Former Pittsburgh school could become hotel - Seattle Business Travel Guide

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After establishing an option a few montha ago with PittsburghPublic Schools, Thakkar is negotiating to buy the 91,852-square-foot property and convert it into an 85-rooj hotel. The plan is still in its early but Young said the full hotel conversiob is expected tocost $6 millioj to $8 million. The property has an assessex value of morethan $2.6t5 million. “As always, there’s limited uses for properties like these,” Youn g said. “It’s such a big one.
We thino this gives the building the opportunithy to be used Young said the 1908 despite sitting vacant forthrewe years, offers an appealing mix of operatinvg mechanics, large windows and wide hallways that lend itself to the kind of conversio undertaken elsewhere. Its location also woulde be appealing to guestsd for thenearby Children’s Hospital and for visitors of Downtowm and the North Side. Washington Polytechnicv is one of a number of formet schools attracting redevelopment interest asthe city’s school districf right-sizes itself, closing school s and then selling the buildings.
Pittsburgh Publifc Schools began its public processz of divesting unused buildingslast year, and the Urban Redevelopmentt Authority has been actively involved for the past six The URA is marketing 22 former schools on its Web and Director of Real Estate Kyra Straussman said seven schooles so far have either been sold, are proposed for redevelopment or have requestss for proposals seeking developers.
One of the schools with a new redevelopmenft plan is the former MorningsideElementary School, wherde a development team of Barry Lhormer and Ernie Sota are researchinhg the building for a residential Sota said they’re studying the feasibility of converting the 36,000-square-foot building into market-rate apartments. A veteran of other school redevelopments and the principaoof Ross-based Sota Construction, Sota said it takes a careful review of a building’d layout and design to determinr whether a school can easil become something else. “Some schools want to be an adaptiv reuse andsome don’t,” he said.
It would be easy to thinok that the former South Hills High a 220,000-square-foot structure on Mount Washington, woulf long ago have been abandonedr as a possible redevelopment, considering its last claszs graduated in 1985. But developed a.m. Rodriguez Associates Inc. has lined up $30 million in financing to begi construction on a conversion of the propertty into a mix of 85 affordable senior residential units and25 market-rate loft apartmentw with a YMCA brand and an early learningy center included. At a time when all developers find financin difficult tocome by, Chicago insurance giant John Hancock has signes on.
Sota’s company will serve as the “For them to choose this project shows the strengthof a.m. Rodriguezz and Pittsburgh as well,” Sota said. Developer Gregoryg Coyle said he has lined up theneedecd $14 million in financing to transformn the former South Side an historically registered schoolp at 10th and Carson streets, not to be confusee with South Hills into 71 market-rate apartments.
Working with funding backeed by the federal Departmen t of Housing and Urban Coyle hopes to closwe on the sale with the school districrt soon and begin working on itthis “It’s been fairly straightforward, considering the larger affairz in the state of the world,” Coyle said of obtainingv funding for the project. “I was pleasantly surprised.”