Despite covid pandemic, Pittsburgh’s Allentown remains open for business
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Rebecca Romagnoli is passionate about pasta.
Romagnoli’s business, Forma Pasta, began as a subscription service in August 2019 but in November 2020 — in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — opened a retail location in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Allentown.
“I chose Allentown because it is still up and coming,” she said. “It is cool being a part of that, seeing something in its beginning phases.”
During covid-19 shutdowns, as Downtown became a ghost town and other city neighborhoods struggled to keep shops open, Allentown did not see any of its small businesses permanently close. On the contrary, 10 new businesses actually opened. That was thanks, in part, to an influx of state grant money to the neighborhood.
From 2014 through 2020, Allentown businesses were the recipient of grants totaling $1.5 million — or about $250,000 a year — through the state’s Neighborhood Partnership Program. The program was funded through the state Department of Community and Economic Development and corporate partners Dollar Bank, PNC Bank and UPMC Health Plan. The Hilltop Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes south Pittsburgh communities, was selected as a participant in the program.
According to the Hilltop Alliance, the program has funded “55 renovation projects, and 63 loans or grants … to new or existing businesses.”
Additionally, as of November 2020, $8.5 million in private funds was invested in Allentown businesses through commercial property renovations, particularly in the East Warrington Avenue business district.
Location and affordability are the two draws for business-owners to consider Allentown, Hilltop Alliance Executive Director Aaron Sukenik said.
“The location can’t be beat,” he said. “It is book-ended by Mt. Washington and the South Side Slopes and is a secondary business district to both. Prices for a storefront are not like those of Carson Street, Butler Street or Penn Avenue. They are much more affordable. Most rents for storefronts range from $750-$1,500 a month. We’re pretty excited with how everything is going.”
“What we did through the pandemic is we really supporting small businesses,” said Judy Hackel, vice president of the Allentown Community Development Corp., a nonprofit that seeks to grow businesses in the neighborhood and founding member organization to the Hilltop Alliance. “We did everything we could to support local business and lost no business during the pandemic. And we’re really happy about that.”
Hackel has lived in Allentown for more than 30 years and said she is thrilled by the business expansion that she is witnessing.
“I like to take walks down the street — I’m retired now — I just chitchat with people as I walk,” Hackel said. “They’re all just lovely people. There are a lot of young people who took a chance on this area.”
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The growing business district has given Allentown a renewed sense of community.
As a subscription service, Forma Pasta was designed for success amid the pandemic. Now out of the physical location retail space made possible through a rent abatement grant via the Hilltop Alliance, Forma Pasta serves walk-in patrons fresh pastas and sauces. The company has regulars who rely on its food.
“There’s nowhere else in Allentown you can find fresh produce,” Romagnoli said.
On Saturdays and Sundays, the pasta vendor sells street food and sandwiches on the sidewalk to passers-by.
A few blocks away, business owner Andrew Marrangoni has a different passion — dogs. Marrangoni’s All Together Better is a pet-and-owner empowerment program. It offers memberships and programs to meet the needs of pets and pet lovers.
“People in the neighborhood can come get free dog care and advice,” Marrangoni said. “We have volunteer options available to teach skill sets that can potentially lead to employment here.”
All Together Better currently works with 16 families in Allentown and has four volunteers.
“This city doesn’t have anything like this,” Marrangoni said. “If you put something of value in an area that is undervalued, you gain value for the neighborhood.”
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RE360 has invested in Allentown for more than 10 years — it currently owns and manages about 30 commercial units — and moved its office to neighborhood in 2013.
“We really wanted to bring people up the hillside. At the same time, we started buying some of the vacant commercial real estate that was just sitting,” said Ben Prisbylla, RE360 director of operations and treasurer of the Allentown CDC. “The entire district was at 80% to 90% vacant. Now at RE360 we have zero vacancy, and the district overall is somewhere between 5% and 10%.”
RE360 intends to foster growth in Allentown without overlooking the neighborhood’s roots, Prisbylla said.
“We bought a decent amount of the commercial district without displacing any preexisting tenants,” he said. “We have no plans to overdevelop because there is so much opportunity for growth. We see examples of where displacement has occurred in other neighborhoods.”
The company also helps organize multiple neighborhood clean-ups every year. Prisbylla said the area is a popular place to dump trash and abandon old tires and TVs.
“We want to change the perception of Allentown. People just don’t know about it. There’s uniqueness here,” he said. “It’s only a mile from the city center, close to the South Side and in the middle of everything. It’s been ignored for so long.”
On Aug. 28, RE360 will sponsor Hilltop with the Lid Off from 4-9 p.m. There will be food trucks, vendors, art, live music and free space for commercial tenants to hold stands.
“Sometimes we feel kind of ignored,” Prisbylla said. “There’s not a lot of hype around us, so we go out and create it ourselves, which I kind of like about us.”