Squirrel Hill parcel gets new buyer with same goal

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A prominent Squirrel Hill development site is under agreement to be sold — but not to the group that had proposed a $40 million residential and retail project at the location.

Kobol LP hopes to close on the 26,000-square-foot property at Murray and Forward avenues by the end of the year, said David G. Tkacik, the agent for Equity Real Estate who has been marketing the site.

He would not disclose the purchase price. Equity had been asking $2.1 million for the property, which is sometimes referred to as the gateway to Squirrel Hill.

One of the members of Kobol is John Katz, chairman and president of Brandywine Agency, a North Versailles property management company. Mr. Katz also owns other real estate in Squirrel Hill, including buildings at Forbes and Shady avenues, and Murray and Beacon Street, Mr. Tkacik said.

Kobol ended up with a tentative deal for the Murray and Forward site after the owner, Alderson-Forward Properties LLC, put the property back on the market when it tired of waiting for another group, led by local retail broker Herky Pollock, to go through.

Mr. Pollock had planned a $40 million legacy project at the location — one that was to include 123 apartments, up to 13,000 square feet of retail and a threestory parking garage.

He had hoped to once again secure the property after it went back on the market, but that did not happen. Mr. Pollock declined comment Tuesday.

Mr. Tkacik said Kobol is planning a similar mixed-use development involving retail and apartments, but he did not offer any more specifics. Kobol is not workingwith Mr. Pollock, he said.

Mr. Katz, who lives in Squirrel Hill, could not be reached for comment.

The proposed development, Mr. Tkacik said, “will help the property truly be the gateway to Squirrel Hill.” Mr. Katz, he added, “is very attuned to making Squirrel Hill and Pittsburgh a better place.”

Whatever is constructed there would replace a blighted corner where a 2015 fire destroyed a building that once housed a karate studio and other businesses.

Mr. Katz owns the adjoining property at 5844 Forward that housed the Forward Lanes bowling alley for decades until it closed in March.