Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Union Trust Building excites latest suitor
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 2, 2007An investment group led by executives of the Mika Realty Group in Los Angeles said Thursday it hopes to complete the purchase of the historic Union Trust Building, Downtown, by the end of the month.
The group, which includes Michael Kamen, founder of the privately held company, and a business associate, Gerson Fox, also of Los Angeles, said it has plans to restore the grandeur of the block-long structure at 501 Grant St. that experts say is one of Pittsburgh’s most architecturally significant buildings.
The purchase price has not been disclosed, but the building is assessed at $30.75 million, according to Allegheny County records.
“We look at the Union Trust Building as a classic building that can’t be duplicated,” said Rick Barreca, CEO of Mika Realty, also one of the investors.
Plans are to continue using the 11-story, 800,000-square-foot structure as an office building and attract a mix of upscale retail tenants to the first level, he said.
“We think that is the highest and best use for it,” Barreca said. “We’re looking forward to bringing in some exciting retail to the first level, and leasing the office space to some very good tenants.”
The Union Trust Building, which has been known as Two Mellon Bank Center, 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.
“Several major office tenants and retail tenants already have expressed interest in the building,” said Jeffrey Ackerman, commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, the firm commissioned to sell the building by the owner, Teal Rock 501 Grant Street LP, a partnership owned by Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp.
CB Richard Ellis will handle leasing and management of the building once the sale is completed, Ackerman said.
The investment group is working with two architectural firms on ideas for the building that would not disturb its historic character, Barreca said.
Mika’s Internet site said it is the 13th-largest developer in the Los Angeles area, with some 5.9 million square feet in commercial real estate developed.
Barreca said Kamen has been involved in the commercial real estate business for more than 40 years and has specialized on “adaptive reuse” of older buildings, including conversion of office facilities to loft apartments.
One of Mika’s projects was the Star News Building, an 80,000-square-foot building in Pasadena, Calif., that was renovated as a $20 million residential building. The project included installation of a 24-hour fitness club and other amenities in a 30,000-square-foot basement that used to house newspaper printing presses.
A current project is Victory Lofts, where the company is developing 102 residential units in a Cleveland building in the vicinity of the Cleveland Clinic, Barreca said.
“We are really enthused that it appears a very promising buyer is very interested in the building,” said Arthur P. Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. He met Barreca recently when he was visiting the city.
“This is a developer who appears to have considerable experience with historic buildings and is particularly attracted to the Union Trust Building because of his positive feelings about the future of the Pittsburgh market and the extraordinary architectural quality of the building,” Ziegler said. “I think he is going to treat it very well.”
Barreca said the group is finalizing financing for the purchase with a bank, rather than go to the capital markets or Wall Street sources. Thus, he said, there should not be a problem with financing because of the mortgage crisis, which has played havoc with the national residential real estate market and impacted some commercial deals.
Securing financing was said to be a problem with the 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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Schenley High School shuttering on the table again
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 2, 2007Despite the asbestos in the nearly century-old Schenley High School, real estate officials see a market for it as a place to live or work.
“It’s prominent. It’s handsome, and it’s close to institutions that have a lot of demand. It has market attributes that a lot of other schools don’t have,” said David Matter, president of the Downtown-based Oxford Development Co.
Matter made his comment Thursday, a day after city schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt proposed for the second time in two years that the school be closed.
Roosevelt cited the $64.3 million cost of removing the asbestos and making mechanical improvements as reasons for closing the school in June. Public hearings will be conducted Nov. 13 and 27, and the school board is scheduled to vote on the proposal in February.
Matter said he talked with Roosevelt a few weeks ago about the marketability of Schenley. Perhaps the school’s greatest asset is its location in Oakland near the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and nearby universities.
“There are institutions that are likely to develop demand for the most appropriate use, which I think is multifamily housing,” Matter said.
Pitt spokesman John Fedele declined to comment on the university’s possible interest in buying the 91-year-old building.
Jason Stewart, vice president of Grubb & Ellis, a Downtown-based commercial real estate services firm, said the building is suitable for condos and offices. Like Matter, he likes Schenley’s location.
“On the surface, the Oakland area is ground zero for our region’s growth,” Stewart said.
