When more than 200 evictions were announced at Penn Plaza last summer, rumors quickly circulated about what the building’s owners, LG Realty, had in store for the site. Many believed a big-box store, like Costco or Walmart, would take the place of the 312-unit below-market-rate complex, but it remained a mystery.
In March, City Paper reported LG had a “firm agreement with an anchor tenant” prior to announcing the evictions. And now, according to an announcement last month, it appears that anchor tenant is Whole Foods Market.
In response, a small group of advocates have decided to boycott the grocery store, citing what they see as a disregard for Pittsburgh’s affordable-housing struggles.
“Do we need another Whole Foods more than the Penn Plaza residents needed the relationships and accessibility of being in centrally located affordable housing?,” says Joy KMT, who helped start the boycott effort.
But will the Whole Foods boycott make a difference?
So far, about 300 people have signed up for the boycott on Facebook, and KMT says the group may hold demonstrations. KMT says the group doesn’t have the capacity to “actively recruit” new members, but she welcomes more to join the Facebook group.
“I think that we have to start looking at communities as more than an assortment of buildings and land to be developed,” says KMT. “If we begin with different questions, then we will end with different answers.”
Whole Foods Market spokesperson Annie Cull is aware of the boycott and wrote in an email that Whole Foods “recognizes that this effort is a part of the overall conversation happening about the ongoing development of the neighborhood.”
“The East Liberty community has been going through a major revitalization over the last several years, and Whole Foods Market is a very small part of it,” she wrote.
John Delaney, a University of Pittsburgh business-administration professor and labor expert, says while some boycotts have been more effective than others, the strategy overall has tended to have only “moderate” effectiveness.
“The success of a boycott often depends on the salience of the issue in dispute to the people who might buy from a boycotted merchant,” Delaney wrote in an email to CP. “In the [Whole Foods case], the issue will be whether the dispute fueling the boycott of Whole Foods will be important enough to customers to create economic damage.”
CP talked to six shoppers at the current East Liberty Whole Foods on Centre Avenue (the grocer has indicated it will not keep both locations), and only half were aware of plans for a new store.
Most cited more parking as a potential benefit of the new store. All said they would shop at the new location when complete, except for one respondent who said she preferred the current location because it was more “Shadyside-y.” Only one of the six was familiar with the Penn Plaza affordable-housing saga. When asked about potential problems with the new location, he said “You know what happened over there was bad,” before indicating that he would still shop at the new store.
But should a boycott be directed toward Whole Foods, the property’s tenant, or LG, the owners?
KMT says yes, considering Whole Foods’ stated mission to promote community involvement. Whole Foods’ website states, “Caring for the communities in which we reside is hugely important to our organization.”
“I think that it would be important for Whole Foods to advocate for and protect vulnerable populations in the communities which they serve,” says KMT. “Whole Foods is actively seeking to profit from the displacement of families, and that is against the values that they have set forth to guide their company.”
Whole Foods is not new to the neighborhood — the Centre Avenue location has been in East Liberty since 2002. But even though the store has been part of the area for more than a decade, KMT says its decision to express interest in and occupy the site that was the last unsubsidized, below-market-rate apartment complex in the neighborhood should carry weight.
“Developments like this can’t work without the cooperation of many, from governmental agencies to private developers to corporations,” says KMT. “As an anchor store in East Liberty, the choices that Whole Foods makes absolutely do matter.”
Cull, of Whole Foods, said that the company would not be leading a community-collaboration effort, but directed CP to LG’s larger plans for the former Penn Plaza site. Jonathan Kamin, the attorney representing LG, didn’t respond to request for comment on the developer’s plans.
Construction of the new East Liberty Whole Foods is slated for the first quarter of 2017.
This article appears in Aug 24-30, 2016.
Pittsburgh was just ranked as the LEAST EXPENSIVE urban metro area to buy a house. I don’t see the loss of one housing unit to renovations to be that great a sin.
http://www.hsh.com/finance/mortgage/salary-home-buying-25-cities.html
“Pittsburgh was just ranked as the LEAST EXPENSIVE urban metro area to buy a house. I don’t see the loss of one housing unit to renovations to be that great a sin.”
