An aquarium, a Ferris wheel, and floating houses? It's all part of the $600 million North Side development
By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A developer is vowing to turn a “neglected piece of the city” into a riverfront destination filled with a giant Ferris wheel, apartments, a food emporium, a marina, an aquarium, and even floating houses.
Piatt Companies laid out its vision to the Pittsburgh Planning Commission Tuesday for the $600 million Esplanade, a 15-acre development along the Ohio River on the North Side that it hopes will serve as a catalyst for even more growth.
The sprawling complex would be built just west of the West End Bridge on a brownfield that housed industrial ventures for more than 140 years and river transportation uses before that.
Some seven years in the making, Piatt is proposing to turn the forlorn stretch of real estate into a destination unlike any other the city has seen.
The attention grabber is the Ferris wheel with LED lighting, similar to those in Chicago, Seattle, Paris and other cities that reach heights of 200 feet.
It would anchor the east end of the site closest to Downtown and serve as the “point” of the development, officials told commission members during the first of two briefings on the Esplanade.
The Ferris wheel would sit on top of a two-story podium that would house restaurants and retail. It would pay homage to George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., the ride inventor who lived on the city’s North Side.
Next to the attraction would be a riverfront public plaza that would feature fountains in the summertime and ice skating during the winter.
The observation wheel would be one of several big projects to be built during the Esplanade’s first phase.
To the west on the back end of the site near Beaver Avenue, Piatt is planning a 408-unit apartment tower up to 19 stories high. It would cascade down toward the Ferris wheel and offer residents views of Downtown. As many as 308 parking spaces would be included.
Closer to the riverfront, Piatt is pitching the “current,” a three-story, 64,256-square-foot venue that would include a food emporium, restaurants, a four-seasons garden and other amenities. It would be connected to an outdoor amphitheater.
Supplementing those pieces would be a 112-slip marina for boaters. But perhaps the most novel aspect of the entire development is a proposed “live-aboard community” on the river adjacent to the marina.
It would feature spaces for 17 homes to be built on small barge-like bases similar to houseboats. Such floating homes have proven to be popular in cities such as Seattle.
Rounding out the first phase would be a parking garage with as many as 651 spaces and more retail. In the second phase, Piatt is planning either an office or residential addition above the garage that could reach up to 13 floors.
Another big attraction proposed for the second phase is a “destination aquarium” that would anchor the west end of the site just as the Ferris wheel is designed to do on the east side.
The three-story aquarium would total 120,690 square feet. To be built in conjunction with it would be a 13-story, 280-room hotel.
Two final pieces would be residential in nature — a 14-story, 126-unit condominium tower and a 19-story, 409-unit apartment building, each with some retail. Both would face the river.
Among the apartments, Piatt is planning to designate 20% of the units as affordable to households at 80% of the area median income.
It is working with the Manchester neighborhood, PennDOT and the city to make Beaver Avenue two ways near the site to improve access. It also is planning an underpass at Juniata Street to serve as a “bridge between communities.”
Long term, there’s a plan to change Route 65 from an elevated highway to an “active boulevard” with better connections to the site and Downtown.
Officials told Planning Commission members Tuesday that site work probably will take 10 to 12 months once city approvals are obtained. The first construction is expected to start in early 2026. The first phase could be completed in 2027 or 2028.
Piatt has secured $25 million in state redevelopment assistance capital grants to help with infrastructure, roads, utilities, riverside and trail improvements, and other aspects of the project.