Larger apartment buildings in east end area? (Pittsburgh, Liberty: low income, section 8)

[Quiet-T]

Anyone care to share any recommendations for a larger apartment buildings in the east end area? Seems like most of the rentals on craigslist are mostly for independent landlords renting houses and duplexes.

Anyone lived in a decent larger building that they care to recommend?

[LIRefugee]

Two things:

1. Define "decent". Does the quality of the building itself matter, regardless of where it is, or could you stand to be in an okay building but in a great location?

2. What is your price range? No matter how you define decent, the good East End buildings will be more expensive than Pittsburgh as a whole.

Another important question for the East End: when do you plan on moving in? The proximity of Pitt and CMU dominate the rental market in such a way that it can be hard to find an apartment out of season, especially in the larger buildings.

[Clint.]

I've heard that Penn Plaza on the Circle in East Liberty is slowly 'forcing' out some of their Section 8 voucher tenants, and has also implemented new income restrictions for their apartments. I heard the part about not renewing leases for some Section 8 voucher tenants from a tenant; the latter I was told directly by a property manager there.

It was a year ago or so, but I think she said it was $850 minimum that tenants need to bring in monthly. Studios there go for ~$475 and one bedrooms are $570, both plus electric. The minimum income requirement doesn't sound like much money to most probably, but it's significant for a couple reasons. SSI is $698 a month, so SSI recipients can no longer qualify unless they are working at least enough to consistently earn $152 monthly, which eliminates most of them from contention, which I guess is the idea.

I also think it signals intent by the new owner (it was sold a couple years ago) to slowly try and remake the building into something a little nicer than it was. It will be slow going, but that income threshold keeps a lot of people out who would have formerly liked to move. Make of that what you want, I suppose.

With all due respect to everyone, I rarely know what people are referring to when they say East End, either. I've heard it used to describe practically every neighborhood to the east of Downtown outside of the Hill and the Strip, which makes it not very useful in my book. Marketing lingo, or else just one of 4 vaguely generic directional labels to apply to anything not Downtown. It either casts a very wide net, or is not used uniformly.

I'm interested in learning about low-income apartment buildings in the East End (ha, ha - maybe it useful in a strange way) that take Section 8 vouchers if anyone has any ideas. I'm a social worker trying to find new housing for a Penn Plaza resident whose lease is not being renewed; she's lived there for 30 years and doesn't want to move far from home and her doctors, etc.

[eschaton]

Most of the actual apartment buildings in the East End tend to be student rentals in and around Shadyside and North Oakland, in my experience. There are weird outliers like that random residential skyscraper in Highland Park, but these tend to follow the same general pattern of being not very nice yet somewhat expensive, due to having a captive audience of students to draw upon.

The exceptions on both sides are high end rentals which draw professionals (which tend to be closer to the city core, but arguably ones like the Cork Factory are in the East End), and Section-8 dominated complexes.

Personally, judging from externals only, if I were to pick an apartment building, I'd either want a unit in one of the classic apartments around Friendship Park in Bloomfield, or something in Squirrel Hill around Hobart Street.

[selltheburgh]

Originally Posted by Clint.

I've heard that Penn Plaza on the Circle in East Liberty is slowly 'forcing' out some of their Section 8 voucher tenants, and has also implemented new income restrictions for their apartments. I heard the part about not renewing leases for some Section 8 voucher tenants from a tenant; the latter I was told directly by a property manager there.

It was a year ago or so, but I think she said it was $850 minimum that tenants need to bring in monthly. Studios there go for ~$475 and one bedrooms are $570, both plus electric. The minimum income requirement doesn't sound like much money to most probably, but it's significant for a couple reasons. SSI is $698 a month, so SSI recipients can no longer qualify unless they are working at least enough to consistently earn $152 monthly, which eliminates most of them from contention, which I guess is the idea.

I also think it signals intent by the new owner (it was sold a couple years ago) to slowly try and remake the building into something a little nicer than it was. It will be slow going, but that income threshold keeps a lot of people out who would have formerly liked to move. Make of that what you want, I suppose.

With all due respect to everyone, I rarely know what people are referring to when they say East End, either. I've heard it used to describe practically every neighborhood to the east of Downtown outside of the Hill and the Strip, which makes it not very useful in my book. Marketing lingo, or else just one of 4 vaguely generic directional labels to apply to anything not Downtown. It either casts a very wide net, or is not used uniformly.

I'm interested in learning about low-income apartment buildings in the East End (ha, ha - maybe it useful in a strange way) that take Section 8 vouchers if anyone has any ideas. I'm a social worker trying to find new housing for a Penn Plaza resident whose lease is not being renewed; she's lived there for 30 years and doesn't want to move far from home and her doctors, etc.

I've heard that building may be razed for a major development.

Is it possible to just not renew a section 8 lease? I'm not a fan of displacing people or removing people from a building for the simple fact that they are low income or on SSI, but I'm also not in favor of landlords being stuck with tenants who are a PITA.

