Buying here VEGAS IN THE FLATS
Condo in South Side row house priced under $290,000
In 1992, Susan Liu moved from New York City to Las Vegas to work in the restaurant industry. She started building her first restaurant, but things didn’t go according to plans. “My contractor took my money and didn’t come back. So that’s how I got into construction,” she said.
Liu got a contractor’s license and now rehabs properties in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas, where she lives.
Her latest project, a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condominium at 1912 Jane St. on the South Side, is on the market for $289,999 and listed with Joanne Watterson of Keller Williams Realty ( 724- 612- 5006 or www.kw.com).
Unit B is one of four condo units in the 1920 brick building. Lui said the two front units are finished and the two in the rear are 90% completed. Unit A, which also has one bedroom and one bathroom, is priced at $269,999 and is under contract.
“She’s some kind of dynamo. She does everything herself, very hands-on,” said Watterson, her real estate agent.
Liu has designed and built out all four condominiums in the former delicatessen.
“A friend of my brother-in-law introduced me to Pittsburgh and when I went there the property was cheap,” she said.
She started with a house in Swissvale and made a decent profit compared with her Las Vegas projects, Liu said.
The front door to the Jane Street unit is glass-paneled with sidelights and transom windows. Like many row houses, it has a hallway on one side and the bedroom and bathroom on the other.
At the end of hallway is a large open area that includes the kitchen, dining and living rooms. The flooring is large porcelain tile that looks like marble. Can lights in the ceilings add to the gallery feel of the condo.
The bedroom measures 20 by 11 feet and has a large double closet and luxury vinyl plank flooring in a soft shade of gray. The engineered-wood closet doors, imported from China, are far from your standard builder-grade. Mechanicals hide behind a door in the bedroom.
The adjacent bathroom features a long, quartz-topped vanity, two sinks and a very large mirror with embedded LED lighting that adjusts with a touch button on the bottom. On the far wall is a closet that contains a stacked Whirlpool washer-dryer combination.
The walk-in shower has frameless glass doors, porcelain tile, pebbled flooring and a shower seat topped with granite. A rainfall shower head makes the bathroom a peaceful oasis.
Liu said the living space is in the rear of the row house to give direct access to the courtyard. The combined space has exposed brick walls and an island that divides the kitchen from the living and dining areas. On the wall behind the dining area is a large image of the ocean that will remain. It’s wallpaper that’s easy to remove if an owner chooses.
Glazed glass in the kitchen’s upper cabinets contrasts with lower cabinets that are lightly stained. A mosaic tile backsplash ties the design together. On one side is a door to the pantry/utility roomused for storage.
“The appliances are new, bought at Lowe’s,” said Liu.
There are a Whirlpool dishwasher and microwave with a vent fan above a gas stove. The LG side-by-side refrigerator has an InstaView door that allows users to see what’s available without opening the door.
Industrialglass doors on the far wall lead to the large communal courtyard and bring in natural light. The courtyard is covered by an awning and behind the rear wall is a parking space that comes with the condominium.
Jane Street is two blocks south of East Carson Street and close to buses, restaurants and shopping — Giant Eagle and Aldi’s grocery stores are a short walk away. Within walking distance are a Carnegie Library branch, South Side Slopes Park and SouthShore Riverside Park.
Over the past four years, four condos have sold at 1912 Jane St. for prices ranging from $35,000 in June 2017 to $299,000in June 2020 (www2.alleghenycounty.us/realestate/ GeneralInfo.aspx?).