Construction of the Pittsburgh Yards mixed-use development is officially underway.

The project is aimed at improving the lives of people in Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood and the surrounding Southside communities.

According to a press release the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which owns the site, the project is meant to be “not only a commercial, recreational and community anchor, with living-wage jobs, but also a catalyst for broad, positive change for everyone who lives in the area.”

The 31-acre site is adjacent to the Atlanta BeltLine and forms the south border of the Pittsburgh neighborhood. 

The first phase of development will cost $26 million and will create workspaces for around 100 businesses, the release said. The first phase will also include road, sewer, storm-water management, landscaping and pedestrian-oriented infrastructure — including access to the BeltLine — as well as three adaptable pad-ready sites.

“With its location on the Beltline, right off the Downtown Connector and not far from major attractions and the airport, we know it will boost the economy in Pittsburgh and the surrounding neighborhoods,” Dillon Baynes of Columbia Ventures, which worked with Core Venture Studio to develop the property, said. “There are talented entrepreneurs and people ready to work hard for fair wages in these neighborhoods, and they will have those opportunities here.”

The project also sought input from the community, according to one Pittsburgh resident.

“As Pittsburgh residents, we have consistently been invited to contribute our ideas, opinions and knowledge of the community to the development of Pittsburgh Yards,” Dantes Rameau, one of many neighbors who attended meetings to help shape the project, said. “It’s exciting that this is happening in our neighborhood and I look forward to the many benefits it will bring to Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh residents.”

The Casey Foundation purchased the Pittsburgh Yards property from UPS in 2006, and the property’s development has gained momentum over recent years, the release said.

Specific economic inclusion goals have been established by the Casey Foundation and CCP, too:

• At least 50 percent of new hires for phase I construction will be local residents.

• At least 30 percent of the contracted construction values will go to local, minority- and/or women-owned businesses.

• At least 30 percent of contracted predevelopment services will go to local-, minority- and/or women-owned businesses. (This goal has already been exceeded.)

• At least 50 percent of the new permanent entry- and mid-level jobs will be focused on local residents.

For more information, visit the Pittsburgh Yards website.