The Pittsburgh neighborhood of Manchester now has two registered community organizations [RCOs], a designation that will allow the groups to weigh in on a planned $740 million development nearby. 

News of the $740 million Esplanade development on the North Shore led to increased interest in obtaining the RCO designation, which guarantees a meeting between community members and developers. In a letter dated Jan. 9, Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning approved an application from Manchester Neighbors, a group that applied for the designation last year to push for a community impact study and deeper affordable housing in connection with the North Shore project.

The historic, majority Black neighborhood gained its first RCO last year when the planning department approved the Manchester Chateau Partnership Alliance.

Some officials question the city’s RCO process, which close observers say can splinter communities. 

Esplanade developers, Piatt Companies, won approval for their overall project plan from the City Planning Commission on Nov. 12. During that meeting nearly every speaker voiced support for the project, including residents and people with current or planned businesses in or near Manchester. Members of Manchester Neighbors, though, have expressed concern for the neighborhood’s affordability and diversity.

Those concerns may be aired as the Esplanade site contains seven phases, each of which will go through a process that includes community engagement with Manchester’s organizations.

Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.

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Update: Ahead of Esplanade, Manchester now has two groups with development standing

by Eric Jankiewicz, Pittsburgh's Public Source
January 10, 2025

<h1>Update: Ahead of Esplanade, Manchester now has two groups with development standing</h1> <p class="byline">by Eric Jankiewicz, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />January 10, 2025</p> <p>The Pittsburgh neighborhood of Manchester now has two registered community organizations [RCOs], a designation that will allow the groups to weigh in on a planned $740 million development nearby. </p> <p>News of the $740 million Esplanade development on the North Shore led to <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/manchester-pittsburgh-registered-community-organization-mcc-neighbors/">increased interest</a> in obtaining the RCO designation, which guarantees a meeting between community members and developers. In a letter dated Jan. 9, Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning approved an application from Manchester Neighbors, a group that applied for the designation last year to push for a community impact study and deeper affordable housing in connection with the North Shore project.</p> <p>The historic, majority Black neighborhood <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/manchester-esplanade-development-pittsburgh-registered-community-organization-program/">gained its first RCO last year</a> when the planning department approved the Manchester Chateau Partnership Alliance. </p> <p>Some officials question the city’s <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-registered-community-organization-program-development-divisive-system/">RCO process</a>, which close observers say can splinter communities. </p> <p>Esplanade developers, Piatt Companies, won approval for their overall project plan from the City Planning Commission on Nov. 12. <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/esplanade-city-planning-commission-approval-manchester-chateau-ferris-wheel/">During that meeting</a> nearly every speaker voiced support for the project, including residents and people with current or planned businesses in or near Manchester. Members of Manchester Neighbors, though, have expressed concern for the neighborhood’s affordability and diversity.</p> <p>Those concerns may be aired as the Esplanade site contains seven phases, each of which will go through a process that includes community engagement with Manchester's organizations.</p> <p><em>Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ericjankiewicz"><em>@ericjankiewicz</em></a>.</p></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/manchester-neighbors-rco-registered-community-organization-esplanade-development/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1314593&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/manchester-neighbors-rco-registered-community-organization-esplanade-development/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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