Former jail annex site to be developed

One of the last prime development spots available Downtown once again is in line to be converted into a parking lot, but the company behind the plan insists that better days are ahead for the property.

Philadelphia-based Parkway Corp. plans to seek a variance before the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment on March 15 to operate a lot with about 67 spaces at the site of the former jail annex at Fourth Avenue and Ross Street.

A variance is required because surface parking is not a permitted use in the Golden Triangle zoning district.

The site is no stranger to parking. Up until Dec. 1, Allegheny County had been using the lot — currently owned by Ross Hospitality Associates LP, an affiliate Kratsa Properties — for years to park vehicles after a plan to build a hotel there faltered.

Robert Zuritsky, president of Parkway, said the latest proposal to turn the real estate into a commercial parking space is “a temporary carry” while his corporation comes up with a better plan for the site.

“That’s not the best use for that site,” he said. “It could be a lot of different things. We don’t have anything lined up. We’ve been playing around with some ideas.”

The company, which has operated parking facilities in Pittsburgh for more than 30 years, already has been talking to developers about potential reuses for the site, he said.

They run the gamut from residential to office to a hotel, although nothing is set in stone at this point. Mr. Zuritsky said the hope “is to develop it quickly.”

“It’s pretty much open,” he said of a potential redevelopment. “It’s just a matter of finding a good use.”

While Parkway has been known as a parking company, Mr. Zuritsky said it is becoming more of a real estate developer.

Its projects have included offices, mixed-use development, hotels and residential buildings. Parkway either does the work itself or teams with others that may bring more expertise.

Mr. Zuritsky said the company will be breaking ground on another hotel development, its second, in Philadelphia in a few weeks. It also is involved in a 346-unit apartment complex in the city.

“What we like to do is assemble properties and find a better use for them and get them