BACK ON TRACK
Developer awarded state grant to build Grandview Avenue hotel on Mount Washington
For 25 years, developers have seen their dreams of erecting a hotel at the tip of Mount Washington next to the Monongahela Incline shattered one by one.
But that hasn’t stopped another developer from returning with yet another plan to build such a venue at the site of the former Edge restaurant at the far east end of scenic Grandview Avenue.
Grandview Realty LLC has been awarded a $1 million state redevelopment assistance capital grant to support the construction of a $95 million hotel and conference center with a spa, fitness center, ballroom, parking garage, and public grand plaza with an outdoor dining area.
Beau Beemsterboer, a Grandview representative, appeared last week before the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority board, which serves as the conduit for the state grant.
In a brief interview afterward, Mr. Beemsterboer said he is “actively working” on the project, adding that he has just purchased the last parcel needed for the proposed development.
He declined to further discuss the effort.
Mr. Beemsterboer is the son of Chicago developer Steven Beemsterboer, who at one time proposed a grandiose development for the site that would have included a 163-room hotel, up to 58 condos cascading down the hillside, a 472-space parking garage, and an observation deck, plaza and scenic outlook.
He later presented a scaleddown version featuring a 125room hotel, 285 apartments and 12 townhouses before scrapping the endeavor altogether in 2015 and putting the land up for sale after failing to get the financing he needed to start the project.
Last week, Beau Beemsterboer told the URA board that the current hotel plan would follow the foundation of the former Edge restaurant and would not involve building on the hillside.