Jasmine Davis, 15, of the North Side is a cheerleader and a junior at Schenley. When she learned yesterday morning of the proposed closing, she was heartbroken.
“I don’t want it to close,” Davis said. “I want to graduate from Schenley.”
Supporters of Schenley say they will battle attempts to put it on the market.
“We’re fighting it, but we’re trying to work with the school district,” said Jet Lafean, 56, of Schenley Farms, a member of Save Schenley, a group that opposed the earlier attempt to shut down the school.
He said the group wants to tour the building and review the district’s report on how much the renovation would cost.
“We think the figure’s about half that from what we heard a year ago,” Lafean said.
Roosevelt, however, stands by the estimate.
“You can do a less-expensive remediation that could come around $50 million,” he said. “But we believe to save the building and do it right, the best estimate is $64 million.
Stewart considers Schenley’s historic status — it’s listed on the National Registry of Historic Places — as an asset, too. He cited the conversion of the Heinz factory on the North Shore into Heinz Lofts and the ongoing renovation of the former Nabisco Bakery in East Liberty into Bakery Square, an office and retail development.
Matter said a buyer could take advantage of tax credits available for renovating historic buildings.
Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation at Station Square, said any buyer must have the plans approved by the state historic preservation officer.
Given the district’s estimate for fixing the building, Ziegler said he was not surprised the administration wants to sell it.
“But it certainly is a hallmark school building that many people know and respect,” he said. “So we want to see the building retained, if not by the school board, by a serious developer.”
Neither the real estate officials nor Roosevelt would estimate what the building could fetch on the market.
“I think there will be a purchaser for Schenley,” Roosevelt said. “I think it will be a very modest price.”
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
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Pittsburgh development CEO debuts
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, October 17, 2007On Monday, Howard B. Slaughter Jr. officially started his job as CEO of Landmarks Community Capital Inc., a new nonprofit corporation formed by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Slaughter didn’t wait to begin his quest to raise the $10 million to $15 million he hopes to secure for the new corporation to invest in community development and revitalization projects in Western Pennsylvania and in the neighboring states of West Virginia and Ohio.
“We’ve already been talking to some companies that have social investment programs,” said Slaughter, whose appointment was announced last month. “We also are going to be talking to some local foundations to discuss our new company and the opportunities we see.”
Slaughter, 49, can draw on his considerable credentials in urban housing and home financing as he pitches funders on behalf of the new corporation.
In essence, he is back home at Pittsburgh History & Landmarks, where he headed neighborhood programs as director of preservation services from 1995 to 1999.
That was before he left to serve an eight-year stint as director of Fannie Mae’s Pittsburgh Community Business Center, which has been a major source of home financing in this region.
Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest home funding company, decided to close the center along with similar offices in more than 40 cities, citing realignment of goals and the need to cut costs. Pittsburgh’s center helped 24,000 families in the region become homeowners at projects that include Summerset at Frick Park, and Bedford Hope VI and the Oak Hill housing complex, both in the Hill District.
Slaughter previously served as vice president of Dollar Bank’s Community Development group.
“Howard brings the vision and the working knowledge for the new nonprofit corporation,” said Arthur P. Ziegler Jr., president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and president of Landmarks Community Capital.
“We think he is just the person to expand the assistance we hope to render to Western Pennsylvania in revitalizing historic rural areas, towns and urban areas, particularly in Pittsburgh,” Ziegler said.
Efforts might include helping the Hill District community fulfill a long-standing need to bring a grocery store to the neighborhood, said Slaughter.
Hill District community leaders want a commitment for a new supermarket to be part of a “community benefits agreement” with the Pittsburgh Penguins in return for their support for the hockey team’s new $290 million arena. Slaughter said he’s with Penguins President David Morehouse to discuss how the corporation’s participation may help make that happen.
Improving neighborhood housing also is a target as is helping preserve some of the historic farms in the region that the South Side-based Landmarks Foundation has identified as worth saving in a recent survey.
“In the first year, we would like to provide funding for at least four of five different projects ranging from $25,000 to $1 million,” Slaughter said. “We have a wide range of funding options because the multiplicity of opportunities for investment are wide.”
The first investments could come by the first quarter of 2008, he said.
