Pittsburgh Greenhouse

I met with a builder this morning (Dennis "Buckeye" Walton), he seems optimistic about the project but just as confused about financing sources as I am.

His next two steps:

- Obtain accurate architectural drafting and field measuring 
- Obtain initial financing

The problem, again, is that an accurate financing requirement cannot be developed without a limited amount of preliminary financing for:

- Demolition
- Architectural Drafting/Field Measuring
- Hazardous Waste Removal
- Roof Replacement
- Structural reinforcement

Still talking to varies parties. I was finally able to recover the files off of my GNU/Linux desktop (XFS File System on the old Veloceraptor SATA drive), so I'm back in the thick of it. Matt Cozza and Dennis Walton have offered to look at the property. I can find a general contractor, I can find an architect. But the big question is this: Do I ask a for financing for simply 1) A new roof 2) building security 3) limited demolition; or Do I wait and submit a full construction plan?

After writing a handwritten letter to the owner of 329 Hancock St., I got a response back. The owner is interested in selling the property!

Time to investigate the possibility of getting financing up and running again. ~BAS

Rumors are circulating that 329 Hancock may be up for sale, so I visited with a PNC Mortgage rep in Squirell Hill this morning. Got my details out onto the cloud.

We crunched a traditional FHA loan at 100K as feasible given income, debt-to-asset ratio, etc. Pretty awful outlook for me; gotta keep paying down credit cards & saving cash.

Take Note: PNC won't even sell you a native PNC product unless you have, in saving, 10% of the mortgage principal in cash, in addition to the closing costs.

The City/URA have begun to sell lots through a new program and new address outside of the normal channels. http://www.buyintheburgh.com/ lists the properties by ward; examine Ward 6. This week, I will reach out to PNC about new construction loans, and/or property acquisition loans (to avoid property buy up by slum lords, etc.). A quick cost/benefit analysis of the properties is discouraging, based on the industry standard $125/sqft infill construction costs.

Two quick notes: I'm helping Polish Hill and the City of Pittsburgh apply for grant funding through the US Fed HUD's "NSP2", or Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2. The funding can be used for neighborhood groups to purchase and develop residential property, or pay for part of a mixed use project. I'm also working with SCA members on Polish Hill to develop a new urban garden on the property adjacent to the Blue Dog Apartments. http://digitalfreaks.org/~lavalamp/output.avi for a time lapse photography analysis of cloud coverage on the lot.

All hope is not lost; I am still working with Terry Doloughty and the PHCA Housing Committee to utilize the VPWG Land Bank Process.

Having been sold for nearly 6 months, 329 Hancock St still sits untouched with no active building permits. The new property owner has not paid the taxes, secured the facility, or applied to BBI for building permits.

LeDonne Construction of Pittsburgh's North Hills

The new target properties for my project will be mixed-use commercial/residential, so a shadow corporation and a business loan instead of a mortgage will be required.

Another Polish Hill property under consideration for redevelopment was sold at the 3TB/City/County Sheriff Sale. Terry believes that it may have fallen to a Section 8 landlord. The building(s) were tentatively slated to go to a local resident and re-developer/contractor friendly to PHCA.

Unfortunately, in addition to potentially becoming a section 8 property on the main business district, this also abolishes any such hope of converting the property back to mixed user commercial/residential.

PHCA has some plans in motion to potentially counteract this move.

Thanks to Terry Doloughty, PHCA, the PCRG VPWG, the URA, and the City Finance Dept. After 4-5 weeks of inquiry, the discovery process for the new owner turned up a name: Ledonne Construction. They bought two properts at the September sherif sale: 329 Hanock and 3212 Downing St. Google Maps puts them on Route 19 in the North Hills / Perrysville area (near where I grew up in Ingomar, PA). They are on LinkedIn.com but outside of my network. PCRG/URA was nice enough to query the entire county for properties owned by this group: several properties in Lawrenceville and Penn-Main.

I'll drink to that. More details in the AM. http://www.pahouse.com/pr/042111208.asp