The Pittsburgh neighborhood bordered by University Avenue, Pryor Street, Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard and Metropolitan Parkway is on track to becoming proof positive of how thoughtful planning and strategic reinvestment can revitalize a community and resurrect the dreams of its residents.
The cornerstone of Pittsburgh’s comeback is an innovative new business community housed in individual shipping containers along with a state-of-the-art business and community center on 15 acres of former farmland, once used by Clark College’s agricultural department to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to residents of the neighborhood just southeast of I-20 on University Avenue in Atlanta.
The property located along the historic corridor will house nine Black-owned businesses in re-outfitted shipping containers at the Container Courtyard at Pittsburgh Yards. The first consumer-facing business at the Container Courtyard, Pink Pothos, opened its doors in October of this year. Pittsburgh Bicycle Rentals is scheduled to open before the holidays and will offer manual and electric bikes for touring the neighborhood and the adjacent Atlanta Beltline Southside Trail. The remaining containers will be placed on the site once they are fully designed, permitted and ready to open for business. This is a benchmark for the Container Courtyard at Pittsburgh Yards and sets the stage for the future container community.
The architects responsible for design and project implementation, Sharon and Tony Pope, founders and design principals of Atelier 7, a full-service sea containers architecture firm that specializes in custom shipping container spaces for residential and specialty projects.
“A regular shipping container that you would see on a cargo ship is 8 feet by 40 feet wide. For the Container Courtyard here at Pittsburgh Yards, we purchase the containers, procure the containers, meet with each of the individual businesses to determine what their equipment needs would be, and we make sure that we’re able to provide a menu that fits the space,” explains Sharon Pope, co-principal design architect for the development. The Container Courtyard at Pittsburgh Yards will house one 40 ft. by 8 ft. container and eight 20 ft. x 8 ft. containers. Although not in the case of the Container Courtyard, the containers may also be stacked on top of each other for more expansive projects. Pope says she expects four additional businesses to begin operations on the site no later than February 2025.
Atelier 7’s first foray into Atlanta’s container strategy was the highly anticipated and very successful iVillage @ MLK, a park consisting of 9 shipping containers complete with bathrooms, co-working space, and a life-size chessboard. The think tank and business incubator have allowed young entrepreneurs and vendors from all over the United States to have the ability to showcase their talents.
Currently, all container construction and redesign takes place in a 110,000-square-foot warehouse on Murphy Crossing. Atelier 7 has been involved in a myriad of residential and commercial developments around Atlanta including the Midtown Alliance, North Ave. MARTA Station, the mountains of Young Harris, Georgia, as well as in Virginia and other communities across the country along with a major residential and commercial container development community in Belize.
Two of Pittsburgh Yards Container Courtyards’ most recent businesses, Pink Pothos a house plant shop opened its doors on Oct. 26 at the Container Courtyard and Pittsburgh Bicycle Rentals, which currently operates two brick-and-mortar locations, Aztec Cycles located in Stone Mountain, and nearby Clutch Bike Shop on Ralph David Abernathy, plan to open for business before the end of the year. The new container businesses will give access to new customers that are in near the Atlanta Beltline Southside Trail.
“We have a great relationship with Propel ATL formerly known as the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety, beams Michelle Dunbar of Pittsburgh Bicycle Rentals. “One of the young ladies there sent me a message on Facebook messenger saying that I needed to apply for this program. I just opened it one night while I was sitting in bed, and I’m reading through everything, and I’m like, ‘Wow, this is awesome.’ And all of a sudden, the light bulb just went off and I said, ‘Hmm, shipping container, Beltline. Let me rent bikes on the Atlanta Beltline. And honestly, that’s just really, how it’s that’s how it all started,’ Dunbar explains. The alternative transportation entrepreneur credits Invest Atlanta and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, along with the other contributing partners for supporting businesses that wanted to be in the Container Courtyard program and for providing critical assistance for procuring training and financial services to secure the $83,000 investment needed to secure the site and container to begin operations in the Container Courtyard at Pittsburgh Yards.
“We are thrilled to welcome these businesses into the Container Courtyard at Pittsburgh Yards as they are completed and become ready for customers, and we invite the community to come over and discover and enjoy what they have to offer,” said Chantell Glenn of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and senior associate responsible for the development and operations of Pittsburgh Yards. “The Container Courtyard will be filling out over the next few months with the addition of multiple new businesses in a phased approach, allowing each to get its shine. These two are just the beginning as we are scheduled to have all nine businesses in the coming months, including a Black-owned coffee house, skincare company, and dining options.”
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