Category Archive: Historic Properties
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Courthouse centennial – Westmoreland County Courthouse escaped wrecking ball; stands tribute to esteem for law
Thursday, January 31, 2008
By Rick Shrum,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteIt stands on a bluff, four stories of opulence with thousands of stories to tell.
The panorama from its celebrated dome, 175 feet above street level, is striking — but rivaled by the view of the building from all entrance points to the city.
Granite, marble, stone and the law are the foundations of this place, which was unveiled during the Teddy Roosevelt administration. And which means the wheels of justice there have turned almost as long as the wheels of cars.
Unlike Joan Rivers, however, this stately edifice in Downtown Greensburg has had only one facelift. And it was well done.
The Westmoreland County Courthouse, at the convergence of Main and Pittsburgh streets, is celebrating its centennial today. Inside and outside, it is one of most beautiful county seats sites chronicled in the National Register of Historic Places.
And to think … it nearly was bashed by a wrecking ball.
During the mid-1970s, the county commissioners were planning to level the crumbling courthouse and rebuild. They found that wasn’t a financially sound resolution, though, and sought national historic status — which would merit funding for rehabilitation.
That designation was conferred and restoration began in 1980. This was not a massive undertaking.
“The building didn’t change much, just subtle changes,” said Lou DeRose, an attorney who has worked in the Westmoreland courthouse since he was in law school in 1968.
“All in all,” he said, “it probably looks as good as it did in 1908.”
The good looks include a marble staircase that opens upward to twin spirals on the next floor, marble walls in public halls, 15 wall and ceiling murals painted in the early 1900s by Frenchman Maurice Ingres, floor and ceiling mosaics, outside walls faced with light gray granite, and chandeliers and decorative plaster laurel wreaths enhanced by gold leaf in the courtrooms.
And, of course, there is the central rotunda that rises four stories to the dome ceiling.
The cupola, measuring 85 feet across, was done in Italian Renaissance style and designed by the original architect, William Kauffman.
Light from four semicircular windows at the base of the dome is reflected throughout by the rotunda.
Daniel Ackerman, president judge from 2002-07, has been working in the courthouse since 1980. He remains enamored of the environment.
“Courthouse renovations became popular across the state,” Judge Ackerman said. “But few had the advantage of starting out with a building like this.
“It’s a great place to come to work.”
He was speaking of the courthouse, but it could have been his courtroom. It is an ornate blend of new and old, one of the showpieces being spectator benches that had been in the previous courthouse as early as 1901. They have been restored to their original hue, having once been blackened by countless coats of varnish.
John Blahovec, Judge Ackerman’s successor as president judge, is enamored of the surroundings as well, adding that they reinforce the concept that this is a place of business.
“If it looks like a courthouse,” he said, “people are more likely to act the way they should in a courthouse.”
“I think the advantage of holding court here,” Judge Ackerman said, “is that it makes the impression that things of importance will take place here.”
There are nine courtrooms in the building, up from the original four. The 1980 renovation may not have been an overhaul overall, but it made better use of space.
“We used to have things tucked into every nook and cranny,” Mr. DeRose said. “The files for the ‘Kill for Thrill’ case alone are incredible.”
One courtroom was fashioned out of what originally had been a jurors dormitory.
In the early 20th century, when the automobile was new and roadways were primitive, those summoned for jury duty from faraway Westmoreland towns such as Monessen or Donegal could not easily commute between home and the courthouse. So they slept over in the building where they determined a defendant’s fate.
Actually, this is the fifth incarnation of the Westmoreland courthouse. It began in Hannastown, a two-story log house, about 4 miles away, after Westmoreland County was formed in 1773.
When Greensburg became the permanent county seat in December 1785, a new courthouse was planned. A log house, erected on the current site, had its first court case 13 months later.
Three courthouses followed, opening in 1801, 1854 and 1908.
A few years ago, Judge Ackerman and Mr. DeRose spearheaded a drive to commemorate the upcoming centennial. The celebration began in September and ended with an open house Saturday, in which the public — at no cost — toured the courthouse.
Participants were allowed to go through the dome to the roof outside.
There, they stood on a bluff, four stories high, atop a distinguished landmark.
Rick Shrum can be reached at rshrum@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1911.