What an incredibly ignorant statement. Many of the residents of Penn Plaza were senior citizens who had lived in East Liberty all of their lives. Do you know how much it costs to buy a house in East Liberty right now? You can’t spit on one for less than $250,000, and that’ll only buy you a run down dump that needs another $100,000 worth of work. Even at cheaper price points, the major roadblock for most people is the down payment. Buying a house is not an option for most people who work minimum wage jobs or are on a fixed income, but screw them right?! Send them to food deserts where there’s no public transportation, because Whole Foods needs better parking for people who buy $7 asparagus water.
There are programs offered to anyone with good credit to buy a house with little money down in PA. Look into PHFA keystone home loans with 4% assistance.
Not everyone gets to live where they want. I wish I could afford the west coast, but I can’t. So live where I can afford.
HEY UHH, IF YOU CANT AFFORD TO LIVE SOMEWHERE, YOU MOVE. ITS NOT THE GOVERNMENTS RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE FOR PEOPLE WHO CANT SUPPORT THEMSELVES. SO I THINK IT IS PERFECTLY FINE TO DISPLACE PEOPLE WHO CANT SUPPORT THEMSELVES, AND BRING IN A COMPANY WHO BRINGS JOBS, QUALITY FOOD, AND TAXES TO THE LOCAL AREA. YOU WOULD RATHER TAX PAYERS SUPPORT THE PEOPLE IN THOSE COMPLEXES, THAN HAVE THE STORE THERE PAYING TAXES TO THE COMMUNITY, YOU MUST BE AN HRC SUPPORTER.
East Liberty’s gentrification problems are the dirty little secret Pittsburgh hates to admit it has.
I dont even live in the city anymore but it never ceases to anger and sadden me how blind many people are to all that East Liberty former residents have dealt with during renovation of this neighborhood. (Not to mention how we f**ked it up in the 40s-50s).
In grad school I did a whole advocacy project on just the B.S. of east liberty’s gentrification hidden behind “everything’s new and great in east liberty now, and dont worry we built 10 mixed income apts to help the over 500 displaced low income residents.” And that’s the problem… NEW is not innately EVIL but you also cannot paint it as “perfect mecca” and you cannot DISPLACE HUNDREDS of people and then say “it’s their problem” and even if you can…you SHOULDN’T. That’s NOT very hometown caring of you. If Bellevue suddenly became so expensive residents had to all move wouldn’t you at least feel a little saddened for them? Then why not East Liberty?
Very few articles even touched that this revamping of East Liberty seemed to benefit high class neighbors like Shady Side residents more than East Liberty residents when it first blossomed, but I hope CityPaper continues to offer these musings.
I know the article paints a dismal view of this boycott, but the only way for things to change in this neighborhood is for Pittsburghers to get their heads out of their asses and acknowledge gentrification may rehab a neighborhood but it does it in a way that treats residents like a cancer to cut out, not like humans to grow together with.
I was not aware of asparagus water until just now. I feel enlightened. $7 seems reasonable for delicious water that will make your pee smell funny.
HEY WALDO MAYBE DONALD TRUMP WILL BUY YOU A NEW KEYBOARD SINCE CLEARLY YOUR CAPS LOCK IS STUCK ON AND YOUR PERIOD KEY DOESN’T WORK.
I don’t see the issue here, those that live in Penn Plaza complex have been given monetary compensation for moving. Whether that compensation is paid by the private developer or the city of Pittsburgh. That being said, this is a private developer and they can choose to do whatever they like with their property. As for those crying gentrification is the root of all evil, take a look a few decades ago where the area was a drive through redlights, don’t walk the streets. This city has made many strides with becoming a major player and those that expect a handout can move out of the way.
