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Battle brewing in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood over turning hotel into low-income housing

Battle brewing in Pittsburgh neighborhood over turning hotel into low-income housing
Battle brewing in Pittsburgh neighborhood over turning hotel into low-income housing 03:11

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — To combat the homeless crisis, the city and county are looking to create new affordable units to get them off the street, but some plans are already running into resistance in some neighborhoods. 

In Lawrenceville, a battle is brewing where a developer wants to transform a 107-room hotel into a low-income housing community but some contend it's not a good fit for the upscale neighborhood. 

It seemed a perfect fit for the young and rising upscale neighborhood, but after opening as a hip boutique hotel in 2019, the TRYP was soon hit by the pandemic and never quite regained its footing. 

"That is about as difficult of a time, an unfortunate timing as possible to be opening a hotel," said Dave Breingan with Lawrenceville United.

Mired in debt, the TRYP is now in foreclosure. In a statement, developers Hullett Properties say they're looking to buy and redevelop it, saying, "Our vision for the TRYP Hotel is to transform it into a space that addresses an urgent need for quality and modern affordable housing in our city."  

But some, like Thomas West, the owner of Trim Pittsburgh, a men's clothing boutique on Butler Street, want to tap the brakes. 

"I grew up a poor kid. Like, I get it. I get. But I feel like you have to put some thought behind it, and I feel like we're so fast," he said.  

West says he's only hearing about the plans in drips and drabs. He's one of a growing number of business owners and residents who don't like what they're hearing, saying they've benefited from the TRYP and would like it to remain a hotel. 

"This is a huge move. You're literally taking a hotel out of the heart of the neighborhood. The heart of the neighborhood. But when you do that, that changes the fabric of the neighborhood," he said. 

So far, the Pittsburgh Housing Authority has approved $1.5 million in financing for the affordable housing project and Hullett has made a preliminary application to the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority, but says it is "still navigating approval processes." 

Hullett's bid to turn the Comfort Inn on the North Side into affordable housing also faced community opposition and fell short.

Lawrenceville itself has transformed over the past two decades with housing prices tripling and new shops and restaurants opening along Butler Street. Longtime resident Mary Moses remembers when it was a working-class neighborhood and says the high cost of housing has driven her old friends away. She welcomes this project.

"Lawrenceville was always a blue-collar place. We had poor people. We had rich people. We had down times. We had up times. But it was always diversified and it's not anymore. They pushed all the people that were poor out," Moses said. 

As plans move forward, the group Lawrenceville United promises to keep the neighborhood informed and provide for a spirited public process. 

Hullett declined to say whether they have a sale agreement to buy the building but otherwise says it's committed to being open and transparent about its plans, which are bound to raise passions on both sides. 

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