PITTSBURGH — It’s a building the length of five football fields. So, it’s no wonder that transforming the old produce terminal in the Strip District is quite the undertaking.
“Vibrancy is the vision. We want to bring people back to the terminal,” said Dean Welch, Vice President of McCaffery Inc. in Pittsburgh, the developers.
The building is ready for tenants to start building their new spaces, and the first one is getting ready to open soon.
Channel 11 was able to take you inside to see what it looks like.
Crews are putting the finishing touches on the Fine Wine and Good Spirits store. Shelves are up in most of the space and bottles will be put on them soon. Welch says it is on track to open by Christmas.
“We have painted the steel, but you can still see that the structure is celebrated,” Said Welch. “The light comes in from the clear story windows.”
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The pandemic only pushed back construction by about a month at the Strip District Terminal. Right now, The Fine Wine and Good Spirits store is the only one that has walls up. The rest of the building is a bit rawer. But that is where Welch says 30-50 businesses will put up walls and make this space their own. So far, there’s a brewery, a garden store, and golf shop planning to move in.
“We want it as eclectic as possible because we want to draw all people,” said Welch. “With so much residential coming to this neighborhood we want service-oriented tenants as well.”
For those who don’t live in the Strip, there’s a parking lot with 200 spaces in the back. Because the building is the length of five football fields, there are passageways to easily get to the front. They have artwork that looks like produce stickers and light fixtures made from fruit crates.
We want to “preserve what’s so special about this: which is its history, it’s legacy,” said Welch.
The produce terminal dates to 1926, when it was built for merchants to buy produce after it came off the train.
According to the city URA website, when the economics of food changed, the produce left and by the 1970s, the building was partially vacant.
There was talk of tearing some or all of it down, but the URA and McCaffrey reached an agreement to save the produce terminal. Channel 11 was there in June 2019 when development plans were unveiled.
Welch says they’ve made tremendous progress. He points to the nighttime entertainment that has been happening for months outside the Strip District Terminal and that will continue.
The committed tenants should be open by spring and Welch says the entire Strip District Terminal should be full and open by next summer.
“We’re excited to be a part of the community, and really have this be a staple to Pittsburgh,” said Welch.
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