Ground Broken For Lawrenceville's Largest Residential Complex
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- In the shadow of the 40th Street Bridge, on a five-acre industrial site, officials broke ground on what will be Lawrenceville's largest residential development.
"The first phase is going to be a 182-unit apartment building. It's going to have really, really nice amenities," owner-developer Alex Simakas told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Wednesday.
"Luxury swimming pool, bocce court, if you're into that. We're going to have some outdoor grilling area, some fire pits, and then we're going to have some really nice indoor amenity packages with fitness," Simakas said.
Called the Foundry at 41st, Simakas is aiming for the younger crowd that has re-discovered Lawrenceville.
"There's no question that Lawrenceville over the last few years has been a real mecca for young people and entrepreneurial people to move into," says Allegheny County executive Rich Fitzgerald.
The appeal of this iconic Pittsburgh neighborhood is real.
These days it's pretty hard to go anywhere in Lawrenceville without running into some kind of construction.
The 12-unit Square View Luxury Apartments are under construction at one end of Butler Street, while at the other end ground will soon be broken on the 25-unit McCleary School Condos.
Mayor Bill Peduto says what makes the area appealing is its industrial chic.
"The industrial chic -- that's what I call it. We're not the pastel colored Miami. We're the industrial chic, [which] is what young people want to be at because it's authentic and it's real," says Peduto.
The Foundry at 41st is preserving Bay 4 with its industrial steel frame as a public plaza.
That's a selling point, says Todd Reidbord of Walnut Capital that will manage the property when it's finished in 2017.
"What more feeling of Pittsburgh can you get than standing right here with the rivers, the bridges, the old factories, the robotics, the excitement of Lawrenceville and Butler Street," notes Reidbord.
That excitement is exactly what Lawrenceville is counting on to continue its resurgence.
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