Wednesday, March 6, 2013
The Pittsburgh Public Market will move to 2401 Penn Avenue this summer, its managers and city officials announced this morning.
The one-story, 31,816-square-foot building owned by the Horton Corporation is across the street from Mullaney's Harp and Fiddle Irish Pub, less than a mile from the market's current location in the historic Produce Terminal on Smallman Street.
The market will move into the full space, according to market manager Tiffani Emig, under a three-year lease that includes options to renew for up to six more years.
The lease is contingent on raising the funding needed for infrastructure improvements, such as building out cooking facilities for vendors and adding an entryway on Penn Avenue. Emig declined to discuss the amount needed to be raised in order for the deal to go forward.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority awarded a $40,000 grant earlier this year for market's relocation.
She says the market will remain in its current spot until 2401 Penn Avenue is secured and renovations completed.
The Pittsburgh Public Market has called the Terminal home since 2010, although the idea was that it would be a temporary location, according to Becky Rodgers, executive director of Neighbors in the Strip.
The market is a nonprofit subsidiary of the neighborhood group.
The Buncher Company has plans to demolish the part of the Terminal where the market is now to make way for a development that would include a hotel, retail and office spaces between the Veterans Bridge and 21st Street, connecting the Strip District properties to the river. The timeline for the project is unclear. The company backed out of a plan to put together a tax financing deal with the city after City Councilor Patrick Dowd stalled the legislation needed to move it forward earlier this year.
The market's lease expired Dec. 31. It has been operating on a month-to-month rental agreement since then. The Buncher Company had not set a deadline for when it would need to move, Rodgers said.
As City Paper reported in January, when news first broke that a new building had been located, vendors said they were looking forward to the changes, and hoping a move would offer a chance to re-brand the market.
Emig says one decision already made is that the market will be open five days a week in the new location.
Tags: Pittsburgh Public Market , Buncher Company , Strip District