Pittsburg to Connect East End AI Corridor

Throughout the last few years, Pittsburgh has been proving itself as one of the most determined comebacks in the U.S. Rust Belt; one of the top mid-sized cities for green commuting; one of this year’s most affordable metros for Millennials to thrive; as well as a top-choice city for Gen Z to put down roots.

While Pittsburgh office space has become some of the greenest in the country, the local economy has also adapted to make room for a thriving tech scene, a growing robotics hub, and even companies operating in the space industry. Now, another transformation is underway in one of the city’s most historic districts as developers are uniting to create a new tech corridor connecting major AI and technology companies on Penn Avenue.

Google, Duolingo, and the U.S. Army’s AI Integration Center are among the more than 20 artificial intelligence tenants that made a home in East End Pittsburgh, which is a part of the city that’s now being reimagined as “AI Avenue.” Despite concerns regarding displacement of residents with longstanding ties to the area, plans are underway to “fill in the blanks” along Penn Avenue that developers see as distracting some of the dynamism away from the two ends of the existing, one-mile-long AI corridor.

Redevelopment projects currently being discussed include:

• Infrastructure improvements to enhance lighting, pedestrian access, and connections through the neighborhood; improve safety and walkability; and create collaboration opportunities for tech companies.
• The Meridian Project, which is a mixed-use development that would include apartments, a grocery store, and restaurants, thereby providing housing and amenities intended to attract and retain tech talent for AI Avenue companies.
• An expansion of Bakery Square, which would incorporate what is now considered a dated and struggling strip mall. This would transform the underutilized area into a mixed-use corridor by providing more modern office space for AI companies, while also allowing both startups and established firms to grow in an uninterrupted, tech-centered environment.

Bakery Square had already announced earlier this year that it would house a new, secure AI innovation center through access to $150 billion in defense tech funding. And, with significant funding for small business innovation research in Pittsburgh already coming from the Department of Defense, developers here hope that a higher concentration of AI-focused companies in this hub would attract even more DoD contracts in the near future.