Former Education Center In Lawrenceville Becoming Neighborhood's First Hotel
LAWRENCEVILLE (KDKA) -- It was once the Washington Education Center at the end of the 40th Street Bridge in Lawrenceville.
"There's been a vocational school operating on this site since the turn of the 19th century," Josh Aderholt said.
But no more, as Aderholt and his partners have turned the building into Lawrenceville's only 108-room hotel called the Tryp by Wyndham.
"Many visitors to Pittsburgh who are staying elsewhere are coming out to eat and coming to wander the streets of Lawrenceville, so we figured why not have them stay here," Aderholt told KDKA money editor Jon Delano on Monday.
Why not, indeed.
It's a full service hotel with plenty of guest parking and two soon-to-be open bar-restaurants -- one of the first level called "The Brick Shop."
"I guess you would categorize it as contemporary American with some pretty strong eastern European and Russian influences," Aderholt said.
The second bar-restaurant is on the top floor called "Over Eden."
"With truly spectacular views and a lot of patio seating, it's more of a Mediterranean feel with I would say a strong Israeli vibe," Aderholt said.
There are four stories of rooms in the building which are not super big and have a very contemporary feel with all the modern necessities.
So how much might a room like this cost?
That really depends on the time of year, and the kind of events going on in Pittsburgh at the time, and whether or not they're great demand for rooms.
But generally look to pay somewhere between $150 to $350 a night.
One interesting feature -- lots of local artwork, including that of artists in Lawrenceville, mixed in with some signs of the building's past like a number of lockers and a wall of graduates from the mid-1960s.
"All the rooms have local art and there's art all throughout the building that's done by many artists local to Pittsburgh and in many cases local to Lawrenceville," Aderholt said.
Check it out the next time you're in Lawrenceville.
