When Dennis Troy eyes the vacant, dilapidated storefronts that dot Butler Street in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood, he sees a vision of the future.
But the picture he sees is not one of urban decay.
Rather than crumbling hovels created by decades of economic decline and suburban flight, Troy sees a vibrant community, alive with restored turn-of-the-century storefronts and homes that coexist with businesses offering good-paying jobs.
From 1960 to 2000, Lawrenceville's population declined to 10,890, from 20,810. But Troy, executive director of the Lawrenceville Corp., can point to scores of examples that show his vision is beginning to be realized.
"Back in 1992 when I first interviewed for this job and entered Lawrenceville from the Strip, I thought, 'Oh my gosh. Talk about a challenge,'" Troy said. "So many of the buildings were dilapidated and boarded up. But I saw past the blight. I saw an opportunity to help a community grow into something new. And while it is a work in progress, it amazes me how fast things have happened."
In less than a decade, nearly 100 shops and businesses — many new, some established — ranging from architectural and interior design firms and suppliers to antique shops, art galleries and eateries, have helped turn Lawrenceville into the city's latest magnet for the avant-garde.
Longtime Lawrenceville business owners say the community's economic slide was a two-pronged affair caused by the urban unrest that accompanied the civil rights movement of the late 1960s and low-cost housing in the suburbs.
"I got to the point where I couldn't write insurance policies to cover the glass on storefronts," said Jim Foley, 58, a partner in the Gribbin Agency who helped to launch the Lawrenceville Business Association. "So shop owners started putting up steel grates, or if their windows were broken, they bricked up the fronts, which made things look terrible."
To reverse the tide, the Lawrenceville Corp. was created in 1999. It is an amalgamation of the Lawrenceville Development Corp., started in 1984 by the Lawrenceville Citizens Council, and the Lawrenceville Business Association, started in 1982. Its activities are financed through government grants, membership fees and special events.
Its initiatives — including programs such as the 16:62 Design Zone, a 2-year-old marketing effort to guide people to the creative businesses between 16th and 62nd streets — have helped the transformation. But much of the change has occurred by happenstance.
One thing Lawrenceville always had going for it: proximity to Downtown. The area is just east of the Strip District along the Allegheny River.
PRIVATE-SECTOR PLAYERS
On virtually every block of Butler Street, turn-of-the-century red brick and sandstone buildings are being restored to their original elegance.
Most of it is being done with private dollars, either by people buying the buildings or property owners seeking to make them more attractive to commercial tenants.
Jay Bernard, 45, owner of Jay Design Soaps on Butler Street, said he was drawn to Lawrenceville about nine years ago when he no longer had the room to run his business out of his Oakland apartment.
"For years, I had gone to Lawrenceville for supplies at Mary Davis" craft shop, Bernard said. "I thought the neighborhood had potential. I saw it as an up-and-coming, cool area where I wanted to be.
"It has the old architecture that I love, and it wasn't too expensive, which was important since I was still trying to establish my business. So I basically started going up and down the street until I found a place I thought would work out for me," said Bernard.
Since moving his business to Lawrenceville, Bernard bought a turn-of-the-century home along Butler Street that is being restored.
"I just love the vitality of the business corridor, so when this home became available, I thought it was a good move to buy it," Bernard said. "Even though a great deal of the original stuff in it had been a bit boogered up, I saw great potential."
Much of Lawrenceville's revitalization has focused on the main commercial corridor on Butler Street. But economic recovery is beginning to filter through the neighborhood's narrow side streets.
Eight years ago, Mary Coleman, 53, a weaver, was looking for a reasonably priced property in which to live and work. She settled on a century-old building on 43rd Street.
"I had heard from other artists who were moving to Lawrenceville because the properties were still reasonably priced, so I checked it out and found this place," said Coleman. "I liked the idea that, just like at the turn of the century, a business owner would set up shop on the first floor and live in the apartment upstairs."
Troy said the Lawrenceville Development Corp. is responsible for working to build a "buzz about the neighborhood," but he credits private entrepreneurs for making it a reality.
"We help the process along by offering technical assistance and access to programs, such as the street face grants, which provide matching funds to do restoration work," Troy said. "But mostly, it's all been about individuals willing to make an investment in the community."
BEYOND THE SOUTH SIDE
When the boom of development on the South Side started to slow, real estate investors such as Lee Gross began looking elsewhere.
