Penn Plaza evictions 10 years later

Penn Plaza crystalized the affordable housing crisis in Pittsburgh like nothing before or since.

Displacement wasn’t new to the region. The entire Lower Hill was upended in the 1950s, East Liberty’s urban fabric was shredded in the 1960s, and large public housing communities were eliminated throughout the 1990s.

The July 2015 news that 200-plus residents of East Liberty’s two-building Penn Plaza Apartments had 90 days to leave, though, heralded something different from “urban renewal” or Hope VI-funded public housing revamps.

It was driven largely by a private developer, LG Realty Advisors, rather than a public entity.
It exemplified gentrification, which had not previously been a major point of public discussion in Pittsburgh, after decades of widespread population loss.
Residents were more vocal in opposition compared with some prior displacement events.

This evening at 6 p.m. at Enright Park in East Liberty, a coalition of neighborhood and community advocacy organizations will mark the 10th anniversary of that process, and “call for affordable housing for all Pittsburghers,” per the announcement of the rally.

Here are key milestones in the Penn Plaza evictions and aftermath.

2015

A group of people in business attire walk together on a city sidewalk beside brick and stone buildings. — Following nearly five hours of presentations and speakers at a May 15, 2018, meeting, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the Pennley Park South Redevelopment Plan proposed by LG Realty, for the site of the Penn Plaza apartments. LG Realty developers, architects, attorneys and supporters here are pictured leaving the meeting. (Photo by Maranie Rae Staab/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

2016

A four-story brick apartment building stands behind a snow-covered parking lot with several parked cars and patches of cleared snow. — The Penn Plaza apartment complex in East Liberty before it was demolished in 2017. (Photo by Maranie Rae Staab/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

2017

A man in a green sweatshirt and black cap sits on a couch with an orange, white, and brown blanket, surrounded by papers and bottles. — “I’m just tired,” said Geary Rivers when asked about having to move from his home at Penn Plaza Apartments. Residents of the apartment complex were forced to relocate to make way for development, then expected to include a 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods, 200 apartments, 12,000 square feet of offices and 582 parking spaces. (Photo by Maranie Rae Staab/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

2018

2025

A man holds a sign reading "Penn Plaza Matters" at a protest outside a Whole Foods Market, surrounded by other demonstrators and banners. — Former Penn Plaza resident O’Harold Hoots, 67, marches past the Whole Foods Market on the 10 year anniversary of the eviction notices at Penn Plaza, emptied and razed to make room for the high end grocery store, a parking garage and offices, on July 28, in his neighborhood of East Liberty. Hoots lived in East Liberty for 50 years before being displaced from Penn Plaza and worked to move back to the neighborhood. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)

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

Rich Lord is managing editor at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at rich@publicsource.org or 412-812-2529.

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