Below re: the Highland-Wallace Project...So much going on in East Liberty. Anyone hear anything new about the Odeon Building at Penn & Highland?
Highland Developers Break Ground
(Pittsburgh Business Times)
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburg...s.html?s=print
Amid gusting winds that threatened to launch airborne any turned-up dirt from the ceremonial ground breaking, the developers of Walnut on Highland celebrated their plan to get started on converting the 13-story Highland building in the heart of East Liberty into a 127-unit apartment building.
With the essential help of a $4.5 million state grant, the team of Walnut Capital Partners and Massaro Properties are now ready to begin the more than $31 million historic renovation of the Daniel Burnham-designed building, a project that includes renovating its neighboring Wallace building and building a 180-space parking garage between them. The project is seen as a focal redevelopment in the East Liberty’s revitalization since it brings new investment to the heart of the neighborhood after previous projects such as the development of Whole Foods and Home Depot have come at the edges of the community.
“The whole community is invested in this development,” said Gregg Perelman, principal of Walnut Capital Partners, perhaps the city’s largest apartment owners, thanking a host of local public officials, organizations and funders of the development.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl noted that six developers have tried and failed to redevelop the former office building, which has been largely empty for more than 25 years. The development plan by Walnut Capital and Massaro was facilitated by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which acquired the Highland building in 2004 and the Wallace building in 2009. Last fall, The URA sold the Highland and Wallace buildings as well as two adjacent lots to Highland-Wallace Joint Venture, under which Walnut Capital and Massaro operate, for $1.875 million last January. Along with private financing from WesBanco Inc., Tri-State Capital and Dollar Bank, the redevelopment project also is expected to receive $4 million in historic tax credits and a facade loan and secondary financing from the URA.
Ravenstahl thanked former Gov. Ed Rendell for initially pledging to provide the $4.5 million RACP grant as well as governor Tom Corbett with following through on the funding.
The project is expected to be completed within a year and the first units available for lease in Spring 2013. The building is expected to include a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as 10 penthouse units, an exercise facility, indoor parking access and other amenities.
The city described the Highland building redevelopment as an essential part of East Liberty’s larger master plan that it projects will bring $400 million in investment into a 17-acre stretch of the East End community.
State senator Jim Ferlo, also a URA board member, was happy to see such a prominent building be preserved as opposed to the “urban removal” policies that sought to tear such buildings in the past.
David Massaro pointed out the project was something of a homecoming for his family-owned company, since his father grew up in nearby Larimer and had lead the redevelopment of Motor Square Garden in the 1980s, quoting him from a newspaper article from 26 years ago about how he expected East Liberty to rebound after a generation or two of decline.
“Dad, you were ahead of your time,” Massaro said. “But you had a vision.”
Also in attendance were Allegheny County chief executive Rich Fitzgerald, city councilman Ricky Burgess, and the leadership of East Liberty Development Inc., among others.
Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, small business, hospitality and media. Contact him at
tschooley@bizjournals.com or (412) 208-3826.