Category Archive: Neighborhood Development
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Heinz Endowments Make Initial Grant for New Granada Restoration
The Heinz Foundation have announced a grant of $200,000 to Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation to work in partnership with the Hill Community Development Corporation (Hill CDC) to begin physical stabilization work for the New Granada Theatre and planning for its future use. The building was designed by Pittsburgh’s first African American architect Louis A. S. Bellinger (1891-1946). The Hill Community Development Corporation expects to have a matching grant from the State Department of Community and Economic Development.
PHLF’s Construction Manager Tom Keffer, will begin immediately to meet with engineers and contractors to further define the immediate work program and construction budget; Eugene Matta, Director of Special Projects for PHLF, will join the New Granada Planning Committee to bring his experience in heading the team that restored City Theatre in New York to the planning effort.
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Heinz grant to revitalize Hill District theater
Thursday, May 10, 2007
By Ervin Dyer,
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe fading New Granada Theatre in the Hill District moved a step closer to new life yesterday, thanks to a $200,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments that will begin the process of stabilizing the storied theater.
The New Granada, one of the last remaining works of early 20th-century African-American architecture in Western Pennsylvania, is weathered from 40 years of neglect and non-use.
“We are so excited,” said Marimba Milliones, a member of a Hill committee leading the way to polish up the former movie house and ballroom. “The Granada is just the heart and soul of the Hill. Its rehab will re-awaken the hope and belief that the Hill is going to be a great community again.”
The Hill District grant will go to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, working with the Hill Community Development Corp. to begin stabilizing the structure of the New Granada.
The building will require as much as $2 million to complete stabilization. The Heinz funding will be matched with a grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. The funding also will support a team of local and national consultants studying possible uses for the theater.
The theater funding was among 221 grants totaling $36.9 million that The Heinz Endowments approved during a two-day meeting of the foundation board that ended yesterday.
The largest grant, $5 million, went to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh to create the Pediatric Environmental Medicine Center.
The program will be housed at the $575 million, green-certified hospital under construction in Lawrenceville,
The center will focus first on developing new approaches for the prevention and treatment of asthma due to its prevalence in minority and medically under-served communities, but also in response to recent reports identifying Pittsburgh as second from the bottom in air quality among American cities.
But the Environmental Medicine Center also will have the broader goal of making consideration of environmental links to health problems standard in any medical setting.
The grants reflect The Heinz Endowments’ new plan to shift at least 30 percent of its philanthropy over the next five years to special areas of concentration. These include supporting the reform of the Pittsburgh Public Schools; assistance with wiser economic development that is technologically and environmentally sound; and influencing the direction of Downtown development.
One grant that does the last is $200,000 for construction opportunities that will go to the Community Loan Fund of Southwestern Pennsylvania in partnership with the Minority and Women Educational Labor Agency. It is designed to help minority- and women-owned businesses to increase capacity so that they can successfully participate in larger construction jobs, especially those stemming from the boom in Downtown development.
The program will provide financial backing for certification requirements that will allow these firms to bid on progressively larger projects.
Other grants approved yesterday include:
$3 million to the Carnegie Museum of Art to cover costs of repairs made to skylights and ceilings in its galleries.
$2 million to the Pittsburgh Public Schools to continue the foundation’s support for Superintendent Mark Roosevelt’s Excellence for All Initiative.
$2 million to the Carnegie Library to provide renovation, remodeling and educational resources for branches in the Hill District, North Side and East Liberty.
$2 million to the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild to assist in establishing a $10 million endowment, and to support a new business plan designed to improve program quality and operating performance.
$747,000 to Citizens for Pennsylvania’s Future for continued operating support of the environmental nonprofit.
A total of $700,000 to several grantees to support continued growth of charter and faith-based schools.
(Ervin Dyer can be reached at edyer@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1410. )
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Garfield project may get go-ahead
By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, May 9, 2007The Urban Redevelopment Authority is poised to approve nearly $1.2 million in loans and more than $700,000 in grants to help develop an 18-unit residential and commercial building in Garfield.
The URA board is expected to vote Thursday on proposals to help finance the $6.17 million “Glass Lofts” development on Penn Ave and North Fairmount Street. The developer, Friendship Development Associates, has worked with architect Arthur Lubetz Associates and Sota Construction.The project would include 3,200 square feet of ground-floor commercial space intended for a restaurant, 1,100 square feet of office space, and four artists’ studios.
The URA also is scheduled to discuss redevelopment efforts at Wood Street Commons, a 16-story building at the corner of Third Avenue and Wood Street, Downtown, which offers affordable housing to the working poor and those at risk of homelessness.
Operated since 1987 as a partnership of the nonprofit Community Human Services Corp., developer Mistick PBT and local government agencies, it houses 259 apartments and six floors of commercial space. But Mistick PBT is liquidating its assets and must be removed from the ownership structure, according to URA documents.