As a social worker (yes already judge me based on this), I worked with several residents of Penn Plaza. As mentioned, they lived there for years. Very sweet, kind, grateful people. It’s so disheartening to hear them be judged without ever coming into contact with their faces and knowing their stories. They never complained that their homes were being bulldozed. They simply worried about where they would go. Many of them were disabled but I suppose they don’t get a say since they are disabled. Many born into poor families with little opportunity to climb up. The residents that could work DID work FULL TIME and still it was not nearly enough for them to get by. Many making min wage and supporting others family members who were unable to work. Decisions get made without meeting the people that are being affected. Judgments get passed without meeting the people that are being ridiculed. Your 1-2 ‘experiences’ don’t count nor serve as fact for how minorities should be treated. Whole foods is irresponsible with the development in certain locations, which seems like it should be AGAINST their mission. When you begin to SELECT who has the right to be in certain areas, you destroy the essence and spirit (see San Fran). Learn to live together or continue to judge thinking you are right. Sometimes people need to think about what is JUST for all. When this happens, more responsible conclusions happen.
It’s pretty fascinating how many people here are just saying screw it. Please keep in mind what you are saying, you are actively supporting people being forcibly removed from places they do pay rent for, are in difficult circumstances varying from age to disability; however because it is a black community you don’t care. The racism in this town is atrocious. Whole Foods treats their employees terribly as well. The sell of Jesus and America is totally false, people just want money and personal salvation at the cost of anyone. Humanity is shit.
THIS IS ABOUT BUSINESS, IT DOESNT MATTER WHAT THEIR FACE LOOKS LIKE OR HOW NICE THEY ARE. THIS WAS A PRIVATE FIRM AND CAN SELL WHENEVER THEY WANT, WELCOME TO RENTING/LEASING. @UHH, I USED PLENTY OF “PERIODS” IN MY PARAGRAPH. HOW ABOUT NEXT TIME SAYING SOMETHING OF SUBSTANCE ABOUT THIS TOPIC. THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE FIGHTING THIS, ARE ACTING LIKE THEY ARE ENTITLED TO LIVE THERE, ON THE AMOUNT THEY CAN AFFORD, AND THAT IS WHY THIS COUNTRY HAS DEBT ISSUES, OUR TAXES GO TO PEOPLE WHO CHOSE A LIFESTYLE THEY CANT AFFORD. I WOULD RATHER HAVE TAX DOLLARS COMING IN FROM BUSINESSES THAN HAVING TAX DOLLARS BEING SPENT IN THE SAME PLACE FOR PEOPLE WHO CANT AFFORD TO LIVE THERE.
Waldo, HRC is an acronym for…?
Let’s be honest, those 300 people likely weren’t shopping at Whole Foods anyways. This will have zero impact on the grocery store.
Let’s be honest, it’s not likely that those 300 people would have shopped at Whole Foods anyway. This will have zero impact on the grocery store.
Rasida… Hrc, Hilliary Rodham Clinton
Way back in 1910, smoky sooty Pittsburgh was the second most expensive city in the country, after New York. Then, in 1913, it adopted a land value tax and gradually became more and more affordable, until it was ranked the most affordable of the 100 largest cities (Places Rated Almanac, 1984.) It also had the smallest housing bubbles and didn’t even see a real estate crash during the Great Depression.
But in 2000, after the county sabotaged land assessments and the city had to scrap its land value tax, Pittsburgh is now having its first housing bubble in nearly a century, and it’s going to be a deusy.
The problem is that people don’t deal with underlying economic dynamics. They just like to emote on behalf of victims so the victims will be grateful to them, even though they are not actually solving anything.
Such a sad commentary on our society. I wonder if the prevailing attitude of boot-strapping would remain when one’s fortunes were reversed. If everything were equal without a 400-year history of exclusion and privilege, I would be down with bootstrapping but that is not the current reality.
The premise of equality in Pittsburgh and our country will remain elusive as long as obstacles remain to equal opportunity and equity. Until such time, the attitude of indifference and denial will continue to impede America to reach its potential.
Gentrification and marginalization is real. If you’ve never been on the short end of either one, then for you ignorance and denial is a blissfull wet dream; meanwhile for others, that wet dream is a unending nightmare.