Downtown Pittsburgh is undergoing some major changes in the next year, but one of the biggest is more of a repeat than an addition.

The Downtown Neighbors Alliance announced plans to open a new grocery store at 817 Liberty Ave., something neighbors have been requesting for quite some time.

"Every year we do a survey of what the residents and some of the workforce want, and every year the biggest thing is a grocery store," executive director John Valentine said. "Seventy percent of the responses [say] the number one thing that people want and have been clamoring for is a grocery store."

Valentine says the Downtown Neighbors Alliance started recruiting potential grocers in 2023 and eventually found Riverwards Produce Market in Philadelphia. 

"I went out there and visited them," said Valentine. "I was very impressed because it's really geared towards an urban area, and it was a good fit."

During that meeting with Riverwards, Valentine says he met Eric Iacone, then a consultant, who is a Pittsburgh native and an alumnus of Carnegie Mellon University. That's when he says they found the perfect partners.

"It was a perfect fit for us, and we started talking, and I was like I think I've found my guy," said Valentine.

The proposed opening of the new store is estimated within the next nine to 12 months. Despite recent attempts at downtown grocery stores, like Market Street Grocery in Market Square, which closed in February, Valentine says they've been considered, but believes now is a great time to try again.

"I don't think there were enough residents back then," he said. "Today, we have 6,400 residents in the Golden Triangle, but we also have about 4,000 more in the pipeline."

Valentine says the store will have everyday items like fresh produce, toiletries, prepared foods and flowers. But he also believes other elements could make a grocery store more appealing to the area.

"When you have that welcoming space where you're providing all these things and it's consistent — day-to-day, it's consistent — people will know they can count on you," Valentine said. "That builds on itself, and I think that's what's going to happen."

• Pittsburgh