Category Archive: City Living
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Condos planned for old East Liberty YMCA
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteA subsidiary of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation will provide $885,000 to an East Liberty agency to help convert the YMCA building and two houses into condominiums.
The loan from the Landmarks Community Capital Corp. will be part of a $1.1 million investment into the two projects, which are being advanced by East Liberty Development Inc. The city Urban Redevelopment Authority also has committed $250,000 to the work.
ELDI is working with MEIZ Development Co. LLC of Denver to convert the YMCA building into market-rate condos with retail on the first floor. Part of the Landmarks Community loan will be used to acquire the the YMCA Building. The $250,000 from the URA also will be used for that project.
The rest of the money will be used to rehabilitate two Queen Anne style houses dating to 1892 and located on Rippey Street into eight market rate condos. The houses are considered to be historically significant but are dilapidated.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle and representatives from the various agencies will hold an event in East Liberty tomorrow to discuss the projects.
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What would King do?
January 22, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteLandmarks Community Capital Corporation Chief Executive Officer Dr. Howard Slaughter, Jr. offers his thoughts about what Dr. Martin Luther King would do if he were alive today.
Click this link to see other videos from prominent Pittsburgers, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette…
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Smaller housing projects dot the city
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 23, 2007While large new housing developments draw much of the attention Downtown — among them Piatt Place, the Carlyle, Three PNC Plaza, 151 First Side and the Encore on 7th Street — there’s also a fair number of smaller projects adding to the mix.
An example is a plan by the Urban Evergreen Group to develop 10 to 12 units in two buildings: 333 Boulevard of Allies and 330 Third Ave.
“Pittsburgh is an ideal place for developments and investments,” said Jose Caro of Urban Evergreen, who moved here from New York about two months ago.
This is his first development in Pittsburgh, and Caro wants to do others.
Urban Evergreen paid $495,000 for the two buildings, with plans to develop retail on the first level, offices on the second and residential units on the floors above. Caro says it hasn’t been decided if the units will be offered for sale as condominiums or rented as apartments.
Together, the buildings have about 19,200 square feet. The structures were sold to Urban Evergreen by Human Services of Western Pennsylvania, with Tom Sullivan, a broker with Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate who handled the deal.
Other projects adding to the residential mix Downtown include Philadelphia developer Solara Ventures’ condominium development at 941 Penn Ave. that is providing 18 units.
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is moving forward with its plans to convert three vacant buildings on the edge of Market Square into Market at Fifth, a $2.5 million to $3 million complex that will feature seven upper-floor apartments, a ground-level restaurant and a rooftop garden.
Another smaller development is 5 Lofts, a project that, as the name says, provides five residential units. The complex is being developed in a six-story building at 806 Penn Ave. by Ninth and Liberty Partners LLC, a group that includes investors Sean Luther, Tom Jackson and Patty Burk.
The first floor will be for commercial use, while the floors above each contain one unit with about 1,850 square feet.
Burk is vice president of housing and economic development for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, an advocacy group.
One of partnership’s goals is to promote conversion of vacant upper floors of older commercial buildings into new housing.
Judging from recent evidence, the idea seems to be catching on.
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Art meets architecture in Bellevue
By Richard Byrne Reilly
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, November 22, 2007Graphic artist Jesse Hambley found what he was looking for less than five miles from Pittsburgh.
Looking to create a clubhouse where artists and like-minded creative people could gather and work, he found a three-story former department store in Bellevue that fit the bill. The space was ideal: large rooms easily converted to darkrooms and photo studios. High ceilings and plenty of light. An extra bonus was that the property owner was eager to work with Hambley and his vision, which he called Creative TreeHouse.
“I started it because I saw a need for it. The hope was to establish a place for people to get together and collaborate. Especially for people who couldn’t afford to have their own studio,” said Hambley, 24.