First published on January 31, 2008 at 12:00 am
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Historic status for Wilson’s boyhood home hits political snag
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-GazettePittsburgh City Council will consider historic designation for the boyhood home of the late playwright August Wilson despite a timing problem that could complicate the effort, members said yesterday.
Mr. Wilson’s niece, Kimberly Ellis, said that it would be “a citywide disgrace” if politics jeopardized the designation.
The house at 1727 Bedford Ave. in the Hill District was nominated in March for historic designation by Paul Ellis Jr., nephew of Mr. Wilson and brother of Kim Ellis. The Historic Review Commission and city planning commission both signed off. The petition was sent to council Oct. 10 for final approval.
There it sat until last week, when Mr. Ellis complained. The city code indicates that if council doesn’t act on a historic designation within 90 days of its introduction, the application is denied and can’t be resubmitted for five years, said Council President Doug Shields. That deadline passed early this month.
Mr. Shields got a Law Department opinion saying that since the delay was not Mr. Ellis’ fault, it shouldn’t count against him. He said council will hold a public hearing and vote on the designation.
Mr. Shields said the legislation stalled after it went to the chair of the Planning, Zoning and Land Use Committee. Last year, that was Councilwoman Tonya Payne, of the Hill.
Ms. Payne said she didn’t “know what happened to it,” but when she found out it had fallen through the cracks, she “started chasing it down.”
Ms. Ellis, chair of the Historic Hill Initiative, said she has been “an outspoken critic” of Ms. Payne since the councilwoman backed a bid to put a slots parlor in the neighborhood.
“To think that there would be a four-month delay to historic designation due to politics is a disgrace,” she said.
Ms. Payne said historic designation is “a slam dunk.”
Mr. Ellis said making the house a historic structure is “a great way to honor my uncle’s legacy. Part of my motivation is the scarcity of African-American historic landmarks in the city.”
The emergence of the designation bill follows Monday’s announcement of a $35,300 grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation to the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. That grant is to help Mr. Ellis to turn the now-vacant house into a retreat for writers.
Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Restaurant, grocer signed for Cork Factory retail space
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe owner of the Clark Bar and Grill on the North Side and Caffe Amante, Downtown, plans to open a restaurant and cigar and wine bar as part of the Cork Factory development in the Strip District.
The restaurant is one of two businesses planning to occupy the retail space located directly across the street from the Cork Factory, a 297-unit apartment complex at Railroad and 23rd streets that opened in May.
A specialty grocery store also is in the works. It will occupy nearly half of the 45,000 square feet of retail space available in the 3.5-acre Cork Factory development.
Both the restaurant and the grocer have executed leases and are expected to open for business this spring, according to a news release issued yesterday by Cork Factory developer McCaffery Interests.
“This is a catalyst project that I believe is going to create great change, not only for the Strip but for Downtown Pittsburgh,” said Katie Pliscott, leasing director of McCaffery.
The restaurant will be operated by Angelo Lamatrice and his son, David. The Lamatrices currently own and operate the Clark Bar and Grill on the North Side near the stadiums and Caffe Amante in Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown.
Angelo Lamatrice did not want to talk about the Cork Factory venture yesterday, saying plans were still being finalized.
“It’s early,” he said.
But according to the developer, the restaurant will occupy about 10,000 square feet of space and will feature a “sophisticated” wine and cigar bar. There also will be VIP rooms, Ms. Pliscott said.
The operator of the specialty grocery store has not been identified. Ms. Pliscott would give few details about the store, but said it would be operated by a Pittsburgh businessman.
With the plans for the restaurant and grocer, only about 11,000 square feet of retail space remains in the complex.
Since opening last year, the Cork Factory has rented 87 percent of its units, which range from studio apartments to three-bedroom lofts. Rents run from $1,200 a month to $3,900 a month.
Besides the retail development within the complex, there are plans to develop a full-service marina on the Allegheny riverfront.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Decision on Schenley High School postponed
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
By Joe Smydo,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe city school board’s vote on the closing of the Pittsburgh Schenley High School building will be put off until spring so officials can continue to study the feasibility of renovating the building.
A vote on the building’s fate was widely expected at the board’s Feb. 27 legislative meeting.
Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt last night said he didn’t want to give Schenley supporters false hope, but wants more time to study “every option” for saving the building.
“We believe we should spend a couple of extra months doing that,” he told board members at a workshop on high school improvement.
School board member Heather Arnet thanked Mr. Roosevelt for considering pleas to spare the historic Oakland building.
Kathy Fine, a Schenley supporter, called the announcement a “very positive move” and a nod to community members who have been brainstorming for ways to raise money and reduce renovation costs.
Mr. Roosevelt unleashed a firestorm last fall when he proposed closing the building at the end of the school year, saying the district couldn’t afford $64 million to address asbestos and other maintenance problems.
He has proposed moving Schenley’s current 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders to the Reizenstein building in Shadyside next school year and allowing them to remain together until graduation. Students who would have entered Schenley as freshmen next school year would be absorbed by other schools.
The district held a public hearing on the proposal Nov. 27 so the board could vote Feb. 27. State law requires that a hearing be held at least three months before the vote to close a school.
Mr. Roosevelt said he never committed to a Feb. 27 vote on the building’s future, though people have had that impression. He said he will ask the board to vote next month on moving students out of the Schenley building for the next school year.
Whether the building is closed or renovated, he said, students won’t be able to attend class there in 2008-09.
He said the board must vote promptly on reassigning the students so Reizenstein or another building can be readied for them.
Joe Smydo can be reached at jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.
First published on January 30, 2008 at 12:00 am -
Union Trust sale nears completion
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, January 26, 2008An investment group led by executives of the Mika Realty Group in Los Angeles is expected to complete the purchase of the historic Union Trust Building next week.
“Things have gone smoothly, and there have been no snags,” said Jeffrey Ackerman, commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, who has been marketing the 11-story, 800,000-square-foot structure on Grant Street since last year.The Tribune-Review reported in November that the building was under purchase agreement to the group that includes Michael Kamen, founder of privately held Mika, and a business associate, Gerson Fox, also of Los Angeles.
A purchase price has not been disclosed, but the building is assessed at $30.75 million, according to Allegheny County records.
Ackerman is working on behalf of the building’s owner, Teal Rock 501 Grant Street LP, a partnership owned by Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp.
“We look at the Union Trust Building as a classic building that can’t be duplicated,” Rick Barreca, CEO of Mika Realty, told the Tribune-Review in November. Barreca also one of the investors in the deal.A list of developers carried by a California business publication showed Mika as the 13th-largest developer in the Los Angeles area, with some 5.9 million square feet in commercial real estate developed.
“The buyers have hired an architectural firm to help design improvements for the building,” Ackerman said. The group has said it wants to upgrade the building without disturbing its historic character.
The building, which has been known as Two Mellon Bank Center, is widely regarded as one of the city’s most architecturally significant landmark buildings. It was designed in Flemish Gothic style by noted Pittsburgh architect F.J. Osterling and built in 1916 for industrialist Henry Clay Frick.
It has been nearly empty since Mellon Financial Corp. — now Bank of New York Mellon Corp. — moved its personnel out of the structure in May 2006.
A small number of mostly retail tenants remain on the first level, the largest being Lorrimer’s clothing store.
CB Richard Ellis will handle management of the building once the sale completed, Ackerman said.
Two of its brokers, Hugh “Herky” Pollock and Jeremy Kronman, already have been working on behalf of the buyers to pitch space there to potential tenants for first floor retail and the upper floor office space, Ackerman said.
“A number of large office users have looked at the building, and they also have some very exciting prospects for the retail,” said Ackerman, without disclosing names of companies involved.
“The office market really is very active right now,” said Kronman. He’s shown the building to numerous prospective tenants, in fact, “enough to fill up four times the available space,” he said.
“We have people looking for 50,000- to 200,000-square-foot blocks, and we haven’t really started our leasing campaign,” he said.
The national credit crunch that has had a major impact on the U.S. residential market hasn’t caused any problems with the Union Trust building deal, Ackerman said.
“The buyer has secured lender financing,” he said.
Securing financing was said to be a problem with a previous potential buyer, a New York investment group that included Houlihan-Parnes/iCap Realty Advisors of White Plains and J.J. Operating Corp. of New York City.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
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Bringing East Liberty back to life
By David M. Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 25, 2008With its ornate, arched entryway on Whitfield Street, the century-old former YMCA building in East Liberty evokes memories of when the neighborhood was a bustling retail district, second only to Downtown.
