former odeon plan to become apartments

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From the Pittsburgh Business Times :http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/thenextmove/2014/04/former odeontheaterplantobecomeapartments.html Apr 4, 2014, 2:37pm EDT Updated: Apr 4, 2014, 5:49pm EDT Former Odeon theater plan to become apartments, retail in East Liberty Tim Schooley Reporter Pittsburgh Business Times Email | Twitter | Google+ | Facebook A fourscreen movie theater is out and more retail and apartments are in on three key properties including a closed PNC Bank branch at the corner of Highland and Penn Avenues in the heart of East Liberty. Walnut Capital Partners is in the process of buying the properties from East Liberty Development Inc. with an early plan of redeveloping the site into a project that would bring 16,000 square feet of retail, four floors and 55 apartments to a location in the middle of the Penn Avenue business district. Gregg Perelman , managing partner of Walnut Capital Partners, confirmed his firm expected to close on the properties from ELDI by the end of the year and hopes to present a new plan to the city in the next few months. “We’re really excited about it,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to expand on what we’re doing here.” The ELDIowned properties are right next door to his firm’s Walnut on Highland apartment redevelopment of the Highland building in East Liberty, which Perelman said has been 100 percent leased since the start of the year. Walnut Capital is also uniquely positioned to buy the properties and pursue a retailand apartment project on the Penn Avenue site since it will also be able to use some of its established parking at the 183space garage next door at Walnut on Highland. “The parking is key,” said Perelman, adding he expects the new development will help transform the block of Penn Avenue. He said Walnut Capital hopes to begin building a new project on the site by the end of the year,

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Page 1: Former Odeon Plan to Become Apartments

From  the  Pittsburgh  Business  Times

:http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/the-­next-­move/2014/04/former-­

odeon-­theater-­plan-­to-­become-­apartments.html

Apr  4,  2014,  2:37pm  EDT  Updated:  Apr  4,  2014,  5:49pm  EDT

Former  Odeon  theater  plan  to  become

apartments,  retail  in  East  Liberty

Tim  Schooley

Reporter-­  Pittsburgh  Business  Times

Email    |    Twitter    |    Google+    |    Facebook

A  four-­screen  movie  theater  is  out  and  more  retail  and  apartments  are  in  on  three  key  properties

including  a  closed  PNC  Bank  branch  at  the  corner  of  Highland  and  Penn  Avenues  in  the  heart  of

East  Liberty.

Walnut  Capital  Partners  is  in  the  process  of  buying  the  properties  from  East  Liberty

Development  Inc.  with  an  early  plan  of  redeveloping  the  site  into  a  project  that  would  bring

16,000  square  feet  of  retail,  four  floors  and  55  apartments  to  a  location  in  the  middle  of  the

Penn  Avenue  business  district.

Gregg  Perelman,  managing  partner  of  Walnut  Capital  Partners,  confirmed  his  firm  expected  to

close  on  the  properties  from  ELDI  by  the  end  of  the  year  and  hopes  to  present  a  new  plan  to

the  city  in  the  next  few  months.

“We’re  really  excited  about  it,”  he  said.  “It’s  an  opportunity  to  expand  on  what  we’re  doing

here.”

The  ELDI-­owned  properties  are  right  next  door  to  his  firm’s  Walnut  on  Highland  apartment

redevelopment  of  the  Highland  building  in  East  Liberty,  which  Perelman  said  has  been  100

percent  leased  since  the  start  of  the  year.

Walnut  Capital  is  also  uniquely  positioned  to  buy  the  properties  and  pursue  a  retail-­and-­

apartment  project  on  the  Penn  Avenue  site  since  it  will  also  be  able  to  use  some  of  its

established  parking  at  the  183-­space  garage  next  door  at  Walnut  on  Highland.

“The  parking  is  key,”  said  Perelman,  adding  he  expects  the  new  development  will  help  transform

the  block  of  Penn  Avenue.

He  said  Walnut  Capital  hopes  to  begin  building  a  new  project  on  the  site  by  the  end  of  the  year,

Page 2: Former Odeon Plan to Become Apartments

without  offering  a  potential  budget  for  the  plan  or  divulging  what  his  firm  will  pay  for  the

property.

The  company  is  preparing  to  do  it  on  a  site  of  what  was  previously  planned  to  be  a  new  five-­

screen  movie  theater  and  apartment  project  called  the  Odeon,  a  joint  venture  of  East  Liberty

Development  Inc.  and  Blasier  Urban.

Nate  Cunningham,  the  director  of  real  estate  for  ELDI,  told  me  the  other  day  that  the  Odeon

project  didn’t  come  to  fruition,  without  offering  further  detail,  and  adding  the  property  was

expected  to  be  sold  in  the  next  30  days,  without  specifying  the  buyer.

David  Glickman,  a  director  in  the  Pittsburgh  office  of  Newmark  Grubb  Knight  Frank,  whose  

family’s  real  estate  company  owns  a  property  within  a  block  of  the  Penn  and  Highland

properties,  saw  the  logic  of  Walnut  Capital  taking  on  a  new  apartment  development  next  door  to

its  successful  Highland  project.  But  also  expressed  some  disappointment  at  the  theater  project

not  happening  in  a  thriving  East  End  with  limited  options  for  moviegoers.

"That’s  tough  to  do  a  movie  theater.  They’re  expensive.  They  can  sometimes  be  difficult  to

finance,”  Glickman  said.  “It’s  unfortunate  because  a  movie  theater  with  a  proper  amount  of

parking  would  probably  do  quite  well.”

Beyond  the  success  of  the  Highland  project,  Perelman  said  leasing  is  strong  at  Walnut  Capital’s

first  apartment  project  at  Bakery  Square  2.0,  which  he’s  calling  Bakery  Living.  He  said  to  expect

a  171-­unit  apartment  building  at  Bakery  Square  to  open  in  June,  one  of  two  apartment

buildings  planned  for  the  site.

Ernie  Hogan,  a  formerly  with  ELDI  and  now  the  executive  director  of  the  Pittsburgh  Community

Reinvestment  Group,  sees  it  as  the  right  move  for  his  former  organization  to  get  out  from  its

investment  in  the  properties.  He  also  sees  it  as  an  important  site.

"Something  needed  to  happen  at  that  corner,"  he  said.  "That's  a  key  corner."

Tim  Schooley  covers  retail,  real  estate,  construction,  hospitality,  arts  and

entertainment,  and  government.  Contact  him  at  [email protected]  or  412-­

208-­3826.