Category Archive: Historic Properties
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North Side gets behind Commons cause
By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, September 14, 2007The North Side’s Allegheny Commons — designated as public grazing lands a year before George Washington became the nation’s first president — today celebrates a small but significant first step in a proposed $16 million revitalization guided by a master plan.
A four-acre parcel at the southwest corner of East Ohio Street and Cedar Avenue has undergone $400,000 of upgrades, part of a pilot project demonstrating improvements that could come for the 80-acre West Park.
“This is a way for us to take a section of the park and do a whole lot of improvements and see how it looks,” said Christina Schmidlapp, part-time development director of the project since 2004, working from the offices of the Northside Leadership Conference.
“It will be a living advertisement of what we want to do, and for us to see if it makes sense for us to make a park like they did in the 19th century.”
Located a quarter-mile from the Allegheny River across from Downtown, the green space was designated as public grazing lands, or commons, surrounding the borough of Allegheny in 1788, according to the Allegheny Commons Steering Committee. It was beautified as a park for Allegheny City in 1868, annexed to Pittsburgh 40 years later and incorporated into the city’s park system. Allegheny Commons is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and is a city historic district.
Community groups in 1999 convened a public meeting to discuss upgrading the park, and by 2002 other stakeholders — including Allegheny General Hospital, the Aviary and the Children’s Museum — helped develop a master plan. Local businesses, including insurance company Babb Inc., the Steelers and Citizens Bank, helped to fund the salary of Schmidlapp, who will move into a money-raising mode. Alida Baker will become project director.
Money for the improvement has come from the Richard King Mellon Foundation and The Buhl Foundation, and the city Public Works Department, which provided $200,000 and labor to rebuild walking paths and upgrade lighting. The planting of 70 trees and other landscape care in the park was paid for by the Laurel Foundation, the Allegheny Foundation and the Garden Club of Allegheny County.
Walking through the park on a brilliant September afternoon, Tonia Davis said Thursday she has noticed the improvement in the five years since she moved to East Allegheny Commons. The park is better maintained and has become a gathering spot for children’s parties.
“It’s a beautiful place,” said Davis, a home health worker and part-time Wendy’s restaurant staffer. “When I moved here, it was nothing but drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs. I didn’t want to come out of my house. I’m proud to live here now.”
A ceremony is scheduled in the park at 4 p.m. today. The master plan can be found at www.pittsburghnorthside.com.
Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com or 412-320-7886.
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Tax credits lower costs of living Downtown
Thursday, September 13, 2007
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazettePeople who want to live Downtown but can’t afford the expensive condominiums or steep rents that now dominate the market finally may have an option.
It’s a 100-year-old building on Seventh Street in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.
A plan to convert the 12-story Century Building into affordable apartments cleared a key hurdle this week when the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency awarded $515,155 in federal tax credits for the project.
The approval, announced at a news conference yesterday, will enable Trek Development Group to press ahead with the construction of 60 upper-floor apartments, including single-room studios and one- and two-bedroom lofts.
Rents will range from $550 to $1,150 a month, depending on income level, in a Downtown market where studio rents currently are $868 to $909 a month and two bedrooms go for $1,035 to $2,002 a month, based on whether there’s one or two bathrooms.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the $16 million Century Building project has been a priority for him since he got into office a year ago because of its potential to attract a broader mix of people into the Downtown residential scene.
“Downtown Pittsburgh is on its way back. It’s revitalizing, and it’s because of projects like this that we’re going to be able to look at a significantly different Downtown, in my opinion, in the years to come,” he said.
Until now the residential surge Downtown has been fueled in large part by luxury condominiums with price tags starting at roughly $230,000. Many units are selling for $300,000 or more, with a few topping $1 million.
Apartment rents at the Encore on 7th high-rise a few doors down from the Century Building are $1,400 to $3,275 a month.
While housing has helped to boost the fortunes of the Downtown district, it has been out of the reach of many people because of the price.
At the same time, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership research has found a “tremendous demand” for a middle range that includes young professional housing and work-force housing, said Patty Burk, vice president of housing and economic development.
“Delivering this building will be the first step in meeting that demand and helping Downtown be for everyone,” she said.
Part of the problem in providing more affordable housing in downtowns, here and elsewhere, is the high cost of construction, which leads developers to focus on the high end to turn a profit. Lower pricing typically requires some form of subsidy.
