Trib: Mt. Lebanon T station development could be 'big'

Developers could create prime real estate in Mt. Lebanon's Uptown business district out of thin air, if engineers' concepts for a deck above the Port Authority light-rail line come to fruition.

Under a contract with the municipality, engineers from Los Angeles-based AECOM have been studying how to utilize air rights Mt. Lebanon owns above the rails, perhaps by building on a deck that would cover the tracks. Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority purchased the air rights from the Port Authority in the 1980s. The rights passed to the municipality when it absorbed the Parking Authority last year.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_780613.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Trib: Tuesday Takes

The following blurb appeared in the Tuesday, January 4, 2011 Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Say what?: Mt. Lebanon is holding out the carrot of public money to help develop space above its primary trolley stop. Here's a better idea: Let some private developer privately develop a different site -- that prime parcel at the corner of Washington and Bower Hill roads that the municipal government has held for far too long with far too many promises of taxpayer assistance to would-be developers.

Read the full article:

• www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_716152.html (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)

Avalon Exchange Coming to Mt. Lebanon

After 20 successful years in city neighborhoods, Avalon Exchange is entering a new market. In August, the independent boutique—which specializes in gently worn clothing and contemporary fashions—will expand its Pittsburgh presence with a new store at 680 Washington Rd., along Mt. Lebanon’s commercial district.

Owner Stewart McLean hopes the 3,000-square-foot shop—Avalon’s largest digs to date—will draw patrons from throughout the South Hills. “It’s the only other place in Pittsburgh that makes sense for us,” says McLean, who would love to see a record store and ice cream shop open along Washington Rd., where approximately 20,000 cars pass daily “It’s a main business corridor.”

Link: www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/avaln0618.aspx

Link 2: www.avalonexchange.com

Mt. Lebanon Community In Market For Gourmet Grocer

Mt. Lebanon residents might not have to go very far much longer to buy their crimini mushrooms, Soba noodles or apricot mango cheesecake.

A task force created in January by the Economic Development Council of Mt. Lebanon is exploring the feasibility of luring a gourmet grocer to the business district along Washington Road.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/southwest/s_572198.html

Grant Will Help Polish Mt. Lebanon's Business District

Mt. Lebanon Commissioner John Daley enjoys that his city can pride itself on being a walking community with an attractive business district that has restaurants, specialty shops and medical offices.

"It's not just a strip mall or a shopping mall, where you park in a big lot and do what you have to do and take off," Daley said.

The shopping thoroughfare along Washington Road is charming to visitors, and community leaders hope to keep it that way after receiving $341,809 from the state to spruce up the business district's overall appearance.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_565116.html

Rep. Smith Secures $350K for Washington Road Business District

From an email received from State Representative Matt Smith's office:

I'm pleased to inform you that Mt. Lebanon's Washington Road business district will soon be seeing further enhancements to its streetscapes,making it an even more inviting location for new economic development.

On Monday, I'll present the Mt. Lebanon commissioners with $341,809 I secured from the state for new signs and banners, refinished lamps and traffic signal poles, repaired sidewalks, and new parking meters, as well as new water lines for sidewalk cleaning and flower boxes.

This funding will build on previous enhancements in the business district to help drive further economic development. It's a continuation of my efforts to spur transit-oriented economic development here.

Lebo Business Districts to Get Facelift

From the Pittsburgh Business Times:

A group of Mount Lebanon community leaders are working on a "visioning plan" that they believe will help revitalize their already thriving business district.

The borough's Economic Development Task Force, which meets biweekly and is composed of school board members, an architect, marketing professionals, small business owners and experts in a variety of fields, is concerned mainly with the Washington Road central business district, and also the Beverly Road and Castle Shannon Road business districts. The idea is to develop and grow the commercial districts by bringing in new businesses and new people, said Dan Woodske, commercial districts manager for Mount Lebanon and a member of the task force.

"The plan will give us a purpose on which we should be focusing for our business districts," he said. "We're working on defining the goals that we want to achieve."

One of the short-term goals for the central business district soon to be met is a facelift. The borough will be receiving a matching $341,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for street and façade improvements in the Washington Road and Beverly Road business districts. Just $25,000 of the total is available for façade improvements for businesses, but sidewalks, planters and other street features, such as light-pole banners, will be upgraded.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/04/21/focus9.html?b=1208750400%5E1621648

New Development Coming To Former Ground Round Site

Plans for a 8,012-square-foot retail complex at the site of the Ground Round restaurant received preliminary approval from the Mt. Lebanon planning board Tuesday night. Family Christian Bookstore has committed to the largest unit, taking approximately half of the space in what will be a single-story building on the site.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/08024/851623-55.stm

Bellevue Update

I've posted here before about the growing hipster quotient in Bellevue: Why Can't Mt. Lebanon Be More Like Bellevue?

The Mt. Lebanon residents who put out Pop City got the message. Check out today's Pop City feature, The Business Boomlet in Bellevue.

Onorato Touts Light-Rail Development To House

Mixed-use development along the Port Authority's light-rail system in the South Hills is the future of transit-oriented projects in the region, Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said Thursday in testimony before the state House Majority Policy Committee.

