KDKA Investigators

Ambitious Projects Aim To Revitalize Downtown

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― For now, much of downtown Pittsburgh is under construction.

There's the North Shore Connector project, the PNC office, hotel and retail high rise and the Piatt Place transformation of the Lazarus building into condos and shops - pricey and ambitious projects aimed at revitalizing downtown's long-decaying urban core of blight and vacant stores.

"Within the next two years this whole area will be completely remade. When you have $1 billion of investment in the pipeline within two blocks of where we're standing right now," Lucas Piatt said.

Piatt and his family have cast their lot on downtown with two major projects - the renovation of the old GC Murphy building and the Piatt Place project.

There, they've brought in two Tony Restaurants - McCormick and Schmick's and the Capital Grille - and are transforming the rest of the building into offices and condos.

"The residential units are actually built on a completely new slab on top of the roof," he said.

Developing downtown as a place to live is central to its redevelopment and the Piatt's are planning luxury condos starting at $330,000 to $1.5 million each. And even though they haven't been built yet, Piatt says 40 percent are under contract and that buyers have been entranced by the rooftop views.

"It's really a selling point for us, and it's really a closing point for us also," he said.

But there are also signs that condo sales downtown have hit a speed bump as more and more units come on market.

With PNC adding more units, the Cultural District is delaying its plans for condo construction and according to real estate insiders, others are taking a wait-and-see approach. And while owners have closed on more than half of the 83 units at 151 First Side, six of those units are already up for re-sale.

"We're confident that it will pick up. I mean obviously there's a nationwide housing issue right now," Deputy Mayor Yarone Zober said.

Despite slower than expected sales, Zober doesn't believe there's a glut of condos on the downtown market.

"We have a unique market, one.  Two, we haven't had traditionally much supply at all. So, any supply at this point to the outside observer might look like an over-supply, but I don't think we have that at this point," he said.

At the Carlysle at Wood Street and Second Avenue, half of the 60 units are under contract, but about a third of those buyers are real estate investors and phase two of the project is currently on hold. Still, developers say they're pleased with the sales and confident that prospective buyers will overcome their misgivings and take the downtown plunge.

"Many of them are repeat visitors who need to time to adjust to a lot of the nay-sayers, family and friends, people who say, 'You want to live where?'," Liz Caplan, an official with The Carlyle, said.

Piatt's Lorrie Andria says all the construction going on is proof positive to buyers that a new downtown is coming.

"I think they're seeing evidence of that now, so it's not so much of a leap of faith anymore," she said.

And while confident that downtown redevelopment is coming, Lucas Piatt cautions that it won't come all at once.

"What do they say? How can you eat an elephant - only one bite at a time," he said. "And we look at this project like that, and we have to take step by step."

Buying downtown is not for everybody, especially at the prices these units are being offered - generally more than $200,000.

Developers say these buildings are too costly to renovate and they can't offer the units more cheaply.

Time will tell if there is going to be a sustainable market for downtown living at these kinds of prices.

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