep it a little smaller than that.

[Blackbeauty212]

I like the PPG place location better than Piatt Place. But the absolute best location to me would have been the MSQ CVS building...Just seems like the most dead on Central Location to the Population and it has the best layout for a Grocery Store/Market.

[AaronPGH]

I don't know about PPG place, honestly. It's a little more isolated from the main residential areas and it's also kind of buried... literally. My company has been downtown for two years now and most of my coworkers didn't even know that food court existed. I think Piatt Place has more potential for visibility, which this thing is going to need to survive in the early years.

I also think it would behoove developers to go after a big brand chain. Whole Foods, some sort of Market District Express hybrid, etc. A destination brand that will make noise.

[greg42]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I also think it would behoove developers to go after a big brand chain. Whole Foods, some sort of Market District Express hybrid, etc. A destination brand that will make noise.

Yes, I actually mentioned Trader Joe's not just for size consideration. I had started wondering if that wouldn't be a decent fit after all. Maybe a little too much frozen stuff for people taking longer distances home (downtown workers) but might still work. They sell thermal bags.

Giant Eagle Express would be another format that's about the right size. If, as they have in some cases, this store could figure out the license and store layout that works for selling BEER, then you would add another feature that is lacking downtown. Where do you buy a 6-pack downtown? You'd have to go into a bar. Nobody's set up like a store. I think that kind of place would do well now too. A chain like Trader Joe's wouldn't work for that because you have to have a sit-down cafe with separate checkout to sell the beer; that would be something entirely different for them. But Giant Eagle has already done this in one of their Express stores. Whole Foods has too but they don't have any stores quite that small so would also be a new format for them.