Residential conversion of the Strip continues with two new apartment projects…and maybe more

Pittsburgh Business Times – Tim Schooley

After successfully selling out a 27-unit condo project on Smallman Street, Hullett Properties is ready to push forward with a 179-unit apartment project a short walk away at 50 26th St.

After an affiliate of the firm bought the mature industrial building early this year for $6.15 million, Hullett’s development team is scheduled to present a multifamily redevelopment for the 48,000-square-foot site to the Pittsburgh Planning Commission at its upcoming meeting next Tuesday, according to agenda materials.

It’s a property that increasingly stands out as an aging brick warehouse amid Oxford Development Co.’s 3 Crossings mixed-use project on the other side of Railroad Street.

Brett Walsh, a principal for Hullett, offered only limited comment in an email in advance of the briefing before the planning commission next week. But he added the firm is also considering some green initiatives for the project that could include solar power generation, electric car outlets an an aviary on the roof.

He expects to be able to say more as the project advances.

But Hullett’s website calls for a project that will be an “amenity rich offering featuring a pool, coworking lounge and retail.”

Agenda materials indicate the project will seek approvals for a site within the city’s RIV, or the Riverfront Industrial Mixed Use Sub-District, proposing a two-building plan to reach 90 feet in height; the proposal seeks to achieve an additional 20 feet of height by earning bonus points for exceeding city standards for rainwater capture as well as for designing the structure parking so it can be converted for nonparking uses.

Agenda materials by Strip District-based Indovina Associates Architects also indicate Hullett proposes to include 18 units that will meet standards of affordability, along with a few accessible units.