A high-profile corner in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood could soon be home to a major new mixed-use development.
Tentatively called Forward Square, the 150,000-square-foot project would encompass properties lining Forward and Murray Aves., where Squirrel Hill meets the Parkway.
With a price tag between $40 and 50 million, the nine-story project would feature a six-story, 130-room hotel, 20 for-sale condos and 9,000 square feet of retail. Ranging in size from 700 to 1,400 square feet, condos would sell for approximately $350,000.
Project developer
Cambridge Venture Partners is currently under agreement to purchase the properties—which would be demolished to make way for new construction—from Alderson-Forward. Project parking will include 20 on-site spaces, 52 spaces at corner of Murray and Forward, and a112-space valet lot.
“We look at this as being a great catalyst for other investment dollars, to have something there that’s really a striking monument to the city. It's a great entrance to Squirrel Hill,” says Tom Chunchick with Springdale-based
R.E. Crawford Construction, the project contractor. “We’re trying to work on a sustainable basis.”
Renaissance 3 is currently designing project renderings, which Chunchick expects to be ready within two weeks. A community meeting about Forward Square is set for Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. at the
Jewish Community Center. Then the project will go before the city’s
Zoning Board of Adjustment on Aug. 7.
Chunchick—who is unaware of a project of this magnitude in Squirrel Hill since the 1980s—says the development team has had positive meetings with Councilman Doug Shields and Steve Hawkins, president of the
Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition.
Writer:
Jennifer BaronSource: Tom Chunchick, R.E. Crawford Construction