For example, Washington County-based Millcraft Industries, another developer seeking to bring more affordable housing Downtown, sought federal historic tax credits to help make the numbers work. It is converting part of the old G.C. Murphy store into 46 loft apartments, with rents to range from about $775 for a 620-square-foot studio to $1,875 for a 1,500-square-foot penthouse.
William J. Gatti Jr., president of Trek Development Group, said the $515,155 in affordable tax credits was “vital” to the conversion of the upper floors of the Century Building into housing. He said the project could not have gone forward without them.
“The price point that we’re attempting to make units available for would not be enough to amortize the debt necessary to develop the building and to carry the cost. So we absolutely need the tax credits to make it work,” he said.
Trek plans to target young professionals, artists and middle-income renters. It plans to offer 12 single-room studios, 12 two-bedroom units and 36 one-bedroom units.
“It is fitting that exactly 100 years after its original construction we are announcing the rebirth of the Century Building as Downtown Pittsburgh’s first truly affordable residential loft community,” Mr. Gatti said.
Trek intends to pursue an environmentally friendly LEED certification for the building, which also will include a green roof and geothermal heating and cooling. There also will be a roof deck with city and Allegheny River views, an equipped exercise room, a community club room and a business center.
Apartment amenities include garbage disposals, dishwashers, and washer and dryer hook-ups.
Besides the PHFA tax credits, project funding includes nearly $3.2 million from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, $2.3 million in loans from the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, $2.3 million in historic tax credits, $2.3 million in loans from the Strategic Investment Fund and $750,000 in loans from the county’s economic development department.
Trek already has been doing preliminary demolition work within the building. Construction should be in full bloom next year, with apartments ready for occupancy in early 2009.
The Century Building conversion is considered another key addition to the thriving Cultural District. It’s expected to complement the Cultural Trust’s half-billion-dollar RiverParc project, the first phase of which involves the construction of some 700 units of housing on the Allegheny River at Eighth Street, at a cost of $90 million.
Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said Downtown will be “the place for the next decade or two where activity” will be growing. He said the county is committed to making sure the Golden Triangle, as the hub of the region, continues to move forward.
“We’re on a roll. You can easily fall off that roll if you don’t pay attention to what we have here and the assets that we have. So Downtown Pittsburgh’s going to remain a focus for the next several years for all of us involved here,” he said.
First published on September 13, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262. -
Allegheny County Designates PHLF to Spearhead Main Street’s Program
Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato announced at a press conference in Swissvale yesterday the initiation of a large-scale Allegheny County Main Streets program. Four pilot communities will be involved: Swissvale, Elizabeth, Tarentum, and Stowe. Landmarks has been designated to operate the program in conjunction with the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.
Landmarks has selected Town Center Associates of Beaver County to serve as sub-consultant with responsibility for communications with local officials and property and business owners, development of a website and a newsletter, and conduct demographic research.
Landmarks will analyze the historic buildings, prepare recommendations for restoration, develop a real estate strategy for improving retail offerings, conduct market research, assist the County with major facade grant and low-interest loan programs, all designed to help revitalize these Main Street communities.
Funding is coming from Allegheny County and private foundations in Pittsburgh.
Landmarks will field a team of staff members with a variety of experience that will be useful for a comprehensive program, including market research, real estate financial analyses, design, graphics, planned giving, construction and real estate development.
Work begins immediately.
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County to provide aid to business owners outside Pittsburgh
By Justin Vellucci
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 12, 2007When Karen Larson opened Hometowne Tavern in Swissvale five years ago, bankers hardly gave her the time of day.
“We couldn’t get a loan for any part of our business,” said Larson, 52, of Swissvale, who owns the commercial building where the tavern she owns with her husband is based. “When it came to getting our business going, we were really on our own.”
Not anymore.
Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato announced a program Tuesday that will provide grants, tax abatements and no-interest loans to business owners looking to revitalize 43 local business districts outside Pittsburgh. The program — dubbed Allegheny Together — will begin in Swissvale, Tarentum, Stowe and Elizabeth Borough, and also help those hit hardest by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
“The big projects get all the attention through the media … and they’re needed and they help,” Onorato told an audience packed into Swissvale’s municipal building yesterday. “But we also wanted to make it clear we understand the benefits of small businesses.”
