Streetface program in city faces questions
June 25, 2008
On Upper Lawrenceville’s still-spotty 5200 block of Butler Street, a building fronted with a glass mosaic and one with the partly-painted facade across the street represent the rise and decline of one of Pittsburgh’s most successful redevelopment programs.
Behind the explosion of color and texture that greets visitors to Prism Stained Glass toils Catherine Berard, who used the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Streetface program to turn a storefront from plain clapboard into revelation. Back in 2006, she was one of 15 individuals and firms that tapped the program for a total of $607,854, according to data provided by the URA.
The place across the street, where laborers painted last week, READ MORE
Sneak Peek At Y Lofts Condominiums In East Liberty
June 25, 2008
PITTSBURGH — Located right in the heart of the historic East Liberty neighborhood at 120 South Whitfield Street, the Y Lofts condominiums are expected to be one of the finer living establishments in Pittsburgh upon completion.
The former East Liberty YMCA, a building that is currently 98 years old, will be transformed into the Y Lofts, where 40 condominium units will occupy the second, third, fourth and fifth floors of the building.
The first floor will be the expected home for a restaurant, coffee bar and fitness center for each residents’ use. Other amenities for residents will include a roof deck, underground parking garage, dog washing station and bike storage. READ MORE
Homeowners can seek help when faced with foreclosure
June 23, 2008
Count Heather Hoye of Homestead among the lucky ones when it comes to the national mortgage foreclosure crisis.Thanks to help from Pennsylvania’s new Refinance to an Affordable Loan program, Hoye and her 7-year-old son, Andre, remain in the home she could have lost when she found herself facing hundreds of dollars more in monthly payments when her adjustable rate mortgage reset at a higher interest rate.
Hoye is one of an estimated 25,000 homeowners in Pennsylvania who could face foreclosure — potentially 5,000 in Allegheny County — READ MORE
Housing prices relatively stable in Pa.
June 23, 2008
The Pittsburgh area isn’t the only region in Pennsylvania where housing prices have been relatively stable and doing better than many other areas of the country.In fact, the state as a whole has outpaced the nation in its ability to avoid a steep decline in home prices, according to an analysis carried in the latest edition of “The Pennsylvania Realtor” a newsletter published by the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors.
“Pennsylvania housing markets appear to be holding their own in terms of price declines, even if they have slowed or have fallen in price a bit compared with many other parts of the country,” writes Austin J. Jaffe, consulting economist for the trade association and chairman of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate at Smeal College of Business at Penn State University.
As reported by the Tribune-Review, through April, the median home price in a five-county local region had risen in all but two months since 2005, and maintained a 3.7 percent READ MORE
Luxury Condo Projects Bloom In Downtown Pittsburgh
June 18, 2008
Big construction is going on in downtown Pittsburgh. The downtown area which has long been in a state of slow decline is looking to be revitalized thanks to a couple of major projects especially the Piatt Place project. Piatt Place will be a redesign of the Lazarus department store building. Two upscale chain restaurants, McCormick and Schmick’s and the Capital Grille will anchor the building and the rest of the building will be turned into offices and condos. The residential units are new construction, built on a new slab on top of the roof. The condos start READ MORE
Animal owners find Downtown apartments accommodating
June 18, 2008
Condos springing up Downtown are the cat’s meow for those looking for pet-friendly city living.Two that recently opened, and at least five of the seven condos under construction, allow residents to own pets.
“There’s an attitude with our building that these are permanent homes, and they are meant to feel like a home as opposed to temporary living,” said Kathy Wallace, sales coordinator for 941 Penn Avenue. “Pets are an important part of peoples’ lives — especially non-transient lives. We were assuming our buyers would have commitments like that.”
Since the Encore on 7th high-rise in Downtown opened two years ago, READ MORE
Ground-breaking set for downtown Pittsburgh condos
June 16, 2008
A ground-breaking is scheduled Wednesday for the first condominium project in Pittsburgh’s “Golden Triangle” in nearly 40 years.
The project, called 151 Firstside and located between First Avenue and Fort Pitt Boulevard, is a $26 million, 18-story, 82-unit building being developed jointly by Ralph A. Falbo Inc., a downtown residential development company; EQA Landmark Properties, a Strip District development company and Zambrano Corp., an O’Hara Township construction firm.
It is the first downtown condominium project since Gateway Towers was constructed in 1968. The need for more residents downtown has been a hot button issue READ MORE
Pittsburgh’s URA to buy Lawrenceville land
June 16, 2008
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority agreed Thursday to buy a nearly 22-acre plot of industrial land in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.
The property, which the URA’s board of directors agreed Thursday to buy for $2 million, is owned by the Tippin family and was previously used for steel fabrication, said Robert Rubinstein, director for economic development at the URA.
The property’s main plant has been closed for decades, however.
“We are always looking at sites that are under utilized,” READ MORE
Condos offer home, sweet Downtown home
June 11, 2008
Andrew Pueschel chose his eighth-floor condominium in 151 First Side for its view and easy Downtown access to everywhere else. But the one who seems to most enjoy the place is his 2-year-old Chihuahua, Cozmo.
“His favorite thing to do is lie in the sun and look outside,” Mr. Pueschel said.
The friendly little dog does most of his lying on top of a modular ultrasuede and leather sofa by a huge window overlooking the Monongahela River. He lounges as barges and boats go by, knowing that’s as close as he’ll ever get to river traffic. In fact, he rarely sets foot on the sidewalk of Fort Pitt Boulevard. The pet that had trouble navigating steps in a four-story apartment building in Shadyside now rides an elevator — but just for fun.
“This is Cozmo’s back yard,” Mr. Pueschel said, gesturing toward an 8-by-4-foot concrete balcony with aluminum railing. “And that’s his tree.”
The tree was made from the trunk of a real tree READ MORE
Oakmont: Small Town America, Big Time Golf
June 11, 2008
There are actually two Oakmonts, depending on how you define the word green.
The real Oakmont is the quintessential all-American town, as green as the freshly mowed lawns and the walking path—called the boulevard arboretum—which runs along railroad tracks through the dual main street. One mile wide and one mile high, as they say, Oakmont is a postcard of flag-waving enthusiasm, with shops, restaurants, an old-fashioned post office, cafes, a one-screen movie theater and the best homemade ice cream west of Penn State’s Creamery.
And everyone walks everywhere.
“It reminds me of the little town under the Christmas tree,” says Marc Serrao, owner of the Oakmont Bakery, a local business on the main thoroughfare that is celebrating its 20th year in business. Serrao has lived here most of his life. “It’s a place where you know everyone and everyone knows you and your children.”
There’s a proud sense of heritage, from the freshly remodeled county library READ MORE