Hambley’s vision took off. Today, Creative TreeHouse has 30 members — graphic artists like Hambley, students and photographers — who pay a $25-a-month membership fee. Many members are from the city, and their membership gives them access to facilities to paint, develop photos and enjoy coffee. Hambley hosts one event per month, such as art openings and concerts, and has used viral advertising on Craigslist and MySpace to great advantage.
“It’s just going to keep growing,” Hambley said. “You don’t have to deal with a lot of the issues like you do in the city, like parking. It’s not as busy. It costs me 25 cents to park for 1 1/2 hours.”
Hambley isn’t alone. City dwellers and those from out of state are increasingly seeking and finding old factories, warehouses and row houses to fix up and turn into artist work places. The value comes in cheap rents and preserving the fading architectural grandeur of a region still struggling to define itself after the steel mills closed in the early 1980s, said Braddock Mayor John Fetterman.“There is definitely a market and interest for live-and-work spaces where rents and prices are a consideration. That’s what’s driving the flight to these neighborhoods outside Pittsburgh. The post-industrial ascetic is desirable to people,” Fetterman said.
Fetterman has emerged as a regional champion of preserving former factories and their conversion to artist spaces. Fetterman, armed with a master’s degree from Harvard, bought a former warehouse in 2003 for $2,000 and turned it into his home. The upper floors contain his living spaces while he turned the lower portions into a gallery.
Lured by cheap rents and word of mouth, artists have begun moving to Braddock from Brooklyn, N.Y., Portland, Ore., and other American cities, Fetterman said. There are currently about 40 artist work spaces in his town.
Fetterman says the area’s preoccupation with destroying old buildings could hurt the region long-term. On the upside, he says buildings can be bought and fixed up for a fraction of the prices of other major cities. Preserving the area’s architectural heritage is crucial and helps drive the influx of artists looking for the next new thing.
“The trade-off is you get your own space and get to do your own thing and you can easily get to and from Pittsburgh. Why should the county pay good money to destroy these buildings when you can pay a small sum and create your own live-and-work space? It is the harbinger of all grassroot economic development,” Fetterman says.
Artists are trying to produce the same momentum in Homestead, but believe the Waterfront stores and restaurants detract from their desire to work anonymously, Fetterman said.
Those seeking to create artistic havens need to do their homework. Jane Misutka and her husband purchased an old Franciscan friary on three acres in Ben Avon in 2004 with the idea to attract musicians and artists. Initially, a few musicians showed up, and later, the old friary housed four Hurricane Katrina refugee families. Ultimately, the plan didn’t work out.
“We bought the house as a weekend retreat. I wanted it to be used and not have it torn down,” Misutka said, who has since put the structure on the market.
Collaboration is the key to making the live/work spaces thrive, Hambley said.
“This is very much a group effort. The idea is to keep costs low,” he said.
Richard Byrne Reilly can be reached at rreilly@tribweb.com or 412-380-5625.
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Downtown forum focuses on vacant, abandoned properties
By Justin Vellucci
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 25, 2007Where some curse the sight of vacant homes, boarded-up shops and weed-choked yards, Arthur P. Ziegler Jr. sings of opportunity.
On Monday, the president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation spoke with about 620 elected leaders and development officials who gathered Downtown to help share and expand that vision during a two-day national conference on vacant and abandoned properties.“Vacant properties are a big problem in older cities and we look upon them, often, as a major resource for revitalization,” Ziegler said as he prepared to enter a session at the Omni William Penn Hotel. “We’re here to learn about what other cities are doing and what other solutions they’ve found.”
Participants’ name tags read like a who’s who of America’s post-industrial Rust Belt, with representatives attending from Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit and Youngstown, Ohio, among others. But, each city’s take on dealing with blighted homes, population loss and neighborhood disinvestment seemed to unite them.
“This is really the place where the ‘do-ers’ in different communities can come together,” said Don Chen, executive director of Smart Growth America.