The county plans to commit $500,000 to $1 million a year to the program, which officials said could provide $1 million to $1.5 million in funding each year. Foundations have pledged an additional $500,000. Officials plan to seek about $500,000 from the state.
“What we all already know is we have 43 community (business districts), all historic,” said Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr., president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “We look on Main Street as a real estate development, just the way they look at a mall as a real estate development out in the suburbs.”
In those 43 communities, eligible property and business owners can be covered for up to 60 percent of total project costs or $50,000, whichever is less, county officials said. Half the money will come as a grant, and the other half as a zero-interest loan payable over a maximum of seven years.
Some of the work covered by the program includes improving facades and sidewalks, correcting code deficiencies, erecting signs for businesses, and improving accessibility to businesses for the disabled, county officials said. A display showing potential changes to Swissvale’s business district was shown yesterday.
Residents could start to see improvements made through the program in six months to a year, said Dennis Davin, the county’s director of economic development.
Local officials celebrated the program for its specific benefits, as well as the message of support it carries.
“It’s something we’ve been waiting for for years and years,” Swissvale Mayor Deneen Swartzwelder said. “This is an amazing opportunity for us. And we promise not to let you down.”
For more information on the Allegheny Together program, call 412-350-1000.
Justin Vellucci can be reached at jvellucci@tribweb.com or 412-320-7847
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Highland Park granted federal historic status
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe National Register of Historic Places has granted Highland Park federal historic status, a designation with few protections but much prestige among preservationists.
Mike Eversmeyer, an architect and former head of the city’s Historic Review Commission, completed the nomination from research begun almost a decade ago by the neighborhood’s community development corporation, or CDC.
The work included surveying and documenting the histories of more than 1,300 structures.
“We based our nomination on the significance of the architecture, a coherent concentration of buildings from the late 19th to early 20th century,” Mr. Eversmeyer said. “It was a model street car suburb.”
The parameters of the historic district run roughly from Stanton Avenue on the south to the park on the east and north, with Chislett Street serving as the western boundary. It cuts slightly into East Liberty at one point because the buildings between Stanton and Hays and Negley Avenue and Chislett were of the same signature as Highland Park’s, said Mr. Eversmeyer.
“I think it’s something for Pittsburgh to be very proud of,” said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “It gives national status to the neighborhood, and it will protect it from federally funded programs that could harm historic buildings.” Any such programs would be reviewed by state preservation officials, he said.
He said Highland Park’s housing collage ranges from late Victorian to early Modern, covering Edwardian, Tudor Revival and Arts and Crafts.
“The neighborhood has a feeling of architectural continuity,” he said.
Amy Enrico, owner of Tazza d’Oro coffeehouse on Highland Avenue, said, “I’m grateful for all the time they have put in. This is an incentive for all of us to preserve the architecture and stories of all the neighbors who came before us.”
The national designation does not prohibit individual owners from altering properties or require them to restore them, but it does make the district eligible for preservation funding and tax credits. City-designated historic districts are more restricted, with oversight from the planning department and Historic Review Commission on any proposed change to properties.
Several areas of Pittsburgh have federal and city historic status. One does not preclude the other, and the two do not always follow the same boundaries, said Mr. Ziegler.
“No one has spoken about interest in going for city historic designation” for Highland Park, Mr. Eversmeyer said.
David Hance, president of the Highland Park CDC. credited then-city councilman, now state Sen. Jim Ferlo for funding the research. The designation, he said, “tells us that what we see everyday where we live is notable, and it’s one more tool we have” to encourage quality development.
First published on September 12, 2007 at 2:52 am
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Private-public partnership resurrects old Bedford getaway
By Jack Markowitz
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, September 9, 2007They’re using the word “miracle” around Bedford these days.
It’s a nod to the revival — after 22 years of near-death experience — of the Bedford Springs Resort, the venerable vacation spot with gleaming front porches that seem to go forever and a history that stretches back 203 years.Presidents slept there. But a glorious past can carry a hotel only so far if everything else is falling apart. The “Springs’ ” new owners, a half-dozen sophisticated investors from out of state, have bet $120 million that this piece of the past has a future.
They see a very modern aggravation — airport delays and hassles — nudging upscale Easterners to do their vacations and conferences, weddings and weekends, closer to home. Within two or three hours’ easy driving from Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia, in fact.