"The idea behind these developments is we want to bring residential and commercial (uses) to where transit already is," he said. Onorato cited proposed development near a Castle Shannon park-and-ride as the ideal model: 60 apartment units, 65,000 square feet of retail space and a parking deck for Port Authority commuters.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_535860.html

Rep. Smith To Host Hearing on Transit-Oriented Economic Development

From an email received this morning from Rep. Smith's office:

Please join me and my colleagues on the Majority Policy Committee at a hearing on transit-oriented economic development from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1 at the Mt. Lebanon Municipal Building , Commissioner's Room, 710 Washington Road in Mt. Lebanon.

The hearing will focus on the South Hills Transit Investment District, the status of a commissioned study that was made possible by a Transit Revitalization Investment District grant from Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, future plans for areas surrounding our area's light rail transit stations, and economic projections. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato is scheduled to testify at 1 p.m.

This is meeting is open to the public. If you have questions, please contact me in my constituent service office at (412) 571-2169 .

Beehive NeedleArts on Pop City

New Lebo business Beehive NeedleArts has been featured on Pop City this week as a new business on Washington Road. Congrats on the exposure!

Link: www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/mtlebanon1010.aspx

Sale Of Land OK'd For Long-Stay Hotel

Coming soon to Mt. Lebanon: more room at the inn. Commissioners last week agreed to approve the sale of a 12,600-square-foot parcel of land on Washington Road where its intended buyer -- Kratsa Properties, of Harmar -- had proposed building an upscale, long-stay business hotel.

"Kratsa is a quality, highly experienced builder," said Stephen Feller, Mt. Lebanon municipal manager.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07263/818915-55.stm

New Lebo Business Mentoring Group

In a comment on this recent post about Hidden Mt. Lebanon, one person suggested that when it comes to the prospect of change in Mt. Lebanon, I was long on rhetoric and short on specifics.

Here's something concrete that I support: A new Business Mentoring Group has been established in Mt. Lebanon as part of its Economic Development programming. From the website:

Entrepreneurs with knowledge-based businesses are particularly welcome here. A business mentoring roundtable, comprised of CEO’s and founders of prominent local companies such as Vocollect, CEI, and CEO Ally, Inc., advises new and expanding businesses on all aspects of business planning including marketing strategies, operations, and access to capital.

The business mentoring roundtable meets monthly and sessions are scheduled by appointment only. Presenters must submit in advance a written executive summary of the business plan, and be prepared to make a fifteen-minute presentation on the plan elements. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. Following the discussion, a member of the group will coordinate the group’s responses and reactions to the presentation and communicate back to the entrepreneur.

Here's the site, with a list of the members of the roundtable. I'm not a CEO or a company founder, but I've been invited to join the group. The next meeting is September 25.

Commissioners Approve Land Sale For Hotel

Mt. Lebanon commissioners last night approved the sale of a 12,600-square-foot property along Washington Road for a hotel development.

The property, located adjacent to the Howard Hanna building, has been the subject of various development possibilities over the past five years. The proposed buyer, Harmar-based Kratsa Properties, intends to use the land for a nationally franchised hotel.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07254/816414-55.stm

Link 2: www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/pittsburghhotel0912.aspx

New Hotel for Lebo?

How did we miss this? From the August 2 Post-Gazette:

Authority, hotel ready to sign deal

A developer with more than a dozen national chain hotels in the area is planning to build an all-suite hotel on Washington Road on land currently owned by the Mt. Lebanon Parking Authority.

Kratsa Properties, based in Harmar, plans a 98-room, seven-story hotel on what is called "Parcel A" on Washington Road. The land is now a metered parking lot.

The best news? "The developer is not asking for any tax assistance for the $10 million to $12 million project, Mr. Kratsa said. The project will put the parcel back on the tax rolls."



Link

Bower Hill Road Walgreens Is Moving Forward

Officials at Walgreen's site show little concern over parking distance

Another issue has been brought up concerning the proposed Walgreens drugstore at Bower Hill Road and North Wren Drive, but Scott officials appear not to be overly concerned about it.

Link: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07214/806100-55.stm

Transit Stations' Futures Being Plotted

Despite the lack of glitter and glamour associated with planning transit-oriented development, dozens of people turned out for several meetings on the topic in Mt. Lebanon last Thursday.

The three meetings united a team of planners working on potential development in what is being called the South Hills Transit Investment District. Dormont and Mt. Lebanon are spending $200,000, including state grant money, on a study to investigate what kind of development mix would be desirable and feasible for the 1/2-mile area around each of three important light rail transit stations: Dormont Junction, Mt. Lebanon and Potomac.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/07200/802660-55.stm

Officials To Listen To T-Station Area Ideas

Residents of Dormont and Mt. Lebanon will get a chance this week to put themselves on the forefront of what urban planners call a national trend in transportation planning.

Allegheny County and municipal officials will listen Thursday to suggestions for enhancing neighborhoods around Port Authority light-rail T stations. The meeting is the first step in what officials hope will transform the T-station areas into community hubs.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_516335.html

Association Aims To Boost Castle Shannon Boulevard Business

Take a walk along Mt. Lebanon's Castle Shannon Boulevard between Pennsylvania Boulevard and the Shop 'n Save and you might be one of the few people out there.

Lots of vehicles pass by -- about 18,000, according to a 2002 study by PBS&J, a civil engineering firm with offices in Coraopolis and Canonsburg. But not too many who drive them stop and shop at the 45 or so establishments located on the one-mile stretch of road.

"People forget we are a business community down here," said Cassie Gillen, 37, who owns Josephine Florals Furnishing Finds at 190 Castle Shannon Blvd.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_515642.html