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New building in Pittsburgh's Hill District to have shops, offices
Thursday, November 25, 1999 By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
The Hill District's economic revival moved ahead yesterday as city officials voted to sell land on Centre Avenue for a new building to contain stores and offices.
Developers Irvin and Janicee Williams said they've obtained nearly $2.8 million in financing to start construction of the three-story brick and glass structure, to be called One Hope Square.
"My wife named it," Irvin Williams said. "It's her desire to bring hope back into the neighborhood," which has seen population losses, building demolition and disinvestment for 30 years.
Work should start soon on the building, Williams said. It will be situated between the Hill House Association headquarters and the vacant New Granada theater and across the street from AUBA Triangle Shops, a small, 3-year-old shopping center owned by the Allegheny Union Baptist Association.
Williams said he hoped to have the building completed by September. It will have nine shops on the street level and offices, including one for his own firm, Ebony Development Co., on the upper two floors.
The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority is selling Williams the land for $16,000. The site will accommodate the 30,000-square-foot building, as well as parking for 52 cars.
The project "will increase the stability of the Centre Avenue business district, strengthening the city and neighborhood's economic base and creating a minimum of 75 permanent [jobs]," a URA report said.
Before the deal could be worked out, a dispute had to be settled with Hill House officials, who also wanted the land.
Hill House Director James Henry said the association wants a new building so it will have room to expand the social service programs that it provides. The group wanted to expand to the adjacent parcel because it already owns vacant buildings nearby, at Centre and Devilliers Street, and to keep all its operations on the same "campus."
URA Director Mulugetta Birru pledged to work with Hill House and with the Allegheny Union Baptist Association, which owns a vacant parcel across from Hill House at Centre and Heldman Street. Hill House may build on that land, which is adjacent to a site where a new Shop 'n Save grocery store is to be built.
Williams previously built Williams Square, a three-story office structure down the street from the Hill House. That building, which opened in 1997 and is fully rented, is next to Crawford Square, the complex of private and rental housing above the Civic Arena.
According to the URA and Williams, $1.5 million in financing for One Hope Square is from Dollar Bank, with another $389,000 from URA grants and loans. Other sources include $350,000 from a private group called the Strategic Investment Fund, $250,000 from the Hill Community Development Corp. and $279,000 in private equity from the Williamses.
Williams said he had to sign tenants in advance to get the financing. He has commitments from several merchants, including Karen Davis, a businesswoman who grew up in the Hill. She will have a store called Nubian Sisters, which Williams described as selling "Afro-centric arts and artifacts, things from the African culture."
Jim and Sandra Swoope will move their clothing shop, This and That Boutique, into the new building from its present location on Centre.
There will be a Christian-oriented coffee and sandwich shop, to be called Conversation Peace. Williams said it will give people a place to congregate other than bars and will feature Internet connections and light music.
The new building also will have offices for a family dentist, an insurance company, a certified public accountant, a lawyer and perhaps an office for state Rep. William Robinson, D-Hill District.
Williams said his goal is to provide many of the day-to-day services that other neighborhoods have had for a long time but which Hill residents must travel to other areas to find.
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