The plan to build the Glass Lofts in Garfield on Penn Avenue calls for two buildings joined by a bridge at the corner of North Fairmount Street.

The project has been put together by Friendship Development Associates, which has spent $600,000 on acquiring the 3.2-acre site and paying architects and engineers fees.

Arthur Lubetz, the architect for the buildings, said the bridge joining the two structures will create an open arcade so that people can easily get to the back parking lot from the front of the building. He said that view of the street from the parking lot will also make it seem less isolated and safer to park there.

The plan was before the Urban Redevelopment Authority last week, which held up the approval of $1.8 million worth of grants and loans until the meeting next month.

Friendship Development Associates has estimated the total cost of the buildings to be nearly $6.2 million, with the condominiums priced from $127,200 to $336,320. Mr. Lubetz said two of the units will be two stories high.

In addition to the housing, the buildings will have 3,200 square feet of space for a restaurant, 1,100 square feet of space for offices and four artist studios.

He said the neighborhood has been missing a restaurant at that location ever since the Eat'n Park closed.

Tom Cummings, director of housing at the URA, said in addition to the parking lot behind the building, there will be 12 interior parking spaces for residents.

Mr. Cummings said there are also seven homes in the neighborhood that are also being rehabilitated in a partnership between the Pittsburgh Housing Development Corp. and the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp.

That project, combined with the new Glass Lofts, garnered a $660,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The grant, for neighborhood revitalization, will be split between the two housing projects with $450,000 to be spent on the Glass Lofts and the rest on rehabilitating the homes.

Ernie Sota, who has the contract to build the Glass Lofts, said it will be a green building. For instance, the concrete of the buildings that are currently on the site will be ground up to be reused in the new building. Also, the roof will be white, so instead of adding to the heat island effect of the city during the summer, the sunlight will be reflected away, which will also save on cooling costs.