The idea of the new corporation is to raise funds through grants, loans and investments. Roles it can play include as developer, co-developer, or a lender to community development corporations and others that undertake such work.
Slaughter uses the accounting term “FIFO” in describing the corporation’s investment strategy. The idea is to be “first in” with its funds to help jump-start projects in early stages, and then be “first out” with those funds when more permanent financing is secured from others to carry development forward.
“We certainly want to focus on urban areas in the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County region,” said Slaughter.
Another target area is likely to be Wilkinsburg, where Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has worked with two $500,000 grants secured from the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development to acquire and restore four century-old structures for new housing.
“We also would like to do some work on the North Side and where we have several county Main Street programs. We have pilot areas in Tarentum, Swissvale, Elizabeth Township and Stowe,” he said.
Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato is “very excited” about the new corporation and its potential, said spokesman Kevin Evanto.
Slaughter and Ziegler met with Onorato several weeks ago to outline their plans.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907
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Region’s historic districts draw homeowners with passion for preservation
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 11, 2007For some Western Pennsylvania residents, nothing glitters like old.
Many homeowners choose to live in residential districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That designation, granted by the National Park Service, covers 213 sites in Allegheny County cited for the significance of their history, cultural contributions or architecture — everything from dams and tunnels to churches and breweries — even the old county jail.
But some history buffs seeking more comfort than a pew or a cell opt for the nine historic districts in suburban Allegheny County or the 19 in Pittsburgh. Highland Park joined the list last month, and preservation officials in Mt. Lebanon are encouraging its residents to apply for that status, too.
Beaver County boasts five national historic districts; Butler County, three; Washington County, 12; and Westmoreland County, 14.
“The designation has helped stabilize the district,” said Louise Sturgess, executive director of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. “It’s helped show that preservation is a priority of people who come into the district, and they use the architectural significance of the houses to market the community and to create public events that really generate excitement about that area.”
Homeowners in the district can do what they want to their property. The designation, though, prevents federal or state funds from being used to harm the area without first going through an extensive review process. Tax credits for rehabilitating income-producing property are available.
Sandi and Ralph Anderson live in Evergreen Hamlet in Ross, the oldest residential historic district in Allegheny County. Evergreen was founded in 1850 as a nonsectarian commune — complete with its own school, dairy and orchard.
The Andersons’ board-and-batten Gothic home was built in 1852. It’s a massive frame structure of beige, milk chocolate and rust hues. It towers three stories high and is crowned with a tin roof.
“It’s an act of love,” said Sandi Anderson, 67. “You have the privilege of owning one of these.”
The Andersons have found gold as well as love in their old or historic homes.
They bought a Victorian home in a residential historic district in Oak Park, Ill., for $52,000 in 1974. They sold it in 1985 for $350,000.
Then they bought an 1850 stucco home in Oakville, Ontario, in 1985 for $535,000. They sold it for $1.2 million four years later.
The couple spent about $200,000 for their house in Evergreen Hamlet in 1989. They believe it’s now worth about $950,000.
Citing Allegheny West in the North Side, Sturgess said a historic designation helps boost property values.
“If you look at the city of Pittsburgh, the neighborhoods that have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places are thriving today.”
Other communities have found other advantages in the historic tag.
In 1980, a highway project linking McKees Rocks and Carnegie threatened the lower portion of Thornburg. Thornburg was established in 1909 and is noted for the eclectic styles of its houses.
Concerned about the potential demolition of their homes, Thornburg residents obtained historic status in 1982. The road project ended.
Jim Crist, 74, a lifelong Thornburg resident, had a personal stake in the outcome.
“Under one design,” he recalled, “if they went up that way, I would have been history.”
In contrast, Meg Alarcon was not aware of Thornburg’s historic status when she and her husband Robb bought a house there in 2001. “We wanted an old house and just liked the feel of the neighborhood,” she said.
No local place, however, has marketed its historic status like Kennywood Park in West Mifflin. The park is not only a historic district, but also a National Historic Landmark, a designation for places of national significance.
“Part of the attraction is the fact that it’s a National Historic Landmark,” said Carl Hughes, retired chairman of Kennywood, who applied for the status. “In other words, it’s not like everyone else.”