The Allegheny County Office of Community Services will vacate its office space there in June 2008, resulting in a loss nearly $1 million in annual income for the building owners.The URA board will vote on a reimbursement agreement with the county to help pay Baker Young Corp. to reassess the building’s value and potential redevelopment of the commercial floors. The county would reimburse the URA half the cost to conduct the study, up to $25,000.
Officials from the URA and Friendship Development Associates did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com or 412-320-7886.
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Cork Factory apartments get bubbly reviews
By Ron DaParma and Sam Spatter
For the Tribune-Review
Saturday, May 5, 2007Debbie Dougherty gushes superlatives when she describes the two-bedroom loft apartment that she and her husband, Bill, share at the new Cork Factory apartments in the Strip District.
“It’s just so wonderful. We’re enjoying every minute of it,” said Dougherty, whose seventh-floor corner unit offers views of both the Allegheny River and Downtown. “We have brick walls and 17-foot ceilings, and it’s incredible,” she said.
Because her husband is retired and their four children have grown and moved, Dougherty said the couple decided to downsize from their large family home in Murrysville. They moved in March to the 297-unit luxury Cork Factory complex, which celebrated its grand opening Friday.
With 135 apartments — about 45 percent of the units — already scooped up by renters, the $70 million project is well ahead of its leasing goals, said Daniel McCaffery, of Daniel McCaffery Interests of Chicago.
“We’re very pleased,” said McCaffery, who developed the site in partnership with Charles Hammell III and Robert Beynon, the local businessmen who own the property on Railroad Street between 23rd and 24th Streets.
“The important thing is we are making our rental rate and renting at a pace that’s faster than we predicted,” McCaffery said.The developers expect the percentage figure will be close to 70 percent as early as the fall.
In addition to the apartments, interest also is high in the 48,000-square-feet of retail space available, he said. Leasing deals may be pending with two upscale restaurants and a local grocery store, he said.
The three-building complex originally was built as the home of the Armstrong Cork Co. in 1901. The estimated development is privately financed although federal tax credits for historic sites cover some of the costs.
So far, tenants are a mixture of young single professionals, many newcomers to the Pittsburgh, a smattering of suburbanites and elderly residents, said Debbie Roberts, Cork Factory general manager.
“We’ve met so many nice people,” Debbie Dougherty said. “We’ve even formed a dinner-out once-a-month group with people here, and it’s all ages — the young, the baby boomers and so forth.”
Now that leasing of apartments is well under way, the development team can move ahead on their plans to develop a private marina on the Allegheny River for the exclusive use of Cork Factory residents.
Also ahead is a river walk that will allow tenants to walk the grounds of the complex.
Other features include the historic, fully restored smokestack and engine room.
Under its current configuration, the complex offers 206 one-bedroom units; 73 two-bedroom, two-bath units; and 18 three-bedroom, two-bath units.
Studio apartments rent from $1,200; other one-bedroom units from $1,009 to $2,480; two-bedrooms from $1,499 to $2,850; and three-bedrooms from $3,430 to $3,800.
The complex offers a game room, 24/7 concierge service, complimentary wireless Internet in select common areas, and out-of-town services such as mail, newspaper and package pickup.
Other features, either already available or scheduled to be opened in the future, include patio/lounge area with fire pit, riverview barbecuing, swimming pool with landscaped deck, hot tub/spa, a courtyard garden, a fitness center, business center, dry cleaners and a 450-car parking garage located across Allegheny Valley Railroad Street.
As the Cork Factory nears completion, Hammel and Beynon can look back on nearly 11 years of frustration since they bought the property in a bankruptcy court sale in 1996.
Several times other investors had come board to help with the project, only to drop out before it could move forward.
“Today is culmination of a lot of hard work,” said Hammell, owner of the Pitt-Ohio Express trucking company in the Strip District. Beynon is owner of Beynon & Co., a Pittsburgh-based real estate and insurance company.
“I think it’s awesome what they’ve done with that building,” said Larry Lagattuta, owner of The Enrico Biscotti Co., an Italian bakery and cafe at 2202 Penn Ave. in the Strip.
“I think this can only help the Strip when you have more people living here,” said Lagattuta, whose has operated his business within two blocks of the Cork Factory for 15 years.
Lagattuta said his only concern is that the Cork Factory and other new developments in the Strip could attract national chains and franchise retailers, coffee shops, and the like that could possibly hurt locally owned businesses.
“We have to be careful about how those things happen,” he said. “But otherwise, lets get the people moving in and start shopping in the Strip,” he said.
“The Cork Factory is an excellent addition to the downtown housing mix,” said Patty Burk, vice president of housing and economic development for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.
“It adds to the diversity of units and income ranges that we are trying to achieve Downtown. It also represents the ‘New Downtown,’ which is becoming a mixed-use environment.”
“Even when were living in Murrysville, we would come into the city at the minimum, three days a week, for cultural events and ball games,” Dougherty said. “We loved the city so much, so we visited a few other loft apartments, but when we walked into the Cork Factory, we stopped. We said this was it.”
