A proposal to develop a Giant Eagle Market District, along with more than 200 apartments, additional stores and restaurants and a small park, in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside has earned Planning Commission approval.

The development from O’Hara-based ECHO Realty will sit on a Penn Avenue site that previously was home to a Giant Eagle. The former store was torn down.

The development, called The Meridian, will include 231 apartments — with 10% reserved for people making no more than 50% of the area median income and 5% for people making no more than 80% of the AMI.

Planning Commissioner Sabina Deitrick said she wished the development had aimed for deeper affordability thresholds. The developer wasn’t required to provide affordable housing as part of its plan.

Deitrick said she doesn’t know why affordable housing designated for people making 80% of the area median income — or about $53,000 — is actually considered affordable housing, though it’s a common threshold and one used for government-subsidized affordable housing.

“It’s a stretch to call that affordable,” she said. “I’d give you a lot more credit if you did it real affordable.”

The five stories of apartments will connect directly to a parking garage that will serve both residents and visitors coming to the development to shop or dine.

Plans call for two elevated courtyards for residents, as well as balconies on some apartments.

There will be 10 retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floor, in addition to the Giant Eagle.

Sidewalks around the development are slated to be at least 13 feet wide, leaving space for restaurants to potentially offer sidewalk cafes, according to plans presented to the Planning Commission.

The development also will include lighting and seating upgrades to a bus stop on the property. The bus stop will be covered with a canopy.

Planning Commissioner Becky Mingo said she appreciated the developer’s consideration of the pedestrian experience around the development.

The development also plans to include a 17,000-square-foot parklet on Aurelia Street that will be open to the public. Plans call for seating, landscaping and a play area.

A timetable for the project’s completion and overall cost of the development were not discussed before the Planning Commission.

David Vatz, a Squirrel Hill resident who is part of the local nonprofit Pro Housing Pittsburgh, said the organization supports a development that will bolster the city’s housing stock, especially at a time when housing costs and rent rates have skyrocketed.

“For decades, we have not built nearly enough housing to support our residents,” he said. “It’s critically important that we continue to support the building of new housing.”

He highlighted that the development will be near a public transit route, as well as job opportunities. He also applauded the fact that a grocery store and other retailers and restaurants will be on site.

“When looking at the proposed development, it’s hard to imagine a better place for more housing,” he said.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved the proposed development Tuesday.

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