Recap of Community Development Activities Meeting on URA Request for Proposals on 62nd St (6111 Butler St)
On Thursday, February 22nd, at 6:30 PM, Lawrenceville United and Lawrenceville Corporation hosted the Community Development Activities Meetings at Tree Pittsburgh (32 62nd St). The CDAM focused on the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh’s open Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 62nd Street Site (6111 Butler St). The RFP is open until February 29, 2024. This presentation was designed to solicit community feedback and vision for the site as LU and LC will be involved in the RFP review process.
The meeting opened with LU and LC giving introductions and explaining the ground rules of the meeting. The teams then passed the mic to Lilly Freedman, Manager of Development Projects at the URA, who shared a history of site and past RFPs that had been considered. Lilly noted that the URA values community feedback in this process and wants to ideally move forward with a project that aligns with the neighborhood goals as well.
Dave Breingan (LU) and Sarah Trbovic (LC) then reviewed the history of Lawrenceville’s neighborhood plans and design guidelines that have been created since the early 2000s. They shared LC’s Community Development Scorecard that will be utilized to evaluate the RFPs in the near future.
Following the presentation, a Community Q&A was opened up, along with an interactive community interest poll where participants (in-person and virtual) were able to choose 3 of their top priorities for the site. Those with the highest interest from community members were:
- Make the site public lands for public good
- Make sure use is compatible with increasing riverfront access
- Have recreational uses be incorporated
- Create community spaces
- Promote environmental and health sustainability
- Compatibility with the site’s neighbor Tree Pittsburgh
- Increased safety for pedestrians and cyclists
The feedback provided is appreciated by LU and LC who will utilize it to advocate for the neighborhood’s interests going into the RFP review process in the coming months. This will not be the only time to provide feedback on this site, there will be many more community meetings to come.
In the meantime, please use the links below to review the presentation more fully and provide further feedback for the LU and LC. If you have any further questions, please contact LU at 412-802-7220 or info@lunited.org.
- URA RFP for 62nd St
- Full presentation
- Video recording of community meeting (audio starts at 06:51)
- Jamboard
- Feedback form
