Developer planning condo project for St. Adalbert Auditorium on South Side (Pittsburgh: for sale, real estate)

[tyovan4]

At the risk of being pegged as “the church guy,” developer Ivor Hill has purchased another Catholic church property on the South Side to convert into luxury condos.

Hill, who repurposed the former St. Casimir Church as 22nd Street Condos, now plans to build 14 condominiums in the former St. Adalbert Auditorium adjoining St. Adalbert Church on 15th Street.

It was the first Polish Roman Catholic church on the South Side, established in 1883. The Diocese of Pittsburgh has kept the church operational, but the auditorium and school closed years ago. For a while, the parish used the building as a bingo hall, Hill says.

“It’s a very unique building,” says Hill. “It’s an old gym, built in 1957 as a nuclear fallout shelter, so it’s very well constructed. It was a very large gymnasium, with a very large basement perfect for underground parking. The building itself is ideal to turn into smaller condominiums that will attract younger [buyers]. We’re just about to launch presales.”

https://www.nextpittsburgh.com/city-...on-south-side/

I imagine that we'll be seeing more concepts like this as the local (Catholic) Diocese advances through their downsizing plan over the next few years - I imagine that the Diocese would almost have to sell some of the parish buildings that they'll no longer be utilizing for weekly services.

No major complaints from me about this project per se, as they have factored in on-site parking.

Though this did get my attention:

"The South Side needs affordable housing for millennials who want to become homeowners, Hill says."
...
"As he did with the St. Casimir project, which has four condos remaining for sale, Hill will collaborate with Indovina Associates Architects to design the spaces and with Kathy Wallace of New City Marketing to market them. They’ll range from the $300,000s to $600,000s."

In what world is $300k affordable for a first-time homeowner?? The world of the Pacific Coast or the Acela Corridor on the East Coast??

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

I imagine that we'll be seeing more concepts like this as the local (Catholic) Diocese advances through their downsizing plan over the next few years - I imagine that the Diocese would almost have to sell some of the parish buildings that they'll no longer be utilizing for weekly services.

No major complaints from me about this project per se, as they have factored in on-site parking.

Though this did get my attention:


In what world is $300k affordable for a first-time homeowner?? The world of the Pacific Coast or the Acela Corridor on the East Coast??

Well a monthly payment for a 300K condo would be about $1850. For someone making over 80K its affordable.

But mostly its affordable for two income couples, whose incomes are usually over 80K combined for those in the market for a house or condo.


I don't think there are too many newly built houses or condos anywhere that are significantly under 300K, are there? the costs of land and construction usually put the low end in the high 200s I think.

[tyovan4]

A more historical question - why is this ethnic Polish parish referred to by its name in English? Adalbert is such an extremely atypical name, whereas the original Polish name (Wojciech) is incredibly common even in contemporary Polish.

[Doowlle34]

Looks like he took the name of his German tutor - Adalbert of Madgeburg (and looks like Adalbert is German, not English). If I had done this the easy way, I would have just went to Wikipedia. However, I pulled up an May 1897 article in the Pittsburgh Press about the fact that the parish was hosting an all day celebration in honor of St. Adalbert. The article noted that, in the past 12 years, the parish had expanded from only 12 families to become one of the largest Polish congregations in Allegheny County. This issue of the Press also featured a full page ad for Kaufman's and an article touting the fact that Pittsburgh's "Asphalt Monoply" had finally been broken -- "paving" the way for the return of fire brick.

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by tyovan4

I imagine that we'll be seeing more concepts like this as the local (Catholic) Diocese advances through their downsizing plan over the next few years - I imagine that the Diocese would almost have to sell some of the parish buildings that they'll no longer be utilizing for weekly services.

No major complaints from me about this project per se, as they have factored in on-site parking.

Though this did get my attention:


In what world is $300k affordable for a first-time homeowner?? The world of the Pacific Coast or the Acela Corridor on the East Coast??

Is there a demand for 300K homes in the city?

To be honest they need to build basic homes in the city, nothing fancy, bare bones minimum and charge between 100-220K. They won’t fit the narrative of being authentically pleasing, but that is probably what the city needs. I am willing to bet if built they would be sold out immediately. Heck they can even be row homes.

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by Independentthinking83

Is there a demand for 300K homes in the city?

To be honest they need to build basic homes in the city, nothing fancy, bare bones minimum and charge between 100-220K. They won’t fit the narrative of being authentically pleasing, but that is probably what the city needs. I am willing to bet if built they would be sold out immediately. Heck they can even be row homes.

You might be able to find 220K newly built. maybe somewhere. but you're not gonna find much lower, even with rowhouses. 220 would be bare bones minimum for new construction, and might even be called a tiny house. it won't have fancy countertops or really anything high quality at all. the thing is when most people buy a new house, the DO expect high quality stuff, or at least midrange quality. part of the reason you don't see many bare bones cheapo houses being built

[Knepper3]

As above people expect a certain level, if you build to below that yes it will sell and likely to someone that will upgrade everything themselves so you achieved nothing which is assuming the quality wasn't too bad to get it in the price range. It's just not how real estate works, you cant go into an area and build a house saying this is a $100k house. There is already a set market for an area and whatever price you list the market will determine the actual price.