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By The Tribune-Review
Published: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 6:12 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Planning Commission approved plans
Tuesday for a $6 million parking deck over an existing
parking lot at East Liberty's Whole Foods Market.
The work was originally scheduled to occur this summer, but Downtown developer Mosites Co. delayed it for
a year. Whole Foods Customers will be forced to park elsewhere during construction.
The commission postponed a February vote on the deck after a community group voiced concern about its
design, including 8-foot-high concrete walls. Mosites Co. revised plans to install metal and mesh walls,
providing a more transparent design that resembles a deck in the neighboring Eastside II development.
This is a vast improvement over the previous plan, said Lenore Williams, chairwoman of the Baum-Centre
Planning Initiative.
Copyright 2014 Trib Total Media
Parking deck to be built at East Liberty Whole
Foods
Whole Foods expansion project in East Liberty
delayed for design tweaks, approvals
June 12, 2014 12:33 AM
By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Shoppers hoping for a little more elbow room with the proposed expansion of the Whole Foods
Market in East Liberty are going to have to wait.
The 14,434-square-foot expansion, which was expected to start in April, is being delayed until
next March.
Steve Mosites, president of the Mosites Co., the developer, said Wednesday the project was
pushed back a year to allow for tweaks in the design and to get the reviews and approvals needed
by Whole Foods before work could start.
The decision related to working out bugs in the design and getting everybody on the same page
and just working through all the issues that come about when youre coordinating a complex
renovation and expansion, he said.
City planning commission members approved the expansion of the store, which will include a
ground level addition to the front of the store and a second floor cafe, in February but delayed
action on an accompanying 82-space parking deck because of concerns about the design.
The commission approved a revised design for the parking in late March that replaced concrete
walls with metal and mesh, creating an appearance more in keeping with the existing deck at the
adjacent Eastside II development.
Mr. Mosites said the delay in getting the parking approval did not trigger the decision to
postpone the construction nearly a year. He said that had more to do with flushing out the design
and in coordinating construction with Whole Foods.
Its a very integrated process with many people needing to weigh in and sign off on things, he
said.
Katie Malloy, Whole Foods spokeswoman, said the grocer is proceeding forward on the project
but referred questions about the schedule, construction and process to Mosites.
City Councilman Dan Gilman, whose district includes the Whole Foods store, said he doesnt
view the delay as a setback. He said Mosites has always said the project could start this year or
next, depending on what worked best for the grocer.
Whole Foods doesnt want the construction to impact the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping
season, one of its busiest times of the year. As a result, Mosites has a small construction
window for the project, Mr. Gilman said. He added hes interested in getting the right
development for the community even if it means waiting a year.
I think the community appreciates that Mosites took the time to listen and respond to any
concerns, he said.
Construction is expected to take six months, meaning the project should be completed in
September 2015.
Lenore Williams, chairwoman of the Baum Centre Initiative who had complained about the
initial design of the parking deck, said she is much happier with the revisions since they will
make the structure look more like that at Eastside II.
To do the right thing, it was going to take more time for them. So the delay is understandable,
she said.
The new deck will increase the number of spaces devoted to store parking from 104 to 156,
providing some relief for shoppers who struggle to find parking spots at peak times.
Construction wont be painless, though. While the deck is being built, Mosites may have to move
parking off site. Whole Foods has been talking to AAA about securing 25 spaces on weekdays and
50 on weekends in a lot on Centre Avenue across from the grocery.
Overall, the expansion would move the 32,500-square-foot East Liberty store closer to the size of
its sister markets throughout the country. Mr. Mosites has said the standard Whole Foods now
runs about 40,000 square feet.
Since the East Liberty store opened in 2002, Whole Foods added a location in the Wexford Plaza
shopping center in McCandless and has plans for another in the South Hills.