Pittsburgh Greenhouse

A great link from Life Hacker forwarded by my boss: "A wall-hanging plant holder makes growing plants in your cramped apartment a realistic endeavor"...more.

Since LEED for Homes grants a lot of points to indoor air quality measures, this is a must-have for Stage 1

Peppers anyone? Assorted varieties of bell and chilies pepper seedlings. The former will make great charitable gifts and the later great fund raiser items for you #20 lovers. Proceeds to benefit the PHCA and LGC

I've been baby-sitting these in the basement since January. I'm also working on some basil and the newest addition: Date Palms! There are plenty more where these came from -- just speak up.

I spoke with Bonnie Booth at Dollar Bank. She is onboard with the plan to purchase the property from the PHCA after they acquire it from the land bank / property reserve. This is great news -- now to wait for Tom Fallon to get back into the country.

Apologies for the delay in recent entries. I've been busy with accounting finals and making arrangements with the PHCA to initiate on 329 Hancock. It is looking like a very promising opportunity for Stage 1. The house is presently abandoned and vacant. There is a large back tax balance at Allegheny County and City(pdf - page #44).

With Bamboo/Cork to slide around on! The folks have been looking over some feral kitties. This one has acquired the same Brownie. If my stepfather is will (He's become quite attached) and if Brownie is up to the indoor life, maybe he can come be the master of the house. He'll probably need a bit of veterinary work (vaccinations, etc.)

The PHCA has a new/events blog called Blogski! Grandma Seklecki would be proud. Visit it at http://blogski.phcapgh.org/ or subscribe to the RSS Feed

Jim Primdahl is no longer with ECA. Ted Dillon is the new contact for LEED for Homes projects in PA – but as I understand it, there is a new coordinating agency for Southwestern PA – likely the GBAPGH. Ted wasn't sure because when I spoke with him, he had just been announced. We'll learn more in the next few days. Also a new other notes from my cold-call:

• Project submission is not dependent on a contingent sales agreement
• The fee to register the LEED project is $100->$125
• 501c3 organizations can have up to $100 waved from the project registration fee

After some recent discussion with ECA and URA, I've put together a draft time line of the URA+LEED Redevelopment Process, as I conceptualize it from start to finish. The list is in a vertical spreadsheet now, and doesn't visualize the overlapping steps quantitatively. However, I have included approximates on up-front cash costs. To review with Alexis and Terry.

Three Taxing Body City Purchase Program and Residential LERTA:

Act 42 abatements can reduce your Allegheny County property tax burden for up $85,000+ for a period up to three years after renovations to your property. It is simply a form that you fill out after you acquire your building permit. See the Page for more details. This is definite must for Stage 1