Recent News
- Strada Leads Design Team on Downtown Revitalization Project
PITTSBURGH, PA – On April 18, 2005, Strada celebrated the beginning of Phase One of their master plan for “The Crossroads” – the revitalization plan for downtown Washington, PA – with the groundbreaking of the first anchor building, Nationwide Centre. Nationwide Centre is the first piece of Phase One of “The Crossroads”; it was designed by Strada and developed by Millcraft Industries. In addition to being the master planners for the project, Strada is the design architect and landscape architect for all aspects of the project. “The Crossroads” master plan will be implemented in three phases: Phase 1 will include the new 140,000 s.f. seven-story Nationwide Centre which will consolidate Nationwide Appraisal Service Corporation’s offices as well as 20,000 square-feet of retail on two levels. The first phase will also include a new public amphitheater park, the re-facing of the existing Millcraft Center building, and a new 1,200-space parking garage. Phase 2 will continue the retail redevelopment of Main Street with an 84-room hotel, loft apartments ground-floor retail, and the development of a residential block of 36 townhouses and 111 loft apartments. Phase 3 will focus on the completion of the redevelopment of the historic commercial core of Main Street, with facade restorations and retail upgrades. The total project cost is estimated at $100 million. Project History In order to capitalize on the city’s existing assets, Millcraft Industries, a real estate developer with deep roots in the community, commissioned Strada to develop a mixed-use revitalization plan dubbed “The Crossroads” to incorporate office space, housing, retail, and a hotel. Strada worked with public and private stakeholders including the city, the county redevelopment authority, the State of Pennsylvania, the college, and Millcraft to develop this project. The city of Washington is the county seat of Washington County, PA with about 15,000 inhabitants in a county of 210,000. While it has a long history, starting as a colonial town, it has suffered the unfortunate history of urban renewal, and much of the downtown core have been harmed by anti-urban interventions of the ’60s and ’70s. It does retain some historic assets in the form of a Beaux Arts–era courthouse and 19th-century Main Street commercial structures. Other key assets include Washington & Jefferson College, a prestigious liberal arts college immediately adjacent to downtown, and the recently completed investment of $13 million in street reconstruction and streetscapes. Project Goals The goal of the project is ultimately to reconnect the missing parts of the city back to Main Street and in the process restore and reinvigorate the function of that street and the city. From an urban design perspective, one of the key issues Strada identified was how to revitalize a traditional 19th century Main Street while still accommodating contemporary uses and needs – in particular parking. To accomplish this, the project needs to both reconnect to existing centers of activity such as the college and county government, but also introduce new employment, living and shopping opportunities. These components will breath new life into the community, create a vibrant urban core, which is reconnected to the adjacent neighborhoods. Strada’s design of Nationwide Centre capitalizes on the steep topography of the site by placing retail and office entrances on the upper, park level while tucking an additional retail level into the slope. These commercial spaces can be accessed either from Franklin Street or internally, through the building. The park in front of the building will serve as both a forecourt for the new office building as well as a much-needed public performance space and garden. With a completion date of Summer 2006, Nationwide Centre has been accepted into the USGBC’s LEED-CS pilot program. The LEED Green Building Rating System for Core and Shell Development (LEED-CS) is for designers, builders, developers and new building owners who address sustainable design for new core and shell construction. Strada will use this rating system to incorporate green design elements into the building. Strada, an architecture, interior design, landscape, and urban design firm, is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Strada embraces projects that create places for people including academic buildings, master plans, mixed-use urban developments, corporate offices, and retail spaces.
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