Downtown condo tour taking a more modest approach
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In a concession to the times, luxury's out, spartan's in when more than 150 people gather today for the annual walk and dine tour Downtown.
Gone, for the most part, will be visits to high-end condo projects such as Piatt Place, the Carlyle, and 151 First Side. Instead, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership plans to highlight apartment units that rent as low as $500 a month and condos that sell for as little as $44,900 as part of the offerings.
A recession tour, perhaps?
"I don't know if I would put it that way," said Hollie Geitner, the partnership's spokeswoman. "But a lot of people are using [the recession] as a marketing tool."
That's not to say the sixth annual event will be for penny-pinchers only. After all, one of the stops will be the new Three PNC Plaza building, where condos start at $514,500 and climb as high as $2.5 million to $3 million for an entire floor -- not exactly bargain basement.
Still, the partnership, in crafting this year's tour, sought to showcase "the variety of price points" available Downtown to buyers and renters.
"Given the economy, we're hearing more and more from people who are interested in living Downtown but who say 'I can't afford to.' The goal is to show people there are a lot of options you can afford," Ms. Geitner said.
Along those lines, one stop will be the 60-unit Century Building on Seventh Street, where one-bedroom apartments will range from $534 to $1,250 a month and two-bedrooms from $1,250 to $1,475 a month.
Another stop will be the converted G.C. Murphy store in Market Square, where 46 apartments will rent from $700 to $2,500 a month. Also getting a look will be the Washington Plaza apartments, which run from $839 to $1,700 a month.
Besides Three PNC Plaza, two other condo buildings will be on the agenda, the Tower at Chatham Center, where studios go for as low as $44,900, and the Keystone Lofts on Liberty Avenue, with units starting at $200,000.
By spotlighting more affordable units, the partnership hopes to show potential buyers that living Downtown "is more within their reach" than they realized, Ms. Geitner said. "I think it will be eye-opening for a lot of people."
Perhaps the irony is that because of some of the factors that led the partnership to target more affordable properties, fewer people might see them. The past few years, the guided tour, spurred in part by curiosity over the luxury developments Downtown, drew big crowds, with sellouts in 2006 and 2007 and a near sellout last year.
But this year's event, which costs $60 and includes food and beverages from Downtown restaurants at each stop, was only about half way to its 300-person maximum as of yesterday. At least another 15 people signed up for the $150 VIP tour.
Ms. Geitner said one factor in the lower interest so far could be that people simply have less money to spend, given the economy and battered 401(k) plans.
She also noted that some might not consider the apartment and condo visits today to be "as glamorous" as the stops in years past, adding that those who invest the money in the tour will be "pleasantly surprised."
"I would say we hoped for more. That's for sure," she said. "But I think given the economy, we're pretty happy. Generally the folks who come on the tour are pretty interested in Downtown living."
The partnership also is hoping for a lot of last-minute sign-ups. The tour comes on the heels of a partnership study released last week that showed Downtown living appeals to single residents and those under 40. It also found 34 percent of those living Downtown earn more than $100,000 a year, compared to 9 percent in the city as a whole.
First Published May 20, 2009 12:00 am
