The North Side already has a lot going for it, but this project could definitely tip it over the edge. Looking forward to seeing how things pan out with the redevelopment next year.
The team taking on the redevelopment of the Garden Theater block on the North Side are ready to kick start it next year with three well-known bar and restaurants from the South Side, Strip District and Lawrenceville.
Allegheny City Development Group, LLC, a team that comprises Philadelphia-based Zukin Realty and Pittsburgh-based Collaborative Ventures, got a vote from the Urban Redevelopment Authority board today to acquire a collection of parcels on the central North Side on which to begin construction next year.
The team told the assembled URA board that it has achieved letters of intent with Nakama, the popular Japanese steakhouse and sushi bar on Carson Street as well as with the operators of Lawrenceville’s Round Corner Cantina and of the former Firehouse Lounge in the Strip District. Allegheny City Development hopes to establish full lease deals in the next few months and proceed with construction next year on its first phase, which will also include apartments and office space in the Garden Theater property.
The URA board voted unanimously to sell the properties for the phase one portion or the overall plan for $250,000. The project includes three of the main properties in the development plan, the Garden theater itself, a former Masonic Lodge building and a structure known as the Bradley building. The overall development plan is projected to cost more than $7.5 million.
The three restaurants are expected to be part of a larger mixed-use development that includes a mix of apartments and office space
Wayne Zukin, a principal with Zukin, which was awarded development rights for the Garden Theater block project in October 2010, said it’s been more challenging to lure tenants to the project than expected.
“It’s been a long process and a complicated project,” he said. “We’re really excited to get in he ground and get things going.”
Zukin said one key draw that helped with Nakama was a Masonic Lodge building whose space lays out very similarly to its established restaurant on the South Side. It also helped that Bob Gomes, the owner of Nakama, is familiar with historic renovation projects in his other business.
The Garden Theater block, which has long been a bane of blight on the North Side, with its main property operating as a former porn theater, is also seeing some complementary development around it, most notably a host of new Federal Hill townhouses have been built and sold before construction was completed. The neighborhood is also anchored by nearby Allegheny General Hospital and Allegheny Center.
Craig Totino, a principal with Collaborative Ventures, said a selling point was a lack of options for dining.
“A lot of the restaurateurs saw doctors and nurses walking around in scrubs and wondered where they could go to eat,” he said.
Yarone Zober, chairman of the board of the URA, said he was eager to see the project finally revitalize a core property on the North Side as a ongoing goal of mayor Luke Ravenstahl.
Read more http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2011/11/11/garden-theater-block-ready-to-start.html
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