Unexpected pitfalls raise cost of Garfield tiny house project

Eve Picker is on the verge of finding out if her miniature house venture in Garfield will flourish or flop.

The founder and CEO of cityLAB, a nonprofit economic development company, partnered with Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. to build on a vacant lot on North Atlantic Avenue a house that's little bigger than a one-stall garage. They hope the “Garfield Tiny House” experiment will become a trend as it has elsewhere in the country.

That could provide the Pittsburgh neighborhood with affordable housing while filling some of its 300 vacant lots.

It won't be an easy sell if the next tiny house runs into the same hurdles as Pittsburgh's first.

“I don't think we're going to make anything on the house,” Picker said. “I'll probably lose money on it.”

Picker, who was the developer and general contractor, will sell it for $109,500, about $80,500 less than the cost. She's relying on subsidies. She said 14 people have expressed interest, including a woman who is seriously considering buying. Picker declined to identify her.

Subsidies include a $49,000 grant from the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority, a $27,500 grant from nonprofit Bloomfield-Garfield Corp., an $11,000 grant from nonprofit Neighborhood Allies, and a $4,500 donation of kitchen and bathroom appliances from furniture chain Ikea.

“We think it's a good investment because it can demonstrate the feasibility of that housing product and it can draw attention to communities like Garfield,” said Kevin Acklin, who chairs the URA and is Mayor Bill Peduto's chief of staff.

URA board member Jim Ferlo, a former state senator, said he had reservations in approving the grant.

“For (nearly) $200,000, we should be able to build a family home,” he said.

The structure, a little less than 350 square feet, is almost finished and includes a kitchen, bathroom and combination bedroom-living space with a trellised front porch. It has a full basement accessible through a trap door and ladder. An open house, originally set for mid-January, has been rescheduled for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 31.

Costs escalated from the original $100,000 projection because workers had to remove an old foundation left behind when the city demolished a house on the lot. A city requirement to have storm and sanitary sewers, and zoning variances, further hiked the price.

“This was a learning experience for everybody,” said Rick Swartz, executive director of Bloomfiend-Garfield Corp. “We're experimenting here with some new prototypes for in-fill housing. A tiny house could be the answer for a lot of the smaller vacant lots that we have in the neighborhood.”

Tiny houses are popping up across the country as young and older buyers seek alternatives to hefty mortgages and energy-guzzling McMansions. Entire neighborhoods of tiny homes have emerged in Portland and Seattle, and owners created a community of tiny houses on wheels in Washington.

Industry experts say it's hard to gauge the trend. The National Association of Realtors found in a survey that the share of homebuyers choosing houses of less than 1,000 square feet has stayed at about 1 percent for the past five years.

Hilary Lentz, 27, of Baldwin Borough said she'd move into a tiny house on wheels immediately if she and her husband could find a safe and legal place to park it. The Lentzes tried out tiny house living during a weekend trip to New Hampshire where a company rents them for $99 a night.

“It honestly wasn't a very cramped feeling,” she said. “The reason why, I think, is it had very high ceilings. It's definitely not for everyone.”

But the mobility and freedom from maintaining and paying for their 1,200 square foot home in Baldwin is appealing.

“We both decided that it was definitely something that we'd like to do,” Lentz said.

Picker and Swartz are working on plans for more tiny houses on Hillcrest Street in Garfield with the hope of using what they learned on North Atlantic Avenue to avoid pitfalls. Swartz said whatever they come up with would probably require some subsidy from the city.

“We're exploring other ways to give Garfield a better economic development future,” Picker said.

Bob Bauder is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312. The Associated Press contributed.