URA grant recipient under fire
Behind the handsome facades of Joe Edelstein's apartment buildings lie a tangle of legal troubles and questionable bookkeeping that, so far, haven't prevented him from winning lucrative city development grants.
Edelstein, 43, of Lawrenceville is business manager for development firm Wylie Holdings L.P., which specializes in rehabilitating old buildings on Butler Street, Lawrenceville's main drag, where the company owns more than two dozen properties, according to Allegheny County property assessment records.
Since 2003, Wylie Holdings and sister firm 3600 Penn Associates have won 24 "Streetface Program" grants worth $600,000 from Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority. The grants, awarded to Wylie Holdings as recently as June, aim to make neighborhood shopping districts more attractive to shoppers by helping business owners pay for facade makeovers.
Questions this year about Wylie Holdings' work estimates and lingering building code violations haven't hurt Edelstein's ability to win URA-backed grants for upgrading the company's buildings, said URA and building inspection officials.
"He owns more commercial property on Butler Street than probably anybody," said Kyra Straussman, the URA's Mainstreets Program director. "So that's who we deal with if we're going to have an active Streetface Program. It's not like we could just give it to somebody we liked."
Edelstein did not return calls seeking comment.
In 2007, a WTAE-TV report revealed that Wylie Holdings submitted facade construction estimates to the URA that were much higher than estimates for the same projects submitted to the city's Bureau of Building Inspection, which issues building permits.
The discrepancies prompted state Sen. Jim Ferlo, a Highland Park Democrat and URA board member, to demand the City Controller's Office audit the Streetface Program.
"It was a real embarrassment, not to mention just being wrong," acting BBI Chief Dan Cipriani said recently. "But we can't just say we're not going to issue you a permit because you've created problems in the past."
A comparison of 21 applications signed by Edelstein and submitted to the URA and BBI shows the construction estimates given to the URA were considerably higher than those submitted to the Bureau of Building Inspection.
In a November 2007 City Controller's audit, URA Director of Economic Development Robert Rubinstein said the estimates often don't match because "much of the facade work done does not require a building permit."
Even so, Straussman said the URA now sends a copy of the building estimates to building inspectors for review -- a precaution that started in late 2007 under former URA Executive Director Pat Ford, who has said he is Edelstein's friend.
Ford and his wife, Alecia Sirk, lived in the Sandbox Lofts in Upper Lawrenceville, an apartment building owned and operated by Wylie Holdings. Sirk is Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's former press secretary.
City building inspectors have encountered other problems with Edelstein and Wylie Holdings. Most recently, the company failed to comply with a district judge's order to demolish a burned-out Polish Hill building it owns. The case has been appealed.
The city hired a private contractor Sept. 24 to demolish the Brereton Street eyesore at a cost of $22,500, said Paul Loy, city demolition manager. The city will bill Wylie for the cost and, if it's not paid, the firm could face a tax lien, he said.
City Councilman Patrick Dowd, who represents Lawrenceville and Polish Hill, said Wylie Holdings should not receive more grant money until it repays its debt. "We don't sell property to people with liens against them," Dowd said, referring to the city's policy of selling vacant lots to homeowners.
Joseph Kelly, owner of Kelly Custom Furniture & Cabinetry, used a Streetface Program grant in 1990 to repair brick, hang a mahogany door and install a picture window in a condemned building he transformed into a business location in Upper Lawrenceville.
Kelly, the past president of Lawrenceville Corp., said anyone who benefits from taxpayer money should follow the rules.
"The Streetface Program is the most important thing we have received from the URA. It has had a huge impact on Lawrenceville," Kelly said.
