Real Estate Boom Taking Over Strip District
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The Strip District is in the middle of a long-term transition – from wholesale food outlet to high-end housing.
And that transition includes some luxurious housing. A new set of townhouses have already been presold, some for more than $1 million.
There is a reason thousands of people are living where produce was once king.
James Dugan has called the Strip District home for 10 years.
"The vibrancy of the whole place," Dugan said. "Everything's convenient. I walk everywhere I go. I don't have to get into my car every time we want to do something which I really like."
With Downtown Pittsburgh so close, the produce terminal is about to undergo a rebirth, with apartments going up and filling, old buildings being restored and filled and the demand is high.
So here come Laurel Communities Strip District Brownstones. They are the brainchild of Laurel Communities Principal Marty Gillespie.
"We released the first 21 units and they were all sold within two to three months of when we release them," Gillespie said.
The first phase is just starting to come out of the ground and already the company has purchased the parcel next door to offer another 25 units.
So what would it cost you to locate in one of Pittsburgh's most desirable locations?
Gillespie says, "The range is pretty much from the mid-$600K and then we sold multiple units over a $1 million dollars. They're all three to four bedroom town homes two car garages and then they have options such as elevators, rooftop terraces, luxury things like that."
With a price tag like that it, makes one wonder who is buying them.
Gillespie says, "Our buyers consist of empty nesters whose kids are in college are gone and they want to move into the city and kind of live in an urban redevelopment area. The other demographic are younger couples in their late 20s early 30s and it's pretty much split 50-50 between those demographics."
With Facebook coming soon to a newly built office building down the street and a waiting list for his condos Gillespie says, "It's is great and it shows the Pittsburgh is, you know, really developing and there's a high demand of people who want to live down there."
Dugan puts it this way, "Oh, I think this is so exciting. What's going on down here in the Strip. The place is on fire! When they get this terminal building all fixed up this can be fabulous."