Kennywood and Playland in Rye, N.Y., are the only two amusement parks that are national landmarks, and Kennywood is bigger. Hughes said the listing helps attract local families, who feel pride in it, as well as groups such as the American Coaster Enthusiasts, the British Coaster Enthusiasts and the National Amusement Park Historical Association.
“Teachers like that sort of thing and we certainly like to make teachers happy because they bring the kids to the park,” Hughes said.
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.
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Developer to raze former Workingman’s Savings Bank & Trust Co.
By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 4, 2007Pittsburgh developer Lou Lamanna plans to raze a former North Side alcohol-recovery center to construct a new building for retail use.
Lamanna’s company, Bentley Commercial Inc., was the successful bidder Monday at a sheriff’s sale of the Alcohol Recovery Center House at 800 East Ohio St. The sale was requested by Fidelity Bank to recover $266,637.97 in mortgage payments owed to the bank, court records show.
Plans for the $5 million project are preliminary, and the structure could include multiple tenants or a single tenant, said Lamanna, 40, of Shadyside. He would not identify possible tenants.
“Within the next 4 to 6 months, we’ll level the building,” he said. That work could take longer depending upon the permitting process and because of traffic on East Ohio Street.
Bentley Commercial has constructed stores at Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer and Center Pointe and Stone Quarry Commons, both in Center Township, Beaver County.
Lamanna said he is seeking to acquire several buildings and lots on East Ohio and Madison avenues that were not part of the sale.Community leaders had hoped the ARC building could be preserved.
“We’re disappointed to hear that. We would certainly hope to convince him otherwise,” said Mark Fatla, executive director of the North Side Leadership Conference.
The ARC building was built in 1901 to house the Workingman’s Savings Bank & Trust Co., according to the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. Mellon Bank operated a branch office there until selling the building to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, according to documents at Carnegie Library.
The diocese sold the brick building to Charles Cain for $1 in 1987. Cain operated the alcohol recovery program that at one point housed more than 100 inmates on work release.
In its heyday, the ARC House held about 150 prisoners who were assigned to work release by county judges.
Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.
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Turtle Creek at odds over future of aging school
By Brian Bowling
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 4, 2007The fight over East Junior High School in the Woodland Hills School District stands out from other consolidation battles because the struggle isn’t so much over where children will go to school but what will happen to the school building in Turtle Creek.
The Committee to Save Turtle Creek High School — the name the building once carried — has fought efforts to demolish and replace, or even significantly alter, the building.
Bob Mock, a member of the group, said the building defines Turtle Creek.
“This building is the most important building in our town,” Mock said. “It’s really the only park-like setting we have in our town. The whole town is built around it.”
The group achieved a milestone Aug. 30 when the National Park Service put the building on its National Register of Historic Places. Historic status doesn’t make the building demolition-proof, but limits how the district can use federal money to alter the school.
Linda Cole, a school board member, said East Junior High is deteriorating and the group’s opposition has kept the district from making the building handicapped accessible or otherwise modernizing the school. Getting the building on the national register just made matters worse, she said.
“They basically did this so we would not be able to remodel,” Cole said.
Although the district originally looked at renovation or demolition and replacement, the board voted March 14 to start the process of closing the school and moving students to West Junior High School in Swissvale. The board has scheduled a final vote on closing East Junior High for Oct. 10.
Cole said the board’s options have changed over the years because of declining enrollments. With fewer junior high students, the question isn’t how to replace an aging school but how to best educate the remaining students, she said.
Mock said annual test results show East Junior High is one of the few schools in the district that is meeting federal No Child Left Behind standards.
District spokeswoman Maria McCool said West Junior High School only failed to meet the standards with its special education students, so the two schools are practically even on academic achievement. The district’s analysis of the schools shows that West is in better physical condition, which is why the board is considering closing East.
Brian Bowling can be reached at bbowling@tribweb.com or 412-320-7910.
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Woodland Hills considers merging schools
By Karen Zapf
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 4, 2007A committee of Woodland Hills School District residents has recommended a single building for the district’s junior high students, currently being taught in two schools.
