Broadhead Manor is ready for rebirth, but exactly as what?
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The remains of the closed public housing complex Broadhead Manor off Mazette Road.
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The dead-quiet remains of Broadhead Manor stand in eight boarded-up rows submerged in scraggly overgrowth. A ghost of public housing past in Fairywood, the entire 20-plus acre site will soon be in the hands of the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
A recent acquisition of 9.44 acres for $350,000 from the Pittsburgh Housing Authority will complete the URA's site control and open the field for new use.
The URA board recently voted to approve the purchase agreement and awaits the expected approval of the Housing Authority board and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A request will then be issued for potential developers to submit proposals.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl praised the inter-authority cooperation and said the purchase is "a great opportunity for economic development in the West End."
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, treasurer of the URA's board, said light industrial development may be the "highest and best use."
"There is a limited number of sites like that near the interstate," said Rob Stephany, executive director of the URA. "The site is surrounded on three sides by large-scale industrial use, and I think the western neighborhoods need a jobs component. It's bedroom community after bedroom community out there, and I think to stay focused on bringing jobs is a good thing. But we have to be thoughtful about how warehousing or flex offices meet the neighborhood."
Residents want a say about the future of the place that was a magnet of controversy for years, and the developers who transformed the former Westgate Village nearby into market-rate townhouses is interested in a portion for housing.
From a high of 364 units, Broadhead Manor had dropped to 250 families in 1996, when then-Housing Authority director Stanley Lowe proposed closing it for demolition. That caused a near riot at a community meeting. The complex had been plagued by vacancy, vandalism and crime, although people who wanted to stay said crime was no worse than in any other public housing site.
All but 64 units were razed in 1998. In 2004, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, Chartiers Creek flooded and the 47 families that remained had to be evacuated. The buildings have been vacant since.
First Published February 19, 2011 12:00 am
