A Photo Journey through East Liberty's Redevelopment

Recently I stumbled upon a Flickr album of East Liberty photos dating to the mid to late aughts. This was around the time that gentrification and redevelopment began in earnest in the East End, and it was very interesting to see how different so much of the neighborhood looked just 15-20 short years ago. 

I decided to bike the neighborhood and try and take some pictures from the same vantage points (as best as I could) and put together some before and afters, along with some relevant anecdotes along the way. All credit on original photos goes to Kevin Mickens, whose Flickr account can be found here.

Penn Ave looking NW in Bakery Square during initial construction phase. May, 2009; Credit - Kevin Mickens. Frame left is the lot of the former Reizenstein School, still standing during Phase 1 of Bakery Square Development pictured here. Reizenstein was torn down in 2013 to make way for a new development phase, with the Middle School closing in 2006 in the midst of PPS closures and mergers that saw the new Obama Academy housed there for several years before moving to the Peabody School building.

 

 

 

Penn Ave at Bakery Square Blvd looking NW at a completed Bakery Square development. May, 2025.

The Commons at North Aiken in Garfield, August 2004; Credit - Kevin Mickens. The Commons were built in 2004 to replace the aging Garfield Heights (background).

The Commons at North Aiken in Garfield, May 2025. The Garfield Heights Hi-Rise, seen in the background of the former image, was imploded on September 23, 2005. The Commons as a whole is far more tree-lined and forested than when it was initially built, and so this picture is from several dozen feet to the left of the original to get a better angle. The house pictured here in frame right, is the same house in frame left in the before-photo.

Penn Circle Tower from the former Station Street Hot Dogs at Broad and Station Streets; Credit - Kevin Mickens. Penn Circle Tower was imploded on May 17, 2009.

View from the former Station Street Hot Dogs, now Fire Side Public House, at Broad and Station Streets. In the background at the former site of Penn Circle now sits Target. Also, see frame left, the new Meridian Development across the MLK busway at the Shady Ave Giant Eagle, where construction is mostly complete as of July 2025.

Penn Ave at Fairmont looking SE towards East Liberty, 2005; Credit - Kevin Mickens. Seen prominently is the East Mall Apartments, which straddled Penn Avenue, and was demolished in 2005. According to Google Maps, the buildings frame left were torn down between September 2007 and June 2008. That corner was then home to a Primanti's location, which closed June 2025.

Penn Ave at Fairmont looking SE towards East Liberty, May 2025. The East Liberty Presbyterian Church, formerly more visible, is now mostly blocked by the "LibertyEast" (Whole Foods) building. Frame left in the foreground shows the Garfield Primanti's, pictured just a few weeks before it closed overnight in June 2025.

Penn Circle Tower from Larimer Ave and Auburn, the weekend of implosion, May 2009. Credit - Kevin Mickens. The former laundromat at 225 Larimer (blue awning, frame right) was torn down between July 2014 and August 2015. The yellow apartment building (frame left) was torn down between July 2007 and June 2011.

Same view down Larimer Ave at Auburn, May 2025. In the background of both photos is Saints Peter and Paul Church, of Dogma fame. It was closed in 1994 due to parish mergers and has been vacant since, spending the past several years in steep disrepair

Trader Joe's on Penn Ave with Penn Circle Tower in the background, taken the weekend of implosion, May 16, 2009; Credit - Kevin Mickens

The same view from Penn Ave of Trader Joe's, sans the formerly looming Penn Circle Tower. May, 2025. The Trader Joe's sits in a beautiful old building previously occupied by the US Post Office.

Penn Ave at Highland looking NW, July 2005. Credit - Kevin Mickens. In the background is the East Mall Apartments, which crossed over Penn Avenue.

Penn Ave at Highland, May 2025. The former Star Optical is now home to Margaux.

Penn Circle Tower in May, 2009 from behind the then-new Fairfield Apartments; Credit - Kevin Mickens. The yellow house and porch, seen frame right, can be seen here in July of 2007 on Google Maps near the current intersection of Kalida Dr and Omega Place.

