Helltown Brewing is getting ready to pull its last pints in the Strip District, with its taproom at Penn Avenue and 17th Street set to close on Aug. 30, 2026, after more than a decade as a neighborhood watering hole. The closure comes as developers move ahead with a redevelopment plan for the property, while the brewery keeps its production and distribution operations running and waits for the project to work its way through city review.
The decision was announced in a post from Helltown on Instagram and picked up by TribLIVE, which reports the Strip District taproom’s final day of service will be Aug. 30 and that the bar will go out with a run of live shows. That includes a Jerry Garcia tribute on Aug. 2 tied to Helltown’s 15th anniversary. According to TribLIVE, the brewery’s post also noted that Helltown plans to stay in Pittsburgh at a new location while continuing its regional distribution and operating its other taprooms.
Developers' plan for 1700 Penn
On deck for the corner spot at 1700 Penn Avenue is a major overhaul. Developers Francois Bitz and Jonathan Moritz have proposed demolishing the existing two-story building and replacing it with a condominium tower that would bring roughly 64 residential units, two floors of retail and an integrated parking garage, according to the project’s filing with the city’s zoning board. The application describes a 14-story structure of about 160 feet in height and asks for exceptions on height, setbacks and a nearly 10:1 floor-area ratio, as laid out in the City of Pittsburgh. Reporting by the Pittsburgh Business Times notes that Bitz and Moritz revised the design after hearing from community members.
Where the proposal stands
The city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment granted a special exception for multi-residential use at the site but denied the requested variances for height, setbacks and floor-area ratio on Dec. 29, 2025, which effectively halted the proposal in its current form. PublicSource reports that developer Jonathan Moritz responded by saying he is prepared to be patient, potentially waiting for a more favorable city administration while continuing to work with neighbors. According to TribLIVE, Moritz has also estimated that the project would still require several months of approvals before construction, with a groundbreaking that could slip as late as June 2027.
Helltown's next chapter
Even as the Strip District taproom prepares to shut its doors, Helltown says the beer is not going anywhere. The company plans to keep its brewing operations and regional distribution going and will continue to operate its other Southwestern Pennsylvania taprooms in Mount Pleasant, Houston, Export and Butler. The brewery’s site lists those locations and notes that Helltown, founded in 2011, distributes across Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia; details are available on Helltown Brewing.
On the development side, neighbors and nearby business owners have been vocal about the condo proposal, arguing that a tall, dense project would cut against the Strip District’s human-scale retail corridor. A number of local merchants turned out to testify against the plan at the zoning hearing. PublicSource reports that Dan and Jim Wholey were among those who warned that additional congestion could harm small businesses along Penn Avenue. For now, the Helltown taproom is set to keep the beer and live music going through August, even as the fight over what comes next for 1700 Penn plays out in City Hall.
