The Pittsburgh Planning Commission approved a five-story building with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments across 46 units
Robots already walk the grounds of a defunct steel mill along the Monongahela River in Hazelwood.
Soon, people will live there, too.
Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday greenlit plans for another apartment building at Hazelwood Green — the latest in a string of developments that could eventually create a massive residential community atop the former Jones & Laughlin steel mill.
Downtown-based Trek Development will build a five-story building with a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments across 46 units on Eliza Street and Blair Street in Hazelwood.
The project will expand Hazelwood Green, the growing tech and residential campus spread across the 178-acre former industrial site. Last month, Carnegie Mellon University opened its new Robotics Innovation Center inside of a three-story warehouse in the complex.
Hazelwood Green is already home to a University of Pittsburgh life sciences facility and the advanced manufacturing research hub Mill 19.
A $10 million Steelers-sponsored youth sports complex also is in the works, set to open on Hazelwood Avenue later this month — just before Pittsburgh hosts the NFL Draft April 23-25.
Over the past two years, city officials also have approved two housing projects in the burgeoning community: a 50-unit apartment building now under construction on Lytle Street, and a 30-unit building nearby. Both contain units designated affordable for residents who earn less than certain income thresholds.
This next building “is a continuation of that development,” Trek Development Project Manager Janelle Kemerer said on Tuesday.
Master plans for Hazelwood Green, years in the making, call for thousands of new apartments at the site.
The new building’s first floor will contain a fitness center and reading, community and play rooms — amenities that will support Pittsburgh Scholar House residents, Ms. Kemerer said. The nonprofit helps single parents pursue college degrees, and several units in the building will be set aside for constituents.
Plans for the building were developed with input from the Hazelwood Initiative, an organization that advocates for residents of greater Hazelwood, Ms. Kemerer said.
“[We want to] reiterate the importance of development without displacement, and being sure that equity and inclusion is a big part of our focus here,” Ms. Kemerer said.
Developers did not provide a projected timeline for construction.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting:
The Planning Commission approved a lot consolidation that paves the way for a long-delayed townhome project in Polish Hill.
New units would be built at the former site of Donny’s Place — one of Pittsburgh’s oldest gay bars, knocked down last year after advocates lost a winding battle for historic designation of the deteriorating building.