Judge OKs height plan for former Penn Plaza

Developers granted 150 feet they had been denied by city

Developers of the former Penn Plaza apartment site in East Liberty were handed a victory Wednesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court — approval of the 150-foot height they had been denied by the city planning commission.

The planning commission in May approved the overall redevelopment plan but restricted the height to 108 feet.

The court’s decision also struck a planning commission condition that the developer provide a community space or multi-purpose gathering place.

The parcels at 5600-5704 Penn Ave. are slated for redevelopment by Pennley Park South, an affiliate of developer LG Realty Advisors, after the property was rezoned in 2016. The plan is for 200 apartments, 12,000 square feet of offices and 582 parking spaces in the first phase.

Two apartment buildings containing over 200 affordable units were razed last year after protests over the displacement of low-income residents from an increasingly market-driven East Liberty.

Last year, the city sought an injunction against demolition activities that were occurring with residents still in place. At the time, acrimony over a plan that included a relocation of Whole Foods resulted in the company putting its interest on hold.

Under a consent order approved in October, Pennley Park South agreed to devote 50 percent of its tax-abatement funds to a Transit Revitalization Investment District that would acquire and develop affordable housing in the area. Up to $1 million of those funds will pay for rebuilding and

improvements at Enright Park, a small city-owned site adjacent to the development site.

Members of the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition weighed in on the decision on the building height.

“We’re calling on the city to appeal this decision immediately,” coalition member Randall Taylor said. “We question the speed with which it was made.

“The height is ridiculous,” he said. “It will be the tallest structure in East Liberty. We’re disappointed that we couldn’t get more community voices into the decision. One of our folks went to a preliminary discussion and was told nothing was happening yet and we thought Judge James would allow the community to have some voice in the matter.”

“My biggest issue was in regards residents who were relocated,” Crystal Jennings, a member of the coalition. “It was not the height restriction. They’re putting up something that doesn’t fit the community.”

Mr. Taylor said people are paying attention “and understand what’s going on. People are fed up with this, with who receives preferential treatment. We want to make sure the people in the community receive better treatment, not greedy realtors.”