“If there’s one message, the one message is: ‘No one can solve this problem on their own,’ ” said Joseph Schilling, a Virginia Tech professor who served on the conference’s executive committee.But what, specifically, could Pittsburgh officials glean from the National Vacant Properties Campaign’s first national conference?
Chen and Schilling said they could learn to preserve neighborhoods and aging infrastructure by following the successful steps Philadelphia took in its Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.
Pittsburghers also could benefit, they said, from studying Youngstown, which aggressively tackled abandoned properties through its Youngstown 2010 plan. Or the city could look closely at Richmond, Va., which helped rebuild six targeted communities through its Neighborhoods In Bloom program.
Greater Pittsburgh has plenty to teach leaders from other communities, participants said. Several talked about development of former industrial and waterfront sites, while Chen praised Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s buyback of more than 11,000 tax liens as “very exciting.” Ravenstahl helped kick off the event with a welcome speech.
The excitement in Pittsburgh and its recent designation as “America’s Most Livable City” were actually part of the reason the conference came to town, said Jennifer Leonard, director of the National Vacant Properties Campaign.
“It’s a good showplace for cities similar to it,” Leonard said. “It’s a city with problems. But it’s also a city looking for solutions.”
Justin Vellucci can be reached at jvellucci@tribweb.com or 412-320-7847.
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Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Announces New Non-profit Corporation
Mark Bibro, Chair, announced today the formation by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF) of a new non-profit corporation to expand PHLF’s activities in neighborhood and urban revitalization. The Chief Executive Officer will be Howard B. Slaughter, Jr., and Arthur Ziegler will serve as president.
The new non-profit, Landmarks Community Capital Corporation (LCCC), will build a financial base by obtaining loans, grants, and investment capital and in turn will finance and develop projects that assist in the revitalization of urban centers, towns, and neighborhoods. The corporation may undertake the actual developments, and co-develop or lend funds to community development corporations and others that undertake such work. It will also work to support expansion of the regional employment base and energy conservation, green and sustainable goals, and assist rural and farm economic developments. LCCC will also contract with government and private agencies to define such projects and conduct feasibility studies for them.
Dr. Howard B. Slaughter, Jr., who resigned last week after eight years as the Director of the Pittsburgh Fannie Mae Community Business Center, will become one of Pittsburgh’s newest Chief Executive Officers. Dr. Slaughter will now serve as the CEO of the newly established company, Landmarks Community Capital Corporation. The company’s focus will be on providing equity, debt, short and intermediate term financing for housing and economic development activities in Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia markets.
Slaughter will utilize his vast experience, which includes serving as the former Vice President of Dollar Bank’s Community Development group and past Director of Preservation Services of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Brian Hudson, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, said,
“Howard’s new role as CEO of Landmarks Community Capital Corporation will benefit the State by ensuring that more capital is deployed in this market, which will have a significant impact in Pennsylvania. We are fortunate to have someone with Howard’s skills serving at the State level and as the CEO of LCCC.”
Arthur Ziegler said of Howard, “He has been deeply involved in community development financing from every perspective and we are certain he will lead our new non-profit to excellent results. He has been deeply involved in preservation nationally as the former PA Advisor to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.”
Slaughter said, “There is an opportunity in the market to provide appropriate financing for existing and new developments independently and in collaboration with other financial intermediaries and developers. Landmarks Community Capital Corporation will be a private-sector catalyst and a participator in financing housing, mixed-use, and commercial developments. It will also focus on public sector policy initiatives and work with legislators as well as utilize tools like the New Market Tax Credits to bring additional needed capital to the region.”
Brief background of Dr. Howard B. Slaughter, Jr.: He holds five earned degrees, including a Master’s Degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Public Management and his Doctorate in Information Systems and Communications from Robert Morris University. He also attended Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, completing the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government. He completed course work on Fundamentals of Real Estate Finance at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate. Slaughter is also a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow and serves on the Board of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, and on the Board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, receiving a gubernatorial appointment from Governor Ed Rendell. He is also the Founder of the Financial Literacy Program of Pittsburgh at Robert Morris University. He will start his new job on October 15, 2007.
