PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh leaders on Friday held a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Negley Avenue site of the former B’nai Israel Synagogue and School in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood.

“We don’t normally do groundbreakings, but we thought this one was worth making an exception for,” said Dara Kovel, chief executive of Beacon Communities, which is heading the project. “This is a very exciting project and we are just at the beginning.”