Route 51 corridor to be developed
Photo by Brady Wolfe
The Route 51 corridor will see a few changes in the next couple of months, with several infamous properties getting renovated, developed or sold.
The late Andrew Levitske's children, Linda Dunlap and Drew Levitske, have made and are developing plans to redevelop, lease or sell every property the family owns.
Dunlap and Levitske took control of the properties in 2006 and are working to overcome their father's gruff reputation.
"We want to put it behind us and implement our vision, rather dwelling on the past."
Yellow rental signs have been hanging on the empty storefronts for years, while the buildings fell into further disrepair. Officials often blamed the blighted properties for the corridor's lack of business.
"Less than half are leased right now, but we are in discussions with several people and are hoping to bring in more," Dunlap said.
Heads turned last November, when Linda and Drew joined two of the area's business groups, the Brentwood Business Owners Association and the Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Chamber of Commerce.
Levitske and Dunlap are working with four realtors to attract businesses and sell properties.
"We have plans to utilize all of our properties and have them all occupied as soon as we can," Levitske said. "It can only be good for everybody to move ahead."
The first development plans include a bank, an Applebee's family eatery and drive-in restaurant Sonic, at the corner of Greenlee Road and Route 51 in Brentwood, where Levitske's office building currently stands.
The family has owned the properties since the 1950s, Levitske said, spanning 30 lots from the city of Pittsburgh through Whitehall.
Brentwood Mayor Ken Lockhart said the Levitske family's new approach is the first step to revitalizing the Route 51 corridor.
"It's definitely a positive approach for the area if they're going to start moving properties and bringing in businesses," Lockhart said.
Economic Development South president John Slater said the new life being breathed into the Levitske properties could potentially bring other businesses into the area.
"Now that a lot of their properties are going to be used and usable, it will signify to other property owners there is more of a future there," Slater said.
Economic Development South hired Urban Design Ventures, a firm of community planning consultants, to do a comprehensive study of how to attract new business.
Haglund has been studying the Route 51 for about a year, saying the strip of vacant storefronts present a poor area, reflecting directly on Brentwood, Baldwin and Whitehall.
The Levitske properties are the spine of the South Hills region, Haglund said. Their development is crucial to the region.
Slater said the right mix of businesses could help sustain the area for several years.
"I hope they consider the overall mix of businesses going in that will still be viable 15 or 20 years down the road, which is what we are asking the urban planner to suggest," Slater said. "An efficient and effective mix of businesses will serve residents as things change over the years."
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I'm psyched to see that functional bulldozers will be hitting Route 51 rather than rotting in one of the junk-strewn parking lots. One would think that the Levitske family had national landmark status tagged onto all of those hideous structures. What an embarrassment to the city. I just moved back to this area from Philadelphia and that stretch of Pittsburgh gateway exemplifies what folks envision the entire Pittsburgh area to look like. Sadly enough, though not to such an extreme, most of the South Hills is in need of a facelift as well.
Retail areas like South Park Road, Banksville Road, West Liberty Avenue, Kirwan Heights, Library Road etc. all share that same stale, dated look- older, but cold and lacking any charm. With that look comes drab storefronts, dying strip malls, bland restaurants, dive bars, and traffic patterns as outdated as the slowpoke old yuinzer in the tan Buick that seems to appear in front of me every time I get behind the wheel. (I swear the Pittsburgh area keeps that automaker in business.) I never thought I'd be driving down the road and have the words "Is that a fallout shelter or a deli?" come out of my mouth.
The problems we now face are products of a prosperous era- families moved from the dirty city and built modest but nice homes in the post WWII time period. Kids were raised and communities were born. No one could have never imagined the traffic flows of today and the terrain doesn't make widening roads any easier. 1950's and 60's era architecture is generally thought of as depressing and it just happens to dominate the landscape of this region. I work with schools- colleges looking to spruce up their campus image can't tear down or modify these types of buildings fast enough to stay competitive. It can't happen overnight, but little things here and there can help the South Hills stay competitive in western PA. I guess what I'm saying is that a fresh perspective is badly needed and I hope decision makers and developers possess an open mind. My wife and I are in our early 30's- too young and too childless to have any business living in a suburb like Bethel Park so maybe our opinions are off the mark relative to others living here with us. If I had a real estate crystal ball a few years back, we would have rented another year and more properties in the South Side, Shadyside, etc. would have dropped into our range and I'd never be writing this response.
Top school districts like Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon help the cause, but what worries me is that folks that live in this area have been here so long that they don't realize just how important an area's curb appeal is these days. It's tough to say that Caste Village is an dated eyesore when you remember the grand opening... I see a Whole Foods, maybe even a Target, a Thai or Indian restaurant and a parking deck, etc. Maybe even an added turn lane or a jughandle to keep traffic moving. Anything modern. Cost aside for the moment, does anybody else recognize the need for a few facelifts around here?
Keep us updated on the 51 progress. Hopefully one day it will stand as a model for other blighted southern Pittsburgh corridors.
Now about converting McMurray Road into a 4-lane highway to I-79... ;)
I too would like to see improvements made through out the South Hills, especially the rte 51 corridor. It is an eyesore and that is being nice. As for Caste Village, there are rumors circulating that the south end (from the old bakery to the gfas station) will be torn down to make way for another Rite Aid. Just what we need another Rite Aid. What I envision for Caste is a total transformation just like Brentwood Towne Center.
My first move would be to end Grove Road at Village Lane thus eliminating the interestion at grove and baptist. Then rebuild Giant Eagle to parallel bapitist road. More planning would need to be done but creative people / developers can make that a better commercial district than it already is.