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Storm Damaged Allegheny Library Repaired
Today, the granite finial of the historic Allegheny Library was returned to its commanding position atop the clock tower after months of restoration work.The Allegheny Library, located next to the Children’s museum in Central Allegheny City, was struck by lighting last summer which caused extensive damage to the finial, causing it to break into several large pieces, some of which landed inside the building and some on the lawn outside. No one was injured.
The library itself is relocating to a new building soon to be erected on Federal Street just north of North Avenue. Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF), working with the Children’s Museum and neighborhood North Side organizations, the Carnegie Library system, and the City, has commissioned studies by the architectural firm of Landmarks Design Associates for the possible adaptive use of the building.
The Allegheny Carnegie Library was the first Carnegie Library commissioned, but it opened later than the one at Braddock. It was designed by Smith, Meyer & Pelz in 1888-1889 In the 1970s, the City announced the demolition of the Library, but PHLF spearheaded a petition drive, accumulating 7,000 signatures.After that, the interior suffered unfortunate modernization, but the exterior is still in excellent condition. An interesting feature of the building is the slight lightening of color in the stone rising in the sections of the tower. Landmarks staff worked with Cost Corporation to try to achieve the appropriate coloration of the granite for
the finial.
The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, is a City designated landmark, and has PHLF plaque. -
Vandergrift Gift to Make History
In 2004, a group of concerned citizens came together to form the Vandergrift Improvement Program (VIP) with the goal of revitalizing the town’s business district.
Last June, the VIP asked Landmarks Development Corporation, a wholly owned Landmarks subsidiary, to manage Vandergrift’s Main Street Program. Preservationists learned in the 1960s that preservation-sensitive development works, but demands a broad-based neighborhood approach to be successful. Signs of residential enthusiasm are now afoot in Vandergrift.
Recently, a resident of this Frederick Law Olmsted community and owner of the J. C. Penny Building met with the VIP and Landmarks to discuss donating the building to fund a charitable gift annuity. Such a gift would result in lifetime income and income tax benefits for the donor and would allow the VIP to acquire a key building that could stimulate similar gifts to help develop the central business district. In addition, a Named Fund would be created at Landmarks to support preservation projects in Vandergrift.
In early March, Landmarks’ Planned Giving Office was notified that the building owner has contracted with a qualified appraiser to determine the value of the building and is proceeding with the gift. We plan to feature more information about this gift and its impact on Vandergrift in the next issue of Landmark Legacies.
For now, anyone interested in exploring a gift of real property in the Vandergrift area is asked to contact Shaun Yurcaba, Main Street Manager at 724-567-5286.
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Wilkinsburghs Historic Packard Building Sold to Landmarks
Jackie and Jay Johnson recently sold Landmarks the former Packard Building in Wilkinsburg for 40% of their asking price.
Landmarks got a building it needed to proceed with its Crescent Building Development Project, and the Johnsons were entitled to a charitable contribution deduction on their federal income tax return for the difference between the price Landmarks paid and the substantiated fair market value of the property.
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New life proposed for former South Hills High School
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 19, 2007The former South Hills High School soon could be given new life after sitting dormant for 20 years in the heart of a Mt. Washington residential neighborhood.
“It’s been a white elephant for a long time,” said Mt. Washington resident Virginia Gates, a 1959 graduate of the school, which was built in 1916 and closed in 1986. “You can see from the sheer size of it what an impact its (revival) is going to have on the whole community.”
North Shore-based developer a.m. Rodriguez Associates Inc. has prepared a $20 million redevelopment plan to build 84 one- and two-bedroom apartments and 25 two-bedroom, market-rate rental lofts in the building.
The apartments would be marketed to senior citizens. The first floor could have more than 10,000 square feet of commercial space and a health center.
Room for off-street parking should be plentiful once the developer removes three sections of the mammoth building to bring its size to 155,000 square feet.
“In terms of why it’s important to bring this building back, it’s a huge building that at one time was a landmark and center of activity for that community,” said Tom Link, manager of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s business development center. The URA has targeted the school for redevelopment.
Gates, chairwoman of the South Hills High School committee, believes the renovation project will boost property values around the site and drive out drug dealers and vandals.
Link and Gates said many developers have tried over the past 20 years to devise ways to renovate the building, but none has come as far as Rodriguez Associates.
Victor Rodriguez said his company has applied for $12 million in tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. If those credits come through in September, an estimated 15 months of construction could begin as soon as June 2008.
“There’s a great market for this up there, especially for seniors,” he said.
Ethan Raup, executive director of the Mt. Washington Community Development Corp., credited Gates and the URA for helping to persuade the building’s owner — Pittsburgh Public Schools — to make the property more enticing to developers by removing asbestos, adding a new roof and doing other renovations.
“To me, it’s going from having an enormous dead space in the middle of a residential community to injecting it with new life,” Raup said.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or (412) 765-2312.
