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Saturday, December 14, 2002

By Gretchen McKay

Eve Picker had nothing more than a pleasant evening of Shakespeare in mind when she attended the opening night of Quantum Theatre's "The Merchant of Venice" in August 1999. Instead, she got inspiration for her next big project.

	The Brake House Lofts have exposed brick walls, polished concrete floors and large industrial-style windows. (Tony Tye, Post-Gazette)

The play was being staged at the former Kerotest Manufacturing building in the Strip District, an abandoned factory that Picker, president of no wall productions inc., had always admired. But it wasn't until Picker, who specializes in adaptive reuse of old buildings, spent a few hours inside the grimy four-story brick structure that she realized the building's potential.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority, which had purchased the turn-of-the-century building several years earlier, was hoping to sell it to a high-tech business. Picker had a better idea. Drinking in its oversized windows and beautiful pine support beams and columns, "I thought, 'What a great space for lofts,' " she recalls.

It helped that the 30,000-square-foot industrial building at 25th Street and Liberty Avenue was also within easy walking distance of the Strip's many ethnic food retailers, restaurants and nightclubs. Plus, loft living was just starting to take off in the city.

It took Picker almost two years to convince the URA to sell her and renovation partner Murray Rust the building for $142,000. Last month, after a yearlong, $2.5 million renovation, the Brake House Lofts opened as one of the city's more distinctive rental properties and the first loft rental project in the Strip.

The building -- named for former tenant Westinghouse Air Brake Co. -- combines the historic character of a turn-of-the-20th-century building with amenities more suited to the 21st century. In addition to 9- to 15-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls and polished concrete floors, the 18 apartments feature exposed duct work and large industrial-style windows. Instead of dry wall or plaster, the ceilings are simply the original beams of thick pine that have been sandblasted clean.

Not all of the spaces in the lofts are wide open. Dividers allow for private spaces also. (Tony Tye, Post-Gazette)

Movable, corrugated plastic dividers between the rooms provide some privacy in the open floor plan but still allow in light. The kitchen area is completely open with stainless steel appliances, a center island with cooktop and birch cabinets with frosted-glass doors. Visitors enter via vivid purple-painted hallways.

The lofts come in six different floor plans and include one or two bedrooms and one or two baths. They range in size from about 727 square feet to 1,561 square feet and rent between $825 and $2,200 a month.

Given their prime location and funky urban design, the lofts should appeal to both young professionals looking for something different and empty-nesters committed to city living, says Picker. But you'd better sign up fast. Already, 12 of the 18 units have rented, including the building's three two-bedroom corner units.

One of the first tenants to sign on was Meryl Macklin, a 44-year-old lawyer with Cohen & Grigsby who moved in about three weeks ago. When she first saw the lofts this spring,they were very much under construction. Walls had been framed in, so she could see how the space would be blocked out. But that was about it.

Still, Macklin -- a transplanted Californian who at the time made her home in The Pennsylvanian on Liberty Avenue -- could tell it was something special.

"The minute I saw it, I knew I wanted to live there," she says. "There was this great openness, a real industrial feel."

Her two-bedroom, two-bathroom loft is one of the largest units and boasts a view of both the city skyline and Smallman Street through the living room windows. The home has its own integrated laundry/utility room; the other five units on the floor share a common laundry room.

The building's first floor features original tin ceilings and serves as an entry lobby and for an additional $100 a month, an indoor parking garage. Parking in a lot across the street is free. The giant bike rack was crafted by Iron Eden Studios in Bloomfield from recycled gears and wheels found in the building.

The project was done in collaboration with EDGE studio, architects for the award-winning Strip Lofts condominium project on Smallman Street, and Montgomery and Rust Inc., partners in the Summerset at Frick Park and Washington's Landing housing projects. Funding was provided by Dollar Bank, which kicked in more than $1.5 million, the Urban Redevelopment Corp. and historic tax credits.

This is the fourth loft development for Picker, who won a City of Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission Award for her first project in 1997, the FirstSide Lofts at 492 First Ave. At the end of January, she will unveil yet another loft development, the three-unit 947 Liberty Ave., Downtown.

The Brake House Lofts are located at 2501 Liberty Ave., Strip District. For more information, call 412-456-0829 or visit http://www.nowall.com/.