 

A similar view of the Fairfield Apartments and neighboring Liberty Green Park, May, 2025. Here is a similar angle to the prior 2007 link, in December 2024. I had quite some trouble piecing this one together, and I never would have found it without Google Maps. With the area's redevelopment, this little enclave of houses on Kalida was torn down and the street layout was altered.

Penn Avenue looking NW with the Penn Circle Tower (frame right) implosion aftermath. May 17, 2009; Credit - Kevin Mickens. Note the direction of 380W and the traffic pattern ahead, as Penn Circle's traffic flow was still in effect here, looping traffic one-way counterclockwise around East Liberty and the former East Liberty Mall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Penn Ave near Spirit St looking NW, May 2025. Frame right, Target has replaced the Penn Circle Tower rubble. Frame left, transit oriented development ("Eastside Bond" Apartments) has taken up space on the corner of Penn and Centre, and the MLK Busway entrance was removed. Here is a nice aerial from 2011 with the bus turn-off still intact. The East Liberty Presbyterian Church and Walnut on Highland building are visible in the background of both images.

View of Penn Circle Tower from south of Shady Hill Center and the old Giant Eagle, at Shady Ave and Aurelia St. May 16, 2009; Credit - Kevin Mickens. The Shady Ave Christian Assembly Church, whose sign and awning is seen in the foreground, was torn down along with the Shady Hill Center for the Meridian Development between September 2022 and September 2023.

 

 

View from Shady Ave and Aurelia St, May 2025. In the foreground right, the Assembly Church and Shady Hill are both gone. In foreground left, several of the business have changed over in the past 16 years. In the background, Penn Circle Tower is gone and you can see the Eastside Bond Apartments beyond the MLK Busway.

Another view of the Shady Hill Center and surroundings from Aurelia St and Melmore Way. May 16, 2009; Credit - Kevin Mickens

That same view from Aurelia St and Melmore way, May 2025. That same chain link fence is still standing on the corner of Melmore. Not much of a view now though, besides that backside of hidden parking for the Meridian, which is set to open late 2025 - early 2026, with a return of the Giant Eagle, and new tenants like Shake Shack and Barnes and Noble.

Another downhill view from Penn Ave looking SE into East Liberty near Roup St. July 19, 2005; Credit - Kevin Mickens. To the left, the construction project would become the Fairmont Apartments, a Housing Authority complex for senior citizens.

Downhill from Penn Ave and Roup looking SE into East Liberty, May, 2025. At Pittsburgh Glass Center, the same mural has held strong for 20+ years now. It seems like it may have gotten a fresh coat of paint at some point though.

Penn Ave near Centre, looking at an under-consturction Target. April 17, 2011; Credit - Kevin Mickens

Penn Ave near Centre, looking at Target. May, 2025. 15 years later 2 of the buildings across the street have been town down, though not replaced. The nearest to Target had a nice mural painted on its side, and claims of a new development which never materialized. The lot is still empty as of July 2025. So much for being at the intersection of history and ingenuity.

A lonely McDonald's pictured in March, 2009 from Penn Ave and N Beatty St; Credit - Kevin Mickens. Seen prominently behind the golden arches is the Pittsburgh Fire Bureau Station 8.

 

A similar angle, but NE down N Beatty to Kirkwood St, May 2025. The former fenced in corner lot was redeveloped into the East Liberty Place apartment building, blocking the former view from Penn Ave. McDonald's is hidden, with the golden arches cresting the tree top beyond the apartment parking.

Penn Ave looking NW towards what was formerly Penn Circle West. October, 2009; Credit - Kevin Mickens. Was not able to piece out where this was before I went exploring, so no after-photo, but after the fact deduced it was Penn Ave at its intersection with N/S Euclid St. In this June 2008 photo, you can see Penn Plaza in the background and match it with the above photo. It was torn down between April and September of 2016. The construction site in frame right was a Pittsburgh URA project that is now the aforementioned East Liberty Place.

 

That is all I have for today folks! Thanks for reading this far - hope to do some more writing like this soon. Feel free to comment or email me if you have any similar photo albums or neighborhood resources like this for me to explore in a then-and-now fashion.

 

- Matt