C

Americas Coolest Hotel is

Coming to East Liberty
The former East Liberty YMCA will be transformed into
the chic Ace Hotel by 2015.
BY PM STAFF
November 18, 2013
PHOTO BY RICK CHUNG

oming soon to East Liberty: a hotel with hand-painted murals, furniture crafted by
local woodworkers, brass doorknobs salvaged from historic buildings, rooms
74
equipped with record players and a bar that serves small-batch coffee and microbrews.
There may be no better bellwether for "it" cities than the Ace Hotel. The meticulously
curated hipster haven is a favorite of Googlers and touring bands. With just a handful of
locations in seven cities around the world including New York City, London and
Portland The New York Times has called the Ace the countrys most original hotel.
Now, Ace has finalized plans for its eighth location. Not in Paris or Prague. In Pittsburgh.
The former East Liberty YMCA will be transformed into a 63-room Ace Hotel by spring
2015. The $23 million conversion will also include a restaurant, ballroom and gym,
according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Googlers who often travel to the fast-expanding
Bakery Square office will no doubt be rejoicing (though East Liberty may soon look like a
cyborg enclave).
The Ace has a thing for converting historic buildings into spaces that reflect the culture
and history of the city. The original Seattle location was built in a former Salvation Army
halfway house in 1999 to cater to creatives. The stunning Portland location transformed
the old Clyde Hotel, built in 1912, into a bohemian wonderland.
Those who cringe at the changing shape of East Liberty should be encouraged that its the
Ace coming to town and not another Marriott.
To wit:
We want guests to wake up in their rooms and feel immediately that theyre in Portland
and couldnt be anywhere else, Ace co-founder Alex Calderwood told The New York
Times when the Ace Portland opened in 2007.
We cant wait to see how the Ace integrates elements of East Libertys industrial past and
Pittsburghs emerging cultural scene.
Imagine yourself the proprietor of a successful, culturally relevant boutique hotel concept with iterations open
in Portland, Seattle, New York City, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles. Where do you go next?Pittsburgh?
Pittsburgh! Indeed, if youre the Ace Hotel, you do, or at least you plan to. For the great folks at
NextAmericanCity, Ive got a look at why that hotel organization is eager to open up in this bit of the Rust Belt
and why, seemingly without exception, Pittsburghers are eager to make their city the sixth spot in the
United States to have an Ace.
An Ace Hotel in (as well as of, by, and for) Pittsburgh
Whats particularly interesting is that the Ace is planned for East Liberty, part of Pittsburghs East End, once
home to the Carnegies, the Mellons, the Fricks. East Liberty was once, well, hopping, but it was decimated as the
result of an urban revitalization push in the 1950s and 1960s that attempted to turn the neighborhood into a little
bit of suburbia right there in Pittsburgh. East Liberty is, inarguably, on the upswing once again. And the
possibility is that an Ace in the neighborhoods charming old YMCA building adds considerable weight to that
momentum. Evidence favoring that idea is what happened to the unexpected slice of New York City where Ace
opened several years ago:
Traditional urban thinking often looks for those anchors that, like universities, museums and hospitals, take
up a lot of land and hire a lot of people, and in doing so shape a place. But Ace suggests something different. Ace
hires, no doubt. The Pittsburgh project is expected to offer 100 jobs or so. But really, this is casting a cultural
institution as something of a coral reef. Some things cling to it, making it bigger. But much else passes through it
and circles around it, changing what surrounds it by setting the climate with its presence.
If that seems grandiose, take a look at the block on which the Ace New York sits. Weve got friends in the
building, selling their wares, reads the little green guidebook that comes in each Ace room. Indeed, they do.
Attached to the hotel in something like a little warren is The Breslin, a dark-wood sort of old-timey eatery thats
all the rage in New York City, and the John Dory Oyster Bar, both run by noted New York restaurateurs Ken
Friedman and April Bloomfield. Just under Harry Smiths rope art display is a doorway to Stumptown Coffee,
the sole New York City shop of the coffee roaster that began in Oregon and now has an outpost in Brooklyn.
Theres also a door to Opening Ceremony, an eclectic travel-inspired shop.
More than that, though, there are now stores, bars, shops, start-ups and even another hotel in the Aces
immediate shadow, mixed among the wholesale purveyors. Three years later, the whole tone of the crazy little
piece of Manhattan that the Ace chose to enter has shifted. Or, better put: Its broadened.
That Pittsburgh should join the ranks of Americas coolest cities might seem farfetched until you spend some
time there. But it doesnt take much time. To be sure, the bet that Pittsburgh is ready for Ace isnt a huge bet,
since its not a huge hotel. With just 65 rooms or so, a significant Google office near by, and a dearth of boutique
hotels in Pittsburgh, the hotel business calculus favors this project. Still, Pittsburgh has much going for it thats
immediately evident. Its called the city of bridges for a reason, and I was struck by the natural beauty of the
citys rivers, cliffs, and hilly streets. Plus, its lively. So many U.S. cities today feel empty. But Pittsburgh is
people-sized and full of them. Its not a city that might immediately you as appealing, but as something of a city
aficionado, Ive visited a number of them, and you can feel very quickly when a city is right. Pittsburgh feels
right.
Again, these Next American City pieces are subscription-only, or available for a one-time fee (except, that is, for
"Tech & the City," on New York Citys planned Roosevelt Island tech campus). Id encourage you to pay but Im
happy to hook up friends and family.