Developers find new uses for forlorn buildings, rejuvenating neighborhoods

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Dennis Troy has a problem.

This city neighborhood is finally running out of old buildings that are available for redevelopment.

But Mr. Troy, the executive director of the Lawrenceville Corp., a nonprofit economic development group, understands this is a good problem.

"There is a demand right now for redevelopment projects," Mr. Troy said. "The fact that a lot of folks have seen a lot of volatility in stock markets, particularly on the tech side, they're putting their money into real estate."

Almost anywhere you look in Pittsburgh, older, often vacant buildings, are being brought back to life.

In Lawrenceville, one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, at least a dozen buildings have been renovated in the last five years. Many of those buildings sit along Butler Street, the neighborhood's main street.

These redevelopment projects have also changed the face of the community, bringing in upscale businesses such as Jeffrey's Salon of Shadyside, which have begun relocating there.

That growth has been aided by 16:62 Design Zone, a program put together last year by the Lawrenceville Corp. to bring together design-oriented businesses including architectural firms, furniture designers and makers, as well as antique dealers and artists.

The program is called 16:62 because the zone stretches from 16th Street in the Strip District to 62nd Street in Lawrenceville.

There's more.

Developer Lee Gross of the South Side is building lofts and apartments in Lawrenceville. Sale prices begin at $185,000; apartments start at $1,100 a month.

"These older buildings have design elements in them that would be cost prohibitive to put in these days," Mr. Troy said.

The Strip District remains a hot area for building reuse as well.

One of the most notable building redevelopment projects under way is the former Armstrong Cork factory in the Strip District.

This abandoned, turn-of-the-century factory has been owned since 1996 by a local partnership headed by Chuck Hammel, president of Pitt-Ohio Express, a Strip District trucking firm.

In July, Mr. Hammel and his partners, who include Robert Beynon of Beynon & Co. Inc., a Downtown commercial real estate and insurance firm, are working with a group of Chicago developers to transform the 440,000-square-foot industrial complex into 330 upscale apartments, as well as a marina and retail complex.

Across the river, on the North Side, Cleveland developer John Ferchill is developing a $65 million apartment project at a five-building, 770,000-square-foot factory on the North Side once used by H.J. Heinz Co. to make food products.

The buildings, which were built between 1912 and 1931, are located between the 16th Street Bridge and Heinz' North Side factory. Mr. Ferchill acquired the buildings for $5 million.

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