Pittsburgh Planning Commission approves $31M Arts Landing project Downtown

A $31 million overhaul in Downtown Pittsburgh that will create an outdoor recreation and event space earned approval Tuesday from the Planning Commission.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is looking to breathe new life into an underutilized, 4-acre site that stretches down 8th Street from Fort Duquesne Boulevard along the Allegheny River to Penn Avenue.

Arts Landing will include a band shell for outdoor performances, sprawling green space, playgrounds, walkways and 100 new trees.

Officials hope to complete the project by spring 2026, when the NFL Draft is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of football fans to the city.

Arts Landing will host the annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival starting in 2026. Officials envisioned the site hosting events like musical performances, festivals, food truck fairs and pop-up markets.

“We don’t have a lot of green space Downtown,” Planning Commissioner Philip Wu said, adding Arts Landing could fill that void, providing a place for kids to throw Frisbees or workers to relax for lunch. “Downtown Pittsburgh, it’s a concrete jungle.”

New York-based Field Operations — the landscape architecture and urban design team behind the High Line park in New York City — designed Arts Landing and a facelift for nearby Market Square, which is supposed to start next month.

Both are part of a series of revitalization projects aimed at drawing more people to live in and visit Downtown after the covid-19 pandemic emptied the Golden Triangle’s office towers.

A $600 million Downtown revitalization championed by Gov. Josh Shapiro plans to convert unused office space to affordable housing, create more community spaces and improve safety and cleanliness.