In that market area of millions, Bedford Springs means to compete with the best. Namely, the Greenbrier in West Virginia, the Homestead in Virginia and other high-prestige — and high priced — watering places for the well-heeled and the politically and corporately influential.
So look for weekday room rates of $249 a night and up ($350 on weekends), golf rounds at $105 for hotel guests, $115 for drive-ins ($70 after 3 p.m.), and sumptuous but pricey breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. Not to mention concierges, valet parking, masseuses and white-gloved bellmen.
None of which would have been possible without the help of taxpayers.
Some $40 million in state and federal help has lifted the grand dame of Keystone State travel destinations to its legs again. “The hotel is probably better than it has ever been,” said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, which helped in the rescue.
“She sat there empty and forlorn for 22 years,” says Bedford historian-architect Bill Defibaugh. “I expected every day to get a call, ‘They’re tearing her down.’ ”
It all goes to show what money can do. Plus vision, patience, taste and, well, tax dollars.
Here’s one item. To give a new generation of guests an unspoiled view — and no noise, fumes or trucks, across elegant lawns and gardens — a half-mile of U.S. Route 220 was relocated behind the hotel. The traffic is now in a deep, $11 million highway cut that never would have happened without friends in Harrisburg and Washington.
Still, someone had to bring money. His own.
Meet Mark Langdale, 53, of Dallas. He’s the U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica, a friend and appointee of President Bush, and a real estate investor. From afar, he spotted a then-dying, dust-gathering hotel a decade ago. And never let up gathering partners, political allies and financial tools.
Pittsburgh History and Landmarks (which saved Station Square in its home city decades ago) threw a big life ring. It acquired the hotel’s outside. Right — just the outside.
That’s the historic facade of tall columns, old glass and white porches — the building’s skin. History and Landmarks legally owns all that by way of an “easement,” a legal contract by which the historic look of a National Historic Landmark should never be lost.
By giving up the easement, Langdale and his group, Bedford Resort Partners, acquired a $23 million federal income-tax credit aimed at historic preservation. Then they sold that as a market investment to Chevron, the California oil giant, to put into the reconstruction. As many as 400 skilled tradespeople have reworked the property for almost two years.
Result: The hotel, some of it dating from 1804, is practically new inside — in a stronger outside. The four-story architectural wedding cake lies four miles south of the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Bedford interchange, just outside the 3,500-population county seat.
“Basically, we took the hotel back to the structure,” says Keith Evans, managing partner of Bedford Resort Partners, who oversaw the big fix. An associate jokes: “Keith said, ‘Take it upside down and everything that falls is gone. So we have new walls, new floors, ceilings, heating, plumbing and air-conditioning.”
Evans said it’s fair to say the place was “gutted.” To make larger guest rooms, now 216 of them (vs. 721 at the giant Greenbrier and 486 at the Homestead), walls were knocked down and about 60 old rooms sacrificed. Deteriorated timber was replaced by steel beams. Great white outdoor columns were sent to Altoona and Scranton for $75,000 rebuilds. But century-old, wavy window glass was kept; 19th century brides etched initials in it with their wedding diamonds.
“This ceiling was just hanging down,” said Cheryl Funk, marketing director, of the top-floor ballroom (capacity 300) three floors up from a soaring lobby of angled stairs and footbridges. Five restaurants, a huge kitchen (and several satellite kitchens), an antique-rich library, porches with painted rocking chairs — What would a grand old hotel be without them? — and long vistas of furniture and decor keep visitors walking and gawking.
More than a half-dozen presidents have visited the place, including Pennsylvania’s own James Buchanan, who used it as a summer White House before the Civil War. Others on the register included Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan (while California governor).
The first post-revival wedding was in late August with 225 guests. Extra help was sent in by Texas-based Benchmark Hospitality International, contract operator of this resort and more than 30 others. The first new guests in a generation arrived July 12 without any “grand opening.” It seemed more important to get 275 resort employees up to speed for a “world-class destination luxury resort.” That’s the goal, not an easy one.
The Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., and the Homestead, in Hot Springs, Va., plus Nemacolin Woodlands in Fayette County and the Hotel Hershey near Harrisburg are viewed as the elite competition for individuals, corporate meetings, special events and, hopefully, congressional and other government retreats.
