Mayor opposes plan by developer to raze Holy Family Church
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A plan to demolish the Holy Family Church for redevelopment in Lawrenceville has drawn community outcry and now has Mayor Bill Peduto’s opposition.
In a statement Friday, the mayor said the proposed demolition “goes back on good faith agreements developers made with the Lawrenceville community that vital historic parts of the church would be preserved.”
The church, at 250 44th St., was closed in 2008.
In 2012, E Properties and Development CEO Emeka Onwugbenu proposed to renovate the church as part of a 73-unit apartment complex. After numerous community meetings in which he faced much opposition over the density of his proposal, he decided on 57 units.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a redesignation of the property from institutional to residential in 2013.
At the time, the community advocacy nonprofits Lawrenceville Corp. and Lawrenceville United supported the redevelopment, both with the understanding that the church would be reused within it.
The demolition plan has drawn their opposition.
Dave Breingan, executive director of Lawrenceville United, said the nonprofit did not insist on preserving the church’s school, “trying to be reasonable in saying the church is really the historic and iconic building.”
The demolition posting of May 29 was a surprise, he said.
“It was filed without informing us. Our community process relies on good faith. This is a real violation of that trust.”
In 2014, 44th and Summit Development bought the property. It is a partner of E Properties.
In a marketing blurb on the website landsofamerica.com, it described the property as a church, school and rectory on 65,171 square feet of land, “one of Lawrenceville’s last major green development sites.”
A message at the top of the page reads, “This property is no longer available.”
Mr. Onwugbenu could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Breingan said appeals of the zoning decision took time and that the developer had moved on to other projects in the meantime.
“My understanding is that by the time that [case] had been resolved, he no longer felt it was economically feasible” to develop the property with the church intact.
“We must do all we can to protect the key historical assets that make all Pittsburgh neighborhoods special,” Mr. Peduto said in an emailed statement. “For community-based development to succeed developers must continue to work honestly with the neighborhoods they build in, and not take actions that violate the trust of the community.”