Committee members told the school board Wednesday night they recommend using either East or West junior high schools or constructing a new building. East Junior High is in Turtle Creek and West Junior High is in Swissvale.The committee recommended reusing East Junior High if the board decides it should not continue to function as a junior high school. “The consensus is, please don’t tear it down and turn it into a parking lot,” said George Pike, a member of the committee.
The committee’s suggested uses include a magnet school, an administration building, community or senior center or selling the building to a developer.
East Junior High is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The committee did not attach a dollar figure to its recommendations.
The group met four times in September to come up with a plan as to the future for the district’s approximately 700 junior high students. Both schools house the district’s seventh and eighth graders.
The school board is expected to vote on the committee’s recommendation during its 7:30 p.m. meeting on Wednesday.
Pete and Terri Rubash of Churchill, who have three children in the district, wanted a decision immediately.
“Get five votes and just do it,” said Pete Rubash, 48, who was a member of a committee studying the junior high situation two years ago. “You have a roomful of people at East Junior High who don’t know what’s going to go on.”
Rubash said a single junior high school makes sense. Rubash said he believes East Junior High, which is larger and has easier access than the other, is the best choice.
“It would balance the district so there is a (school) presence in the east and in the west,” Rubash said.
Karen Zapf can be reached at kzapf@tribweb.com or 412-380-8522.
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Neighborhood in Mt. Washington cited as one of nation’s top 10
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, October 3, 2007Entering Mt. Washington’s Chatham Village is a bit like stumbling onto a soundstage built to resemble a quiet English country village.
That was the intention of its progenitors in 1935 when the Buhl Foundation and acclaimed “garden city” movement architects Clarence Stein and Henry Wright opened the urban oasis, which was recognized Tuesday as one of the top 10 neighborhoods in the United States by the American Planning Association.
The award didn’t surprise Claudette DeClemente, 56, who has lived in Chatham Village for eight years.
“I love it,” said DeClemente, a retired state welfare caseworker. “It’s very green. They take care of everything. There’s no traffic. And you can go on an extended vacation and everything is just as it was when you come back.”
Or better than it was. Construction crews yesterday filled potholes on private asphalt drives, trimmed ivy near some of the 200-year-old oaks dotting the neighborhood and cut the small front yards of the slate-roofed townhouses.
The nonprofit cooperative that each townhouse owner must join collects a monthly fee from residents who pay mortgages on homes that range from $80,000 for a two-bedroom to more than $200,000 for a four-bedroom.The monthly fee pays for what DeClemente calls the neighborhood’s aesthetic uniformity.
Every street sign has a fresh coat of dark green paint, all front doors are the same color as the signs, as are awnings and porch furniture. Outside many homes are versions of Pittsburgh’s flag — with William Penn’s coat of arms — that are green and white instead of black and gold.
Those who don’t enjoy conformity shouldn’t move to the neighborhood, residents said.
“The only criteria that we have for people who want to become new members is that you are financially responsible,” said Tom McCue, 67, a retired mechanical engineer who has lived in a two-bedroom townhouse for nine years with his wife Patricia, since they moved from Albany, N.Y.
People with the means to pay a 20 percent down payment on their home can enjoy the neighborhood’s luxuries, including pristine tennis courts, two miles of walking trails and flower gardens.
“The only snow I have to shovel is from that door to the sidewalk,” McCue said, pointing to a narrow 10-foot-long walkway beyond his door. “The only noise we hear is the noise we make ourselves at neighborhood block parties.”
The village’s oldest resident is 92. Its youngest are the infants of some of the young couples who live there, McCue said.
Chatham Village had an advantage in winning its national acclaim from the American Planning Association. The association’s director, W. Paul Farmer, was Pittsburgh’s deputy planning director from 1980 to 1994, said Denny Johnson, an APA spokesman.
Roughly 100 nominations from people, planning departments and APA staff were whittled to the 10 top U.S. neighborhoods and 10 top U.S. streets. Chatham Village is the only one in Pennsylvania and among the smallest, with 216 residences on 25 acres.
Chatham was chosen based on characteristics such as functional design, longevity and community involvement — all of which make it “one of the jewels of our city,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said.
“Chatham Village is one of the best examples of how excellent planning and design has created a community that is as livable and desirable as it was when it was built 75 years ago,” Farmer said.
Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.