It's difficult to pinpoint the precise moment when a depressed historic main street begins winning the battle for revitalization. The process tends to be gradual and organic, starting with a few properties and spreading bit by bit.
That's how the business districts in Lawrenceville and the South Side made their comebacks, and that's how the Homestead business corridor that once bordered the famed U.S. Steel Homestead Works is trying to turn its own corner.
The main street of Eighth Avenue continues to suffer from blight -- run-down buildings, empty storefronts, boarded-up windows and "For Sale" signs.
But with some government-financed help and a growing list of projects recently completed or under way, the goal of re-creating a thriving center is getting closer. This is especially true in the 200 block of Eighth and Seventh avenues, where nine buildings have been rehabilitated or will be soon. Most have retail space on street level and living quarters on top.
Owners say every new apartment has rented quickly. New businesses include Urban Design Venture, Retro on 8th and the Blue Dust bar and restaurant around the corner on Amity Street. The Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority is helping with facade and streetscape improvements.
Builder Joe Ranii has just about finished renovating the former Walton Hotel on Eighth into lofts and retail space; he expects to open an architectural salvage storefront on Seventh in the next few months. Annex Cookery will open in about five weeks in one of the Eighth Avenue buildings rehabbed by Judith Tener and her husband, David Lewis, the pioneering save-the-cities architect and urban designer who played a major role in getting Homestead designated a national historic district.
A new Homestead Borough building and police station will be going up in the 200 block of Seventh. Right next door is the $4.7 million renovation of the old Homestead Bakery into lofts and retail space, spearheaded by Pittsburgh Steeler Charlie Batch and backed by public-private financing. The project is at least a year behind schedule, but major work should begin within 60 days, according to Bob Hurley, deputy director of economic development for Allegheny County.
It's all part of a decades-long effort to bring the business district back to vibrancy, Mr. Lewis said. In his view, the activity so far presents an opening for other far-thinking buyers to throw in their lot.
"Real estate opportunity lies in the negative," he said. "Turning the negative into a positive is what makes real estate an exciting venture."
Added Mr. Ranii, "I was involved in the South Side in the old days, and I see a lot of similarities to what's happening in Homestead. But this could take off even faster because of all the committees we have going to help the revitalization."
There is no shortage of available property. Some of what's currently on the market:• 108 E. Eighth Ave., vacant lot, $69,000. Phil Marcus, 412-241-4200 ext. 154.
• 224 E. Eighth Ave,, the former Karma restaurant, two-story building with full basement, side lot and some furnishings, $240,000. Doug Burig at Keller Williams, 724-941-8811.
• 228-230 E. Eighth Ave., three-story building with two storefronts, $185,000 (reduced from $250,000), Ron King, 412-621-4685.
• 237 E. Eighth Ave., three-story building, former Vietnam-Bido Cafe at street-level, $129,900 (dropped from $149,000). Harry J. Ford at Equity Real Estate, 412-537-5310.
• 239 E. Eighth Ave., 2 1/2-story building, former TV repair shop, best offer. George Vedro, 724-622-9500.
• 406 E. Eighth Ave., two stories, former after-hours club with apartments upstairs, water damage from a line break, $45,000, Ron Cehelsky at Airport Realty, 724-947-4700.
• Side lot of 406 E. Eighth Ave., $4,000. Cortland Plichta at Nationwide Holdings in Atlanta, 678-564-3899.
• 521 E. Eighth Ave., three-story corner building with turret, formerly a street-level bar with hotel/boarding house above, $125,000. Martin Reed at Northwood Realty, 412-885-8530.
• 142 Sixth Ave. at the corner of Amity Street, paved lot, $399,000. Ron Cehelsky at Airport Realty, 724-947-4700.
This last property highlights the deep split between the Homestead business district and the Waterfront, a development of big box stores and national chains two blocks away, on the former site of the Homestead Works.
The Sixth Avenue property is separated from the Waterfront only by railroad tracks, and Amity Street feeds into the development. Most Waterfront shoppers pass the spot, hence the asking price nearly six times as high as the vacant lot a few blocks away on Eighth. Whether it will move at that price is another story.
"You don't see a positive effect from the Waterfront on Eighth Avenue yet," said Mr. Reed of Northwood Realty. "In my opinion, corporate America staked a claim below the tracks with no intention of including the area above the tracks. It was like, 'We'll create our own little town with nothing to do with anyone else.'
"A lot of people over-speculated. They thought their properties would be worth a lot more and were asking way too much money. But most savvy business interests agreed that any positive effect would be 10 or 15 years down the road."
Some locals consider the Waterfront a direct cause of Eighth Avenue's demise.
"It's nice over there, but they closed a heck of a lot of businesses down," said Pat Lewis (no relation to David), who runs an addiction recovery group in a former book store at 410 E. Eighth Ave.
But Stanley Levine, co-owner of the 75-year-old Levine Brothers Hardware at 337 E. Eighth Ave., doesn't see it that way, even though his business these days does only service work and repairs.
"The Waterfront may have been the culminating blow, but it wasn't the only thing that did Homestead in," said Mr. Levine, 80. "The demise of steel in the early 1980s was first. Then the aging of a lot of merchants who retired one after another, leaving vacancies and empty store rooms that fell into disrepair.
"Even after the Waterfront opened we continued to do OK, although business declined as we lost neighbors and other stores on the avenue. Then the Lowe's [home improvement center] opened. I still argue we could have survived [as a full-service hardware store] if the other things hadn't happened."
Mr. Lewis believes some of the shoppers the Waterfront attracts can be captured by revitalization.
"There's no reason for them to come to us until we give them a reason," he said. "That's what we're trying to do.
"We think that if we can create a viable destination in the 200 block, the 100 and 300 blocks will follow. It's a great opportunity for somebody with vision. We've been at this now for six years, and we're not stopping."
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