Beyond the relatively low prices for property, Gross said he was attracted to Lawrenceville because of its proximity to the Strip District and Downtown.
Gross has bought more than a dozen properties in Lawrenceville, including buildings that were converted into condominiums selling for more than $200,000 and luxury apartments and lofts that rent for $700 to $1,200 a month.
"I could tell it was going to be a good place," said Gross, who is committed to preserving the character of the renovated buildings. "I've got a good crew that knows what they are doing with these old buildings," he said. "I love turning them back to what they once were."
Gross is restoring a property in the 3800 block of Butler that will house Regina Margherita, an upscale pizza restaurant.
The upper floor already is home to an upscale hair styling salon, Jeffry Smith Studio, which moved from Shadyside about a year ago after two decades.
"My friends told me I was out of my mind. And a lot of my clients didn't even know where Lawrenceville was," said Smith, 51.
"But I found people to be very flexible. And they've helped the changes going on here by shopping and going to the coffee shops."
Smith also bought a luxury condominium loft that Gross installed in one of his Butler Street buildings.
"It's unbelievable how much things have changed," Smith said. "Three years ago, this was a ghetto with prostitutes and drug dealers. Now we are seeing quaint shops and galleries and people moving in. It has taken on a momentum that won't stop."
MORE THAN JUST RETAIL
Lawrenceville's revitalization is not limited to retail shops.
The Rubinoff Co. is finishing the 51st Street Business Center, a $4 million project made up of a pair of 53,000-square-foot single story buildings.
The complex was built by the company on a speculative basis — a sort of build-it-and-tenants-will-come approach to development.
Rubinoff President Mark Schneider said he had few reservations about developing a new project in Lawrenceville.
"Lawrenceville has a lot going for it because of its proximity to Downtown and to transportation systems, as well as the availability of workers, which are pluses when trying to attract tenants," he said.
The business center, which should be completed in a few weeks, was designed by Desmone & Associates, which occupies the old bank building that is the focal point of Doughboy Square, the entrance to Lawrenceville.
Schneider said the complex is styled to look more like the type of buildings found in suburban office parks, and its higher finish level, ample parking and decorative landscaping are aimed at filling "more of an office demand."
The Lawrenceville Corp.'s Troy is hoping that a development domino effect occurs on Butler but acknowledges that finding uses for the larger industrial sites, such as the 19-acre former Blaw-Knox Co. steel plant near the 62nd Street Bridge, will be difficult.
"In the past, it was easier to get developers to demolish these rusting hulks," he said. "But you just don't make the money on scrap metal you did years ago."
Joe Brozovich might not care much for the kind of art sold in the increasing number of galleries and shops in Lawrenceville, but by his reckoning, what they are doing is a whole lot better than the alternative.
"I'm just glad the storefronts aren't being boarded up," said Brozovich, 67, who has operated Broz's Market on Davison and 45th streets for 39 years.
Gladys Wilson, 79, who has lived in her Lawrenceville home for 53 years, echoes Brozovich's sentiments.
"It's nice to see things being fixed up nice," Wilson said while sitting on her stoop on a sunny fall day. "Even up on this block, I see houses going back to single family. I guess you can say it's like a rebirth."
| Light Up Lawrenceville |
The 12th annual Lawrenceville Light Up Night will take place at 5 p.m. Dec. 6, at the entrance to the Allegheny Cemetery, 4734 Butler St.
The event, sponsored by the Lawrenceville Corp., includes caroling, holiday crafts, face painting, refreshments, a visit from Santa and a tree lighting ceremony at 7.
To pay for the activities, as well as holiday lighting and decorations for the business district, a holiday cocktail party is scheduled from 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 at the Historic Ice House, 100 43rd St.
Tickets cost $35 per person and $50 per couple. Entertainment, food and beverages will be provided.
Cocktail party guests also will have the opportunity to buy $1 raffle tickets to win prizes. In addition, Molly's Trolleys will provide transportation to and from the cocktail party and Light Up Night.
For details or tickets, call (412) 681-6200, ext. 102 or 103.
Dec. 6 also is the kickoff to the second annual Joy of Cookies Tour. Participants may stop at any of the 16 shops in the Lawrenceville business district and sample one of the winning entries from a neighborhood cookie contest. Recipe cards for the cookies will be given out.
The tour is from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Dec. 6, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 7 and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 8.
For more details, call Jay Bernard at (412) 683-1184.
