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| Eastside shopping complex in East Liberty |
The renewal and revitalization of East Liberty has progressed bigger, better and faster than anyone could have hoped for. Home Depot opened the only store located within Pittsburgh city limits in 2000. Whole Foods opened two years later and became one of the highest grossing stores in the Austin-based chain. Then came the Mosites Co.'s Eastside development, the hipster haven Shadow Lounge and several small, high-end restaurants. This July, a new Target will open on Penn Avenue just down the street from where Trader Joe's is thriving.
The commercial scene is obviously a success, but residential housing may yet eclipse that accomplishment. Two homes in the neighborhood are now under agreement for $340,000 each! Who would have ever thought? Even the guys who helped make that happen -- real estate specialists at East Liberty Development Inc. -- were staggered. The average sales price of a single-family home in the area in 2008 was $75,000. The average hit $146,000 last year, when ELDI sold a house for $315,000.
For the past seven years, ELDI has been buying abandoned, vacant and liened properties. The portfolio now totals $10 million and accounts for almost 15 percent of the neighborhood's parcels. Payment of liens alone has East Liberty looking more like Shadyside than its neighbors to the east and west on a demographic map.
So what's next on the list? The agency's target area for renovating and selling homes is East Liberty's historic core ..... Between Penn Circle and Stanton Avenue and Negley and Highland Avenues. Last week, city and agency officials cut a ribbon at the Boulevard Apartments, a new six-unit building on East Liberty Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. It is solid brick, has hardwood floors, balconies with hand-crafted iron work and energy efficiency that exceeds Energy Star standards. The agency is also working with developers to turn three existing buildings into market-rate apartments. They include the Highland Building and former YMCA, both in the business district.
The commercial scene is obviously a success, but residential housing may yet eclipse that accomplishment. Two homes in the neighborhood are now under agreement for $340,000 each! Who would have ever thought? Even the guys who helped make that happen -- real estate specialists at East Liberty Development Inc. -- were staggered. The average sales price of a single-family home in the area in 2008 was $75,000. The average hit $146,000 last year, when ELDI sold a house for $315,000.
For the past seven years, ELDI has been buying abandoned, vacant and liened properties. The portfolio now totals $10 million and accounts for almost 15 percent of the neighborhood's parcels. Payment of liens alone has East Liberty looking more like Shadyside than its neighbors to the east and west on a demographic map.
So what's next on the list? The agency's target area for renovating and selling homes is East Liberty's historic core ..... Between Penn Circle and Stanton Avenue and Negley and Highland Avenues. Last week, city and agency officials cut a ribbon at the Boulevard Apartments, a new six-unit building on East Liberty Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. It is solid brick, has hardwood floors, balconies with hand-crafted iron work and energy efficiency that exceeds Energy Star standards. The agency is also working with developers to turn three existing buildings into market-rate apartments. They include the Highland Building and former YMCA, both in the business district.
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