Older residents recall streets lined with restaurants, jewelry and furniture stores, movie theaters, supermarkets and a department store. That was before the neighborhood deteriorated as urban redevelopment backfired, analysts say, and use of the YMCA dwindled.
But on Thursday, officials heralded the five-story brick building as the focal point for revitalizing the business district in a neighborhood that has shown signs of rebirth.
The building will be converted into 35 condominiums on the upper floors and retail space on the first floor. A nonprofit corporation formed last year by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation gave the project an $885,000 loan.
“This is the first project really in the core of East Liberty that’s really going to bring life back to the neighborhood,” Maelene Myers, executive director of the East Liberty Development Corp., said at a news conference. “I cannot say enough about partnership.”
The below-market-rate loan — the first announced by the new Landmarks Community Capital Corp.’s Urban Economic Loan Fund — also is helping the development corporation rehabilitate two historically significant homes on Rippey Street. The loan has been combined with a $250,000 grant from the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority.“What’s happening with the ‘Y’ is a major piece of restoring old, viable East Liberty,” said Arthur P. Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
State Rep. Joe Preston, 60, of East Liberty noted that he and other public officials attending yesterday’s news conference played basketball at the YMCA when they were growing up. The YMCA was closed more than a decade ago, and the building is now vacant.
“It’s a good thing to see it coming back as something positive,” Preston said.
Neighborhood advocates say the first seed for the neighborhood’s rebirth was planted when the Home Depot opened on Penn Circle North in 2000.
Two years later, organic grocer Whole Foods made a successful debut on the other side of the circle at Centre Avenue. The Mosites Co.’s EastSide project brought in a Walgreens Drug Store, Starbucks coffee shop, and other retail outlets.
“We’ve seen a lot of success on the outskirts, but now we are in downtown East Liberty,” said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
Mark Meiser of Meiz Development Co., the Denver-based developer on the $7 million conversion of the YMCA building, said East Liberty is prime for developments such as the condominiums.
“The building is fabulous. I love the architecture. I love the setting,” Meiser said. “First and foremost, the timing is right for East Liberty. Whole Foods is nationally known as one of the best in the country. If they are here and prospering, that tells me the foundation is here.”
City Councilman Ricky Burgess, whose district includes East Liberty, said the project is important to adjacent neighborhoods.
“East Liberty has to be a magnet,” Burgess said. “It has to be bustling with development, with homeowners and shops. We hope to take this development further up and redevelop Brushton, Point Breeze, Homewood, the whole 9th Council District.”
David M. Brown can be reached at dbrown@tribweb.com or 412-380-5614.
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East Liberty Development Thriving; Hill District Falls Behind
POSTED: 1:20 pm EST January 24, 2008
UPDATED: 6:01 pm EST January 24, 2008WTAE TV: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/
PITTSBURGH — The tale of two Pittsburgh neighborhoods, both with harsh histories, is stirring up some controversy around the area.
East Liberty is in a renewal while many say the Hill District is being left behind.
The latest East Liberty development, announced on Thursday, will use a mixture of private investment loans and tax money.
Residents in the Hill District are still fighting for the city to set up a fund for development.
So, why does it work in one neighborhood and not the other?
The old downtown YMCA building in East Liberty hasn’t been used in years. Soon, it’s going to be turned into 35 brand new lofts thanks to a developer who hopes to breathe new life into the historic building.
According to developer Mark Meiser, the lofts will range upward of $250,000.
“First-time homebuyers, I think, is probably the biggest target market,” said Meiser. “Single women, I think, in particular with the medical market that is here in Pittsburgh.”
The project also includes renovating dilapidated duplexes on Rippey Street into eight condos in the $150,000 price range.
“Part of this plan is to eliminate that horrendous circle and restore the traditional historic street grid pattern with homes, and those homes will be explicitly affordable to a single moms with four or five kids,” said state Sen. Jim Ferlo.
“This project will rehabilitate and preserve several significant buildings in East Liberty while addressing the community’s needs for decent and affordable housing and encourage development in a community that’s fallen on hard times,” said Rep. Mike Doyle.
