Bustling Strip District may get even more apartments
Developer proposing new 7-story building
Penrose is jumping into a sizzling market where there is no shortage of residential units. City Councilwoman Deb Gross has estimated that more than 2,000 such units have been built in the Strip in the past five years.
They have included Edge 1909, a 364-unit apartment development on the Allegheny riverfront, with a 443-unit second phase in the works, and Strip District Brownstones, a 46-unit townhouse development behind the iconic produce terminal. Another 300 apartments have been added as part of the 3 Crossings mixed-use development.
Philadelphia developer Jack Benoff also is working on Forte Condominiums, a project featuring about 50 units located on Penn Avenue near the Savoy restaurant.
Mr. Mullin isn’t intimidated by the competition around him. He said Penrose decided to launch the development based on “the demographics and the overall dynamics of the Strip District.”
“I would assume if we’re building it, we think there’s a market for it,” he noted.
The complex would include about 6,000 square feet of streetlevel space that could be used for either retail or a restaurant. The developer paid $600,000 for the property in September, according to Allegheny County real estate records.
Penrose is scheduled to go before the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment Feb. 13 to seek a variance related to the height of an accessory structure, in this case an automated vertical parking system with room for about 45 vehicles.
The variance is needed because the maximum height permitted for an accessory structure under the city’s new riverfront zoning ordinance is 20 feet compared with the 53 feet requested for the parking system.
Penrose also is planning less than 10 surface spaces as well as bicycle parking, said Nicholas Miller of Next Architecture, which is handling the project.