Detroit: Huntington Place

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Detroit: Huntington Place#

Opened: 1960 (as Cobo Hall). Renovated: 2015 ($279M). Exhibit space: 723,000 sq ft. Walk Score: 91. Transit Score: 84.

One of the largest convention centers in North America, built on one of the most documented cases of convention center displacement of Black communities. Three names in five years. The building that ate Paradise Valley.

What Was Here Before#

Black Bottom and Paradise Valley — Detroit’s Black residential and commercial districts, destroyed through urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s.

Pittsburgh: David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Pittsburgh: David L. Lawrence Convention Center#

Opened: 2003 (replacing 1981 original). Exhibit space: 313,000 sq ft. Walk Score: 97. Transit Score: 90.

The first convention center in the world to achieve LEED Gold certification — later upgraded to LEED Platinum for Existing Buildings. Named for the mayor and governor who drove Pittsburgh’s mid-century “Renaissance I” urban renewal.

What Was Here Before#

The 2003 building replaced the original David L. Lawrence Convention Center (1981, ~130,000 sq ft). Before that: industrial and warehouse uses along the Allegheny riverfront, part of Pittsburgh’s lower Strip District. No documented residential displacement for either the 1981 or 2003 construction — the land was already industrial/commercial.

Waterfront-Edge on Convention City Almanac

Detroit: Huntington Place

Detroit: Huntington Place#

What Was Here Before#

Pittsburgh: David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Pittsburgh: David L. Lawrence Convention Center#

What Was Here Before#