I just purchased a building in East Liberty and it came with a section 8 tenant who has been there for 9 years. My intention was to keep her even though her rent is about $150 less than the current market rate for her unit (in better condition). Since buying the building, she has annoyed the ***** out of me. She doesn't work, is at home drinking all day long, and is just generally difficult and entitled and talks about how she's injured or sick and unable to do this or that. Now she calls over and over from an blocked number, which I'm obviously not going to answer because somebody calling from a blocked number is going to likely be somebody that nobody wants to hear from since their number is blocked. She complained about junk in the basement, so I hired a guy to clean out the ***** from a previous tenant. Then she freaked out because half of the garbage was hers and she wanted it. She doesn't have a current lease and I'm conflicted. I feel badly booting her, but she's driving me up a wall and her apartment stinks like a dive bar and the smell seeps into the hallway.

[Hopes]

Just a warning. Some of those big apartment buildings are dumps in the East End. Even if they are in reasonable condition, they're often very outdated. Sorry I can't advise on which are the nice ones. You could luck out and find a condo for rent if you go through a realtor. Some of the condo buildings are just outstandingly beautiful. Just wanted to say that you could do well to consider the apartments owned by independent landlords. The further away from Oakland, the less slumlords.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Just a warning. Some of those big apartment buildings are dumps in the East End. Even if they are in reasonable condition, they're often very outdated. Sorry I can't advise on which are the nice ones. You could luck out and find a condo for rent if you go through a realtor. Some of the condo buildings are just outstandingly beautiful. Just wanted to say that you could do well to consider the apartments owned by independent landlords. The further away from Oakland, the less slumlords.

^ This. While rental prices in Pittsburgh are a bargain compared to NYC, DC, etc. you'll be surprised at how outdated your apartment will be here for the price you'll pay. Penn Plaza, which Clint references, IS a dump. I was there just last year to make a delivery and was greeted by police officers holding the door open, a bunch of people loitering (this was midday on a weekday when most non-night-shift people SHOULD be at work), and an odd smell. I'm also unimpressed by the Kenmawr in Shadyside, despite it's relatively high price. Ditto a few of the smaller complexes in the Walnut/College area of Shadyside. Ditto Cathedral Mansions on Ellsworth Avenue. I'm paying $700/month for a place here in Polish Hill that hasn't been renovated in decades, and that's simply because there isn't anywhere else to rent (or buy) here.

[cheezit34141988]

Everything I've seen around the universities, especially if a larger building, have been DUMPS. The landlords know that they can slack on repairs/upkeep because they have a continuous flow of new tenants who can and are willing to pay sky high prices on their parents dime or student loans or bank account-stretching to live in a convenient area. This holds true for all the ones SCR mentioned, in specific as well.

Your best bet honestly is a private landlord/split house. And look somepalce on the fringe of a university area.

[Clint.]

selltheburgh, your description applies to probably a high percentage of people with Section 8 vouchers...too bad, because those vouchers, along with public housing generally, was originally intended to be a temporary help for people who worked low wage jobs; now more often than not it's just a freebie certain people try to cling to for life. I don't blame landlords for generally not wanting to rent to them. She could probably resist it somehow, if nothing else wait for a formal eviction (she probably deserves it for something) and plead her case to the magistrate, but doesn't want to (because she feels so aggrieved she now wants to leave, and just expects other people to find her a new place anyway). I know I wouldn't want her living next door to me.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone would like Penn Plaza razed one day; the City is probably at the top of the list, especially if it is a not for profit.

SCR, rents do seem really high for what people get. It's that East End allure (seriously, because you could probably rent a comparable Taj in a place like South Park for that price). It's hard for me to believe that demand is sohigh that rents are what they are for what people get, but I guess that's the case. I look at City and County-wide rental listing fairly often, and I'm always amazed how expensive it is in suspect parts of the East End area to live in one of several apartments crammed into an old mansion. Even those run down rowhouses in Homewood are relatively expensive, so I suspect there are a fair number of people living there who pay a crazy high portion of their income toward rent but are highly reluctant to let go for various reasons.

Anyway, how about Essex House on Centre? I've never been inside, but it looks pretty nice and is well positioned. There is another building right across from Shadyside on South Aiken, the Arlington, and the Coronado across from it, or the Carlyle Arms across from Giant Eagle? I don't know anything about those places...just throwing the names out there.

[I_Like_Spam]

Section 8 certificates help to keep the rents in Homewood-Brushton and other depressed communities higher than they would be otherwise by providing a floor.

The large apartment houses along Centre, Baum and Fifth Avenue are mostly owned by large real estate firms like Mozart, and many of the individual buildings cater to transient and student tenants.

I'd be very careful at looking at the paperwork as well as the property before obligating to any of those properties. The online reviews are mixed for those rentals.