East Liberty becoming a mixed-income success story (Pittsburgh, Wilkinsburg: renting, hotel)

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I'd give EL even less than 5 years honestly. There is some serious stuff in the works there. Landmark establishments.

I wonder what neighborhoods surrounding EL will immediately benefit from Downtown EL's success...

- Larmier/EL East
- Garfield/EL West
- Friendship/EL Southwest
- Shadyside (EL's pretty much benefiting from it)
- Highland Park/EL North and Northwest

I say the Friendship/EL Southwest area (Baum/Centre/Penn Cir West) has the most potential to feed from EL's pulse, Highland Park/North EL being 2nd only because Highland Park is doing pretty good already and SW EL isn't as perceived to be as seedy or "scary" as North and Northwest EL is currently is so most of the influx to feed off EL's pulse will migrate to the SW section first, Plus it puts them closer to Whole Foods.

[BrianTH]

Friendship has also made great strides lately. In fact sense Garfield is really being subjected to a pincer movement, and they have some interesting plans for the neighborhood--I think at least the flats are going to be dragged along pretty quickly.

Larimer has also been drawing up some interesting plans recently, and the URA recently announced they wanted to move forward with a Larimer project. And like Garfield, Larimer is sort of a discrete, bite-sized chunk.

[Uptown kid]

East Liberty's current worst part is the area north of the Boulevard, not all streets are affiliated, in fact some are quiet... Yet there are other streets where thugs like gang members, drug deals, and pimps still patrol... On that side every one still only wears white or black (the gang's colors), druggies and acholics are often near corners, section 8, and litter & blight/urban decay on certain streets/blocks really undermines the area.
Yet as others said it has potential, East Liberty is practically apart of Penn Ave corridor which is one of the hottest places for change in the Burgh, and the northern area borders Highland Park. The crime rates continue to decrease, and so I think it's safe to say that thugs are moving out, and trendy people are moving in... Shoot! Just compare the amount of vacant businesses from last year to this year in East Liberty and you'll know something is good is 'bout to happen...
The other factors are: Penn Plaza & East Liberty Gardens (with the later being for serious) which are pretty avoidable if you have common sense! Besides (I even though I don't have stats to prove it but I highly expect) the crime rates of those areas aren't half as bad as other near by low-income housing facilities.

Once the city's plans with gentrifying East Liberty goes further into the area north of East Liberty Boulevard it will quickly lose it's hood element.... Maybe my original guess for the day East Liberty will be a middle-income success story is just too quick, but I know it won't be long...
Though Larimer is a DIFFERENT case. It'll be atleast a decade before Larimer can turn itself around [and I say decade generously]!!!

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

Though Larimer is a DIFFERENT case. It'll be atleast a decade before Larimer can turn itself around [and I say decade generously]!!!

No one can tell the future, but I think Larimer can turn around quicker than you might think.

The high number of vacant lots, particularly along Larimer Ave can make it easier for a developer to piece together a big enough parcel for a major development project, if the city and school districts help ease the way.

[BrianTH]

Yep, a lot of Larimer is basically blank slate.

[SteelCityRising]

There was a duplex (admittedly in need of major repairs) on the market for quite some time at the corner of Ladson & Turret in Larimer that I was considering purchasing. I have no trouble with the notion of being an urban sub-pioneer (being in the second wave of people moving in to help gentrify a once-struggling area), but could I ever really be one of the first to bring about positive change in a place like Larimer? I don't know. Would the natives of the neighborhood really warmly embrace a young gay white couple or always cast a cold shoulder upon us? Would we be instant targets for crime?

[selltheburgh]

I'm giving East Lib 5 years to be very solid. It won't be perfect, but it is a city neighborhood. It is leaps and bounds better than it was 6 years ago when I bought my home in Highland Park. I'm about to take on a 400k development project in East Liberty that will include my future home. I'll be moving from Highland Park to East Liberty. I know of 3 other people who have made that move in the last 2 years. I posted in another thread that I have invested hundreds of thousands in that area in the past 3 years and don't regret it one bit...and the appraisers and banks approved of it because they are bank rolling it and they don't see it as a risky investment.

East Liberty's residential section will not be nicer than the hillside of HP east of N Highland, but that's not really comparable to the flat blocks in East Liberty. Most blocks are nice now and the rest will be very solid in the next couple of years.

The main areas that need the most help are the first 3 or 4 blocks of Negley north of Penn, the Broad St at Kirkwood section, the Hays St row houses, and and the horribly ugly Penn Circle North that has nothing but auto parts stores and parking lots.

[AaronPGH]

The potential on Broad street is amazing. We are hosting our VIA music festival there next month to highlight it.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Uptown kid

Yet as others said it has potential, East Liberty is practically apart of Penn Ave corridor which is one of the hottest places for change in the Burgh, and the northern area borders Highland Park. The crime rates continue to decrease, and so I think it's safe to say that thugs are moving out, and trendy people are moving in... Shoot! Just compare the amount of vacant businesses from last year to this year in East Liberty and you'll know something is good is 'bout to happen..

yep.

hey question on the garage, is it needed to move the project forward for zoning or financing issues?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by pman

hey question on the garage, is it needed to move the project forward for zoning or financing issues?

I guess I would say it falls more into financing, but here is what I know:

The URA accepted a project proposal by Massaro, Walnut and TKA (over a competing proposal for a hotel). It was actually the URA that agreed to build the parking garage, and I have taken that to mean the development team was insisting on the URA playing that role. However, the URA seemed to agree it was a necessary component.

Anyway, here is an article that goes into this a bit:

East Liberty building site gets attention of developers for fifth time

While the team is requesting no public funding, the URA will be on the hook to develop a 140- to 145-space parking garage with an estimated cost of $4 million to serve residents and shoppers. All believe it is critical if the project is to be successful.

"For 20 years, developers have come and gone because they weren't able to get parking," said Robert Rubinstein, the URA's director of economic development.