In the Hill District though, the One Hill Coalition is pushing the city for money. It wants the renewal that’s happening in East Liberty to happen in the Hill, too, but that effort has hit struggle after struggle.
WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo asked Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to explain what’s the difference between East Liberty compared to the community-controlled funding Hill District activists are seeking.
“Well, this is different in that, you know, this is project-specific, and we’ve been very clear with the folks in the Hill District: project-specific projects are things we’re more than willing to fund,” said Ravenstahl.
Carl Redwood, of the One Hill Coalition, said he believes the scope of the Penguins new arena deal should set the stage for something different.“There are a number of project-specific proposals that are taking place right now in the Hill District that the city is supporting,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that there was an additional fund because of the new arena that was created, that could be under more community control.”
“I think we can be creative and find ways to fund projects in the Hill District just like we found ways to fund a project like this one,” said Ravenstahl. “And so I think that discussion has evolved and has moved to a good point.”
But Redwood said the Hill District community feels it knows best how to move forward with its neighborhood’s development.
“They gave the Penguins full control of all the parking revenue on the Urban Redevelopment Authority controlled parking spaces. They didn’t ask them for project specific things. The revenue goes to the Penguins. That’s not project specific. They changed the rules for the Penguins, but they won’t change them for the community.”
Story courtesy of WTAE TV: http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/
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Allegheny County purchase of liens opens doors to development
By Justin Vellucci
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, January 24, 2008Doug Van Haitsma looks at a three-story apartment building in Swissvale and sees the heart of a revitalized neighborhood.
Now that Allegheny County has bought back the lien — a legal claim for unpaid taxes — on the Monongahela Avenue property, Van Haitsma said his plan to convert it and 50 nearby parcels into a Mon Valley gateway is a step closer to reality.
“It’s a pocket within Swissvale that has really fallen on hard times,” said Van Haitsma, real estate director for the Mon Valley Initiative, a development group. “Having those liens in friendly hands … is a huge advantage.”
The county redevelopment authority agreed Wednesday to spend $1.625 million to buy back liens on 19,013 properties it sold a decade ago to GLS Capital Inc. The purchase includes vacant homes, commercial buildings and undeveloped lots in 129 municipalities — every town in the county except Pennsbury Village.
Officials hope the purchase spurs a development boom.
“We felt this was a pretty good deal,” said Dennis Davin, director of the county’s economic development office. “This gives us control of what happens at these properties.”The purchase also ends a 2007 lawsuit in which GLS accused the county of selling it “defective liens,” such as ones for sites the government planned to acquire through eminent domain, county solicitor Mike Wojcik said. The Virginia-based company sought more than $1.85 million in damages, court records show.
“It became cumbersome having to deal with them,” Wojcik said. “We can get GLS out of the picture now.”
GLS could not be reached for comment.
Attorney E.J. Strassburger, who helped file the lawsuit, forwarded questions to an attorney who didn’t return calls. Strassburger’s firm also represents the Tribune-Review.
The purchase represents just part of the 77,000 delinquent accounts GLS bought for nearly $50 million in the mid-1990s.
About one in every four of the purchased properties — roughly 4,500 — are in Pittsburgh. The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is interested in acquiring some liens in hopes of drawing developers to those properties, many of which are vacant, Davin said.
The head of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which is restoring four Wilkinsburg homes once hit with tax liens, lauded the move.
“It sounds good to us because it (puts) the property back into the control of the county,” said foundation president Arthur Ziegler. “It would make renewal of them much easier.”
Patrick Shattuck, a ninth-generation Vermont native who moved to Wilkinsburg a year ago, agreed. He wants to turn vacant lots whose liens were bought by the county into parking and open space near his 108-year-old Edwardian home.
“The goal is to get the properties back into the hands of folks that are going to use them … and make these communities vibrant again,” Shattuck said.
The move to buy previously sold liens is not new. In 2006, Pittsburgh officials teamed with the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and Pittsburgh Public Schools to buy liens on more than 11,000 properties for $6.5 million. The city sold about 14,000 liens from 1996 to 1999 for $64 million.
Justin Vellucci can be reached at jvellucci@tribweb.com or 412-320-7847