Revisiting the 9 most inexplicably empty buildings in busy areas of Pittsburgh

In honor of NEXTpittsburgh’s 10-year anniversary, we’re looking back on our top stories of the last decade and sharing them again to show how much has changed (and stayed the same) over the years. This post was originally published on Oct. 28, 2019.

After the slow-motion collapse of the steel industry in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Pittsburghers got used to the presence of empty buildings. But today, with the city growing and thriving in so many ways, it’s worth asking: Why are there still so many empty and seemingly abandoned eyesores in prominent places? 

Our curiosity here is about the individual buildings that have inexplicably stayed vacant for a long time in busy areas. Here are nine we wish would be rehabbed and reopened very soon. 

2223 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill

Squirrel Hill’s long, lively Murray Avenue doesn’t have many missing teeth — except this building here. On a street within one of the great urban neighborhoods in America, this structure has been empty for nearly two decades. It was once Greenberg’s Kosher Poultry, according to the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, which otherwise declined to comment. It’s not an especially attractive building, but surely there has to be a way to bring it back to life. Or knock it down and build something useful? 

Note: It’s still vacant in 2024.

Squirrel Hill Theater, Forward Avenue, Squirrel Hill 

The long-vacant Squirrel Hill Theater farther down on Forward Avenue is also definitely an eyesore. There are plans to build a mixed-use apartment building on the plot, though the process has been slow-moving. An empty movie theater may not be as easy to adapt and reuse as, say, a storefront. But still, it’s been empty for nine years, which shouldn’t happen in a neighborhood as vibrant as Squirrel Hill.

Note: Squirrel Hill Theater was demolished for the development of an apartment building in 2021, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported at the time.

Anthon’s, Penn Avenue, East Liberty 

Here’s an odd case of a storefront that actually looks great, in an amazing location — but nobody seems to want it. The classic art deco facade touts “Anthon’s: Bakery, Restaurant, Deli,” which are some of my favorite words. Unfortunately, what’s delivered is only dust and fading memories of what once was. Like prehistoric artifacts from a bygone age, we’re left to ponder questions like these: Was this really a bakery and a deli?” Did the waitresses say things like, “J’eet jet?” Most importantly: Can it ever be anything again? An exterior this cool is begging to be used. A report in 2017 indicated that an Italian restaurant was coming here, but it’s either moving very slowly, or not at all. 

Note: Anthon’s is still vacant in 2024.

3404 Penn Ave. at Doughboy Square, Lawrenceville 

Lawrenceville is bursting with new restaurants, music venues and boutiques. Every week, it seems something new opens. Yet at Doughboy Square, which could serve as a fairly grand entrance to the neighborhood, there are two boarded-up buildings sitting like sentinels from the neighborhood’s long-gone days of neglect. Adding to the mystery, Pac-Man and two ghosts peek out from second-story windows. To be fair, this spot is a bit removed from the heart of the neighborhood. And it connects with a rather forlorn stretch of the Strip, known mainly for the scrapyard with the massive Magneto mural. Still, these buildings stick out in a bad way. It’s puzzling that they haven’t been given a new life yet. ACTION-Housing, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing, told us that the building on the right “will be torn down next month to make way for a 35-unit building and one commercial space.” The building on the left – the more architecturally significant one – is not part of this project.

Note: 3404 Penn Ave. remains standing and vacant in 2024.

Penn Avenue at 24th Street, Strip District

The Strip District isn’t necessarily easy on the eyes, but it’s always been a neighborhood that works. The odd mix of industrial and wholesale, along with nightlife and food shopping, buzzes with foot traffic (and, now, with robot car traffic). But even here, there’s been a set of quirky cement condos empty for years.  They’re just a short walk from the Strip’s main shopping district, but they feel like remnants from some lost civilization. Recently, a “for sale” sign has appeared.

Here’s the good news: These properties are going to be torn down and replaced with an eight-story, 21-unit condo building, with prices ranging from $461,000-$2.9 million. Read more about the project here in NEXTpittsburgh.

Note: 23 Penn is slated to open in 2024.

Babyland, 5576 Penn Ave., East Liberty

You know how Pittsburghers love to navigate by things that aren’t there anymore? “Yeah, hang a left by the old Jenkins Arcade, and go until you pass the old Isaly’s.” Well, people will call this corner Babyland (after the old children’s furniture shop) from now until the end of time.

Note for newcomers: This is not the Polish Hill music venue that has cheekily taken the name “Babyland” as its own.

For a number of years since Babyland closed, it’s been a big, abandoned eyesore on one of the most prominent corners in Pittsburgh. This spot is a hinge on which several neighborhoods with incredibly bright futures turn: East Liberty, Garfield and Friendship are all connected here. Supposedly, there are plans for a bank branch to go here, though nothing has happened yet.

Note: Since 2019, a Key Bank branch has sprung up in the spot.

The former Froggy’s, Market Street, Downtown

This one is complicated. There’s currently a fight between the owners and preservationists about whether it should be knocked down. But it’s surprising that this beloved nightspot, which closed in 2003, didn’t quickly become a different bar or restaurant. Beyond its 1970s through 1990s heyday as a post-game gathering spot for Pirates, Steelers and Pens players, it’s an attractive 1898 commercial building. It shouldn’t have been left to rot for so long.

Note: At a Dec. 12, 2023, meeting, the Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted to demolish the former Froggy’s and five other Downtown buildings.

Smithfield Cafe, Smithfield Street, Downtown

In many ways, Downtown Pittsburgh is in better shape than it’s been in decades. The Cultural District used to feature a different kind of “culture” (it was a red-light district as recently as the ’80s). Still, there’s no shortage of empty eyesores Downtown, some of them huge. The former Frank & Seder department store, for one — though things finally seem to be happening there. But to pick out one particularly hopeless-looking case, the Smithfield Cafe closed in 2012, and looks especially terrible — like an ashtray full of cigarette butts that nobody’s ever going to empty. It’s going to be a heavy lift to bring it back to life, but someone has to be up to the task. There was some interest a few years ago, says John Valentine from the Downtown Community Development Corporation: But, he tells us, “from what I understand, the building is in such bad shape, it most likely needs to be torn down.”

Note: In 2022, NEXT reported that the building found new life as custom condos.

Penn Avenue and Main Street, Bloomfield

This is a total mystery. Penn and Main should be one of the liveliest corners in the city. And yet, that’s where you’ll find a weirdly wedge-shaped, beige brick building that’s as inert and empty as a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer can cast aside from nearby Brillobox. Unlike most of the places on this list, this one showed serious signs of life five or six years ago. After a long period of abandonment, somebody fixed up this spot in 2014 (or was it 2013?). Back then, it was looking look like a place with possibility, ready for a tenant. But … nothing. Years passed. Still, nothing. If you know the plan for this potentially cool space, we’d love to hear about it.

Note: In 2020, the corner spot opened as El Sabor, a restaurant boasting Latin-inspired cuisine.