CRAWFORD SQUARE

LOCATION Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

PROJECT TYPE Affordable Housing

CLIENT McCormack Baron Salazar

TOTAL AREA 400 Units

LBA Landscape Architecture worked closely with architects, City agencies, and community groups to create the neighborhood of Crawford Square, located in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. Emerging from this collaboration was an image of housing styles, street patterns, and public open spaces that reflects the Hill District neighborhood, one of the most significant African-American neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. The result is one of the strongest examples of urban neighborhood revitalization in the United States and remains a national model for successful public-private partnership.

The assortment of townhouses and low-rise apartments that comprise this community of 400 residential units accommodates an array of rental, for-sale, tax credit, and market-rate units. LBA oversaw the project from conception through construction completion, providing site preparation, site improvement and landscape plans. Open space and streetscape design was an integral undertaking to locate and design new residential structures, roads, and parks within Pittsburgh’s challenging topography.

The establishment of Crawford Square was a significant step in the City’s plan to rebuild the historic Hill District, becoming the impetus for extensive efforts to reconnect the segregated neighborhood to the downtown core of Pittsburgh. Originally constructed from 1990 through 1996, the 30-year tax credit compliance period was scheduled to end in 2020. However, McCormack Baron Salazar elected to continue the affordability and received additional tax credits in 2020 to renovate and modernize many of the units.