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Spinoff targets urban revitalization
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, September 18, 2007The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is forming a new nonprofit corporation to expand its activities in neighborhood and urban revitalization.
Mark Bibro, chairman of the South Side-based preservationist organization, announced Monday the foundation had hired Howard B. Slaughter Jr., who recently left his job as director of Fannie Mae’s Pittsburgh Community Business Center, as the unit’s CEO.The new nonprofit — Landmarks Community Capital Inc. — will provide equity and debt financing for housing and economic development in Western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and West Virginia, said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., the foundation’s president.
“This broadens the tools with which we can work,” said Ziegler, who also will serve as the new corporation’s president. “It enables us to tap the capital markets on a broader basis, and we can do more things within the very broad interpretation under which we operate for historic preservation.”
Cities and towns throughout Western Pennsylvania are historic, but restoring historic buildings isn’t the only way they can be revitalized, Ziegler said.
“You need new construction, you need new businesses on Main Street, or you may need new housing or new forms of green energy,” he said.
The idea of the new corporation is to raise funds through grants, loans and investments that the foundation can use for grants, loans and investments in such projects. Roles it can play include developer, co-developer or lender to community-development corporations and others that undertake such work.
It also hopes to contract with government and private agencies to define such projects and conduct feasibility studies for them, according to a news release. Goals include expanding regional employment, promoting energy conservation and assisting in rural and farm economic development.
“There is an opportunity in the market to provide appropriate financing for existing and new developments independently and in collaboration with other financial intermediaries and developers,” said Slaughter, 49. His appointment is effective Oct. 15.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
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New apartments will be geared to middle income
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 13, 2007The first newly built Downtown apartments with rents geared toward middle-income people will be in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, where city planners hope to attract artists and others living on a budget.
Trek Development will put 60 apartments in the Century Building on Seventh Street with prices for studio, and one- and two-bedroom apartments from $450 to $1,250 a month, said Trek CEO William Gatti, who joined Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato to announce plans Wednesday for the 100-year-old building.
“They’ll be the most affordable new units that are coming available Downtown,” said Patricia Burk, vice president of housing and economic development for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
New housing below market price is uncommon Downtown, which counts most of its lower rents in aging high-rise mammoths such as the Mid-Town Towers and The Roosevelt.
Ravenstahl said residential development Downtown has focused on building pricey lofts and condos, but people with middle incomes should be able to live in the city’s center, as well.
“Sure, we want individuals who can purchase the million-dollar condos, but we need to have that mix,” Ravenstahl said. “We need to have that diversity of young and old, rich and middle-income people.”
High-end housing Downtown has demonstrated some success. For example, the owners of Piatt Place in the former Lazarus/Macy’s Building, have sold 35 percent of the building’s 65 condos at prices ranging from $350,000 to $1 million.
Onorato said as more people move in, more businesses and amenities will come to Downtown.
“This is the place in the next decade or two where activity is going to be going,” Onorato said. “This truly is the center of southwest Pennsylvania.”
Gatti said the $16 million in planned renovations would not have been possible without $515,155 in affordable housing tax credits that the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency approved Tuesday. The rents aren’t high enough to justify the debt Trek would accrue.
Gatti said the building will target “the style-conscious urban dweller on a budget.”
Trek will receive $3.2 million from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, $2.3 million from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, $2.3 million in historic tax credits, $2.3 million from the private Strategic Investment Fund and $750,000 from Allegheny County Economic Development.
That makes about $11.4 million in public and private assistance.
“Affordable housing options for artists and workers in the Cultural District and Downtown in general play an important role in the ongoing growth of the district as a residential neighborhood,” said Pittsburgh Cultural Trust President Kevin McMahon.
The building will have nine studios, 12 two-bedroom apartments and 39 one-bedroom apartments. Construction is expected to begin in spring.
Tenants will be able to move in by early 2009, Gatti said.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.