“The luxury segment is one part of our industry that’s continued to grow,” said Todd Gillespie, Bedford Springs’ vice president of marketing and sales. He said four groups already are signed for 2008 — and one as far out as 2011.
No numbers are being released, but “we’re very optimistic about the early results,” Evans says. “Bookings have been very good.”
Word-of-mouth from the hard-to-please can be elusive. An early guest from Rochester, N.Y., told a reporter the new staff isn’t four-star yet. “It’s beautiful around here, but they’ve got to get the kinks out,” she said.
But Helen Ferry, Dorothy Ritchey and Marcia Davis, all from small Bedford area towns, thought the restoration exciting and the food “delicious.” They bused in on a senior citizens weekday tour with buffet lunch (fare: $26.50). “Before they started working on it,” Ferry says, “you’d come up here and think somebody dropped a bomb.”
A new “spa” wing has been built for body-pamperers, with guest rooms topping $300 a night. The outdoor-pool complex overlooks a first-rate view: the restored 18-hole golf course that occupies a valley between hills veined with hiking trails. Bringing the 6,785-yard golf course back to the 1924 Donald Ross design was an $8.5 million labor. Look for serpentine bunkers, tufted hillocks, wetlands, wildflowers and meandering Shober’s Run.
Restoration work in the hotel aims for the high-ceilinged look of the resort’s pre-World War I heyday around 1905. But underpinning the charm are amenities geared to at least a half-decade in the future, Gillespie said: elegantly tiled bathrooms, iPod docking stations and high-definition flat-screen TVs behind the doors of antique-looking chests.
And, of course, year-round occupancy. The old hotel closed in winters.
Historian Defibaugh, whose antique photos decorate the long corridors, said Bedford folks never quite lost hope after the hotel’s depressing 1986 shutdown. “Developers came in with high hopes but very little money,” he said.
Wonderful what a major investment will do, though. Along Pitt Street, downtown Bedford’s main stem, merchants see signs of contagious rebirth. “I know three businesses that say they would not have opened had it not been for the Springs,” says Kim Foreman, owner of the Green Harvest Co., a cafe and bakery.
“I’m planning a third fitting room, the weekends have become so busy,” says Elaine Housel, owner of Elaine’s Wearable Art, a clothing and jewelry retailer. “Women on vacation can only sit around for so long. They’re coming to town to shop.”
There are reports of higher home prices around Bedford, but Todd May, at Johnson Real Estate, cites a “certain amount of speculation on business properties in town,” retirement-home buying by Baltimoreans, who like the lower housing costs across the Pennsylvania border, and some new industries opening.
Sharyn Maust, managing editor of the Bedford Gazette, says of the hotel’s revival: “Obviously it’s great, but I like old buildings.” Some of her readers have written angry letters, disapproving of public funds going to entertain wealthy out-of-towners. “In effect they’re saying ‘I’ll never see any benefit from this,’ ” Maust says.
At this point, the resort is no bonanza for local and school tax collectors. It’s cocooned in its own state-delineated “Keystone Opportunity Zone.”
That’s a sweetener for investors. It was laid out when the idled hotel was desperately seeking a savior in 2001. Thanks to the Opportunity Zone, no real estate or personal property tax has to be paid for 10 years, through 2010. The hit wouldn’t be heavy in any case. Annual real estate tax only would be about $32,000. That’s on a laughably low assessed value of $394,000 and “fair market value” of $2.3 million. Considering all that’s been invested, a future shock seems inevitable.
The resort’s new owners number six partners: Langdale, Evans and John Ferchill, head of the Ferchill Group, of Cleveland, and three of his associates. Ferchill is a veteran developer of historic properties, like 99 percent-occupied Heinz Lofts on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Here’s how $120 million was put together, according to Timm Judson, chief investment officer of Felcher. Owners’ equity of $10 million; historic tax credit of $23 million, the History and Landmarks easement; $28 million in state grants under the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program; another $11 million in PennDOT funds for highway relocation; a $40 million senior mortgage held by Marshall Investment Group, of Minneapolis; and a $9 million second mortgage by Hudson Realty Capital, of New York.
Using public funds to subsidize private enterprises is a perennial issue for debate. State and federal laws favor it for historic property. But well-placed friends help.
