Condo Projects Proceed
August 21, 2009
Back in 2006, it seemed as if there was an announcement that a real estate company or local building owner was contemplating converting a building to condos (or starting a new building with condominiums) almost every week. In 2008, as the nation moved into the second (or perhaps third) year of the real estate slowdown, the capital crunch put many condo projects on hold. For a while, the news predominately talked about developers unable to find financing, get approval from neighborhood organizations, or looking for buyers for their existing projects. Now, it seems that developers may be stepping back into the real estate market - at least in Pittsburgh.
The latest condo project talk in Pittsburgh is located at One Grandview Avenue atop Mount Washington by Chicago developer Steven Beemsterboer. Discussions are proceeding along the lines of a 100+ hotel room and 50 condo complex at the site of the former Edge Restaurant - you can read more about the proposal at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article here. The development will cost about $80 million to build. Unlike a prior attempt to transform the site in the 1990s, this proposal seems to have community support, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
One Grandview isn’t the only condo project that I have seen proposed recently. Kacin Companies are working on a 34 acre project in Oakmont at the former site of Edgewater Steel. 240 single family home, townhouses, and condominiums are planned. You can read more about it in this Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article or on their website.
Although bank financing for developers may be difficult for some to secure, that doesn’t mean that all sources of funding for downtown condos have dried up. The Post-Gazette had an article back in April about how the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is offering loans to building owners and condo developers to convert empty upper floors of buildings (eight floors or less) to living space (either apartments or condos). The PDP is hoping that the loans will be used to bring moderately priced apartments and condominiums to downtown Pittsburgh. Although the majority of the condos in the downtown Pittsburgh market currently are priced between $300,000 and $1,000,000, the PDP hopes that both owners and the city can win by converting vacant upper floors of low rise buildings into housing units.
Fifth Forbes Corridor Poised To Turn Corner in 2009
January 8, 2009
The Post-Gazette had an article earlier this week suggesting that the long planned redevelopment of the Fifth and Forbes corridor may be “poised to turn the corner” in 2009. It also discusses the plans of a number of the other property owners in the area for their buildings. Among the condo projects discussed are Piatt Place, Three PNC Plaza, and Market Square.
Here is a summary of the relevant condo news:
Residents will begin to move into luxury condos at the Piatt Place in February. Thirty four out of the 58 condominiums have been sold.
The first new skyscraper in downtown Pittsburgh since 1987 will open this year when Three PNC Plaza is completed. Three PNC Plaza will have 28 condos, some of which have already sold.
Downtown Condo Purchase at Record Price
December 8, 2008
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review declared the purchase of a penthouse condo at 151 Firstside for $2.39 million the highest price paid for a condominium in downtown Pittsburgh to date. The condo was purchased by the CEO of Duquesne Light Holdings.
Suburban flight starts to hit home
July 9, 2008
When it took $45 to fill the gas tank in Eric Wallace’s Honda Civic, he knew his days of driving 40 miles each way to work couldn’t last.”I went home and said, ‘We have to do something,’ ” said Wallace, 36, of Arnold, who is looking to move closer to his job as director of information technology at a steel distribution and service center in Leetsdale.
Wallace and his wife, Tammy, 32, put the three-bedroom house they bought in 2000 up for sale and are hoping to cut their fuel costs with shorter commute times. Tammy Wallace is a registered nurse at Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC in Oakland and drives 23 miles each way to work.
Across the country, people who traded longer commutes for life in the suburbs READ MORE
Developer favors stable markets
July 7, 2008
Communities with stable populations, including Pittsburgh, are ideal for shopping center developers during depressed times, according to the president of a Cleveland real estate company with major holdings in this region.”We built or purchased centers in these communities, many in the North East, because our decisions were based on the population and economies of those areas,” said Dan Hurwitz, president for Developers Diversified Realty Corp.
“Developers rushed to fast growth areas such as those in California, Arizona and Florida during the past few years, building shopping centers on spec, only now to find it difficult 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
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