Two lawmakers have long backed efforts to keep Bedford Springs alive: U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Everett (and his father, former Rep. Bud Shuster, a kingpin among public works promoters in Congress), and former state Sen. Robert Jubelirer, R-Altoona, who lost a re-election bid after helping to engineer an the since-rescinded legislative pay increase in 2005.
The Ferchill Group’s Judson says there’s no way the resort’s revival could have happened without the state’s $40 million-odd input (in grants and PennDOT funds), a third of the total cost.
Says Evans: “Many people tried for a long time to get it done and they couldn’t. The state had a great treasure that had not been open for 20 years, and it now has a viable new employer bringing in tourist dollars that did not exist before.”
Pittsburgh Landmarks’ Ziegler agrees — when it comes to the architecturally irreplaceable: “It’s so hard to do these buildings on a market basis,” he said. “As for subsidizing, it just couldn’t be done without it. And keep in mind, these owners have their own money in. They have a mortgage. I think it’s little short of a miracle.”
The competition
The Greenbrier, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
250 miles south of Pittsburgh and southwest of Washington, D.C.
• Acreage: 6,500.
• Opened: 1778.
• Rooms: 721, including suites, guest houses.
• Rates: Per night : traditional room, $379 to $489. Higher level rooms, suites: $529 to $900.
• Golf courses: Three, per player round: $195, after Oct. 21, $130.
• Fact bites: 26 presidents have visited. A $50 million renovation completed last April. 112,000-square-foot underground bunker can be toured. Built “top secret” for Congress in case of Cold War blowup, it was never used.
• Details: 1-800-624-6070, www.greenbrier.com.
The Homestead, Hot Springs, Va.
250 miles south of Pittsburgh, 210 miles west of Washington, D.C.
• Acreage: 3,000.
• Opened: 1766.
• Rooms: 483, including suites
• Rates: Per night, $225 to $450; with meal packages, $310-535; golf packages, $620 to $1,120.
• Golf courses: Three, rounds per player depending on course, $120 to $245.
• Fact bites: 23 presidents have visited. Golfer Sam Snead had early experience as a pro here. Spa massages at $150, $220 for 50-minute and 80-minute rubs respectively.
• Details: 1-800-838-1766, www.thehomestead.com.
Bedford Springs Resort, Bedford, Pa.
100 miles east of Pittsburgh, 135 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.
• Acreage: 2,200.
• Opened: 1804 (on spring property purchased 1796).
• Rooms: 216.
• Rates: Introductory rates per night: $249 up.
• Golf courses: One, 18-hole round per player, $115, $70 twilight (after 3 p.m.)
• Fact bites: Seven presidents (some say nine) have visited. A 36-star flag behind registration desk flew at Civil War’s end. Indoor pool in a classic 1905 Grecian “temple” is spring-fed, heated.
• Details: 1-866-623-8176, www.bedfordspringsresort.com.
Contractors
A partial list of Pennsylvania “midwives” to the rebirth of Bedford Springs:
Reynolds Construction Inc., Harrisburg, general contractor; Miller Electric Construction Inc., Allison Park, electrical systems; G.N. McCrossin Co., Bellefonte, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and foundation of the spa wing; Rob-Bern Associates Inc., West Mifflin, carpentry; W.G. Tomko & Sons Inc., Finleyville, plumbing; L.R. Constanzo Co., Scranton, windows and columns; Hemlock Hills Landscaping Co., Altoona, interior landscaping (flower boxes, potted trees etc.).
Jack Markowitz can be reached at jmarkowitz@tribweb.com.
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Mayor tours Market Square, cites improvements
Thursday, September 06, 2007
By Mark Belko,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteLike countless politicians before him, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl ventured into the Original Oyster House in Market Square yesterday, but not for the fish sandwich or the political glad-handing usually served with it.
Instead, the stop was part of a lunchtime walking tour during which Mr. Ravenstahl talked to merchants, shook hands with diners and pedestrians, and assessed progress in making the city’s oldest public square more visitor friendly.
The mayor said he was pleased with what he saw, from the square’s cleaner look to more people using it.
He attributed the improvement in part to a concerted effort by the city to beef up police presence and to crack down on illicit activity, including drug dealing, in the square.
“It was neglected for a period of time. The criminal element and the negative element felt comfortable here. We’re trying to move that out and trying to make this a priority,” he said.
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership also has spearheaded improvements, purchasing 75 tables and 200 chairs to help restaurants expand their outdoor dining. Some of those dining areas have been extended into the street to provide more room.
In addition, the partnership also has added a farmers market and concerts on Thursdays to generate more activity. Trees have been pruned to open up the square and create more light. This fall, propane heating lamps will be added to allow for continued outdoor dining.
The mayor said he sees “good progress” in efforts to transform the square into a destination for visitors and residents alike.
“We’re really trying to bring the ‘market’ back to Market Square and I think our short-term success is evident and what we need to do is to continue that in order to have long-term achievement,” he said.
Mr. Ravenstahl said the city wants to build off the momentum created by the construction of the Three PNC Plaza skyscraper on Fifth Avenue and the redevelopment of the G.C. Murphy Building that abuts the square to create a more dynamic area.
He also said an experiment to remove buses from Market Square this summer has been successful for the most part and likely would become permanent.
The Port Authority has said that it is anticipating that buses would be removed permanently next spring or summer.
Several merchants told Mr. Ravenstahl that the improvements represented a good start after years of neglect.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Rick Faust, the Oyster House general manager. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but the people have felt more safe in Market Square than they have in years past.”
He said the added police presence, the Thursday events and the rerouting of the buses from the square have helped business.
“The police presence down here has been more than adequate. There’s always room for more,” he said.
Mr. Faust added he would like to see the square promoted more as a destination and to become more a focal point for events.
Another merchant, Ron Gargani, half-owner of the Buon Giorno Cafe, said he is planning $450,000 to $550,000 in improvements to his property, including restoring the building facade to its original 1918 look, in anticipation of the redevelopment Downtown.
“I feel it’s going to happen. The future is now,” he said.
He said the move of the Arts Festival from Point State Park and the Thursday events in the square increased his business by 40 percent this summer.
Washington County developer Millcraft Industries is expected to start construction on the G.C. Murphy redevelopment before the end of the year. The building will house the new home for the Downtown YMCA, 30,000 square feet of retail space, and 46 apartments.
First published on September 6, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262. -
Larimer bakery tax plan advances
Thursday, September 06, 2007
By Ann Belser,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAllegheny County Council’s economic development committee has advanced the proposed tax breaks for redeveloping the old Nabisco site on Penn Avenue in Larimer, but without giving the plan its blessing.
Council has been asked by the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority to approve $10 million in tax increment financing for Walnut Capital Development Inc.’s Bakery Square project.
That money, which uses future tax proceeds to pay off development bonds, includes $5 million toward making roads around Penn Circle two-way and installing new traffic signals, and $5 million for development of an 849-space parking garage.
Robert Rubinstein, URA director of economic development, said the bonds will be backed with tax revenue from the site on which Walnut Capital Development plans to build office and retail space in addition to the garage and another 350 parking spaces. The tax increment financing does not apply to a 120-room hotel planned for a site next to the former bakery.
The committee, while sending the plan to council for a vote, did so without recommending that the council pass it. Councilman Bill Robinson, D-Hill District, said he was concerned about statements by the developers that he believes have not been documented.
Mr. Robinson wanted details of a $50,000 promise that Walnut Capital made to the community. Mr. Rubinstein said $35,000 would be used for job training and $15,000 will be used to spruce up part of Larimer Avenue.
Mr. Robinson said he wanted to know which community groups the developer had agreements with and what those agreements were.
Maurice Strul, a business development specialist from the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, said he had not had time to get answers since Mr. Robinson first raised the issue last week.
“If he represents the district and he has concerns, he has a right to those concerns,” Councilwoman Jan Rea, R-McCandless, said.
Mr. Rubinstein said after the meeting that the money going to the community for job training and neighborhood improvements was being paid by the developers and not from public money.
The overall project is estimated to cost $105 million to $125 million and is planned for property where the Nabisco bakery stood for 80 years before it closed in 1998. It was taken over by Atlantic Baking Group in 1999 and cookies were again baked there, but in 2004 the company that had become Bake-Line filed for bankruptcy and closed the bakery for good.
The tax increment financing plan has been placed on council’s agenda for Tuesday.
First published on September 6, 2007 at 12:00 am
Ann Belser can be reached at abelser@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699.