South Hills Transit Revitalization Investment District Study Wednesday, September 19, 2007, Hollywood Theatre Discussion Notes
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SOUTH HILLS TRANSIT REVITALIZATION INVESTMENT DISTRICT PLANNING STUDY Prepared for: ALLEGHENY COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT In Partnership with: BOROUGH OF DORMONT MT. LEBANON MUNICIPALITY PORT AUTHORITY OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY Prepared by: DMJM+HARRIS, Inc. MAY 2008 This Project was financed in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development FOREWORD Allegheny County Department of Economic Development (ACED) has received a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development to perform a planning study to investigate potential development opportunities in the vicinity of the Potomac and Dormont Junction Light Rail Transit (LRT) Stations in the Borough of Dormont and the Mt. Lebanon LRT Station in the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon. The grant is made possible through Act 238 of 2004 passed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly and known as the Transit Revitalization Investment Act or the TRID Enabling Act (“the Act”). Allegheny County has partnered with the Borough of Dormont, the Municipality of Mt. Lebanon and the Port Authority of Allegheny County to undertake the management of a multi-municipal TRID Planning Study covering the three LRT stations. The Study began in June 2007 and was completed in May 2008. The Act allows local units of governments and transportation agencies to create Transit Revitalization Investment Districts (TRIDs) for the purpose of spurring “transit-oriented development, community revitalization, and enhanced community character around public transit facilities in communities across the Commonwealth”. The legislation also provides for the establishment of “value capture” areas in which additional tax revenues generated within the TRID may be applied to the public transportation capital improvements, related site development improvements, and maintenance. The purpose of this Report is to present and describe existing conditions, primarily within a one-half mile radius around each of the three stations. The analysis includes land use, population, employment and infrastructure. Planned improvements to infrastructure and land developments are also presented. Finally, an assessment of properties potentially available for development is presented. TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE FOREWORD TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................................................TOC-1 1.0 SURVEY OF EXISTING CONDITIONS ....................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Community Facilities .......................................................................................................................... 1-2 1.2.1 Borough of Dormont.......................................................................................................... 1-2 1.2.2 Municipality of Mt. Lebanon ............................................................................................ 1-3 1.3 Existing Public Infrastructure............................................................................................................ 1-5 1.3.1 Borough of Dormont.......................................................................................................... 1-5 1.3.2 Municipality of Mt. Lebanon ............................................................................................ 1-7 1.4 Firmly Scheduled Infrastructure Improvements ............................................................................. 1-9 1.4.1 Borough of Dormont.......................................................................................................... 1-9 1.4.2 Municipality of Mt. Lebanon ...........................................................................................1-10 1.5 Existing Land Use Patterns (Half Mile TRID Study Area) ............................................................1-11 1.5.1 Borough of Dormont.........................................................................................................1-11 1.5.2 Municipality of Mt. Lebanon ...........................................................................................1-11 1.6 Planned and Permitted New Development.......................................................................................1-15 1.6.1 Borough of Dormont.........................................................................................................1-15 1.6.2 Municipality of Mt. Lebanon ...........................................................................................1-15 1.7 Properties Potentially Available for Development ..........................................................................1-16 1.7.1 Properties for Sale.............................................................................................................1-16 1.7.2 Visual Condition of Commercial Property .....................................................................1-17 1.7.3 Open Public Lands............................................................................................................1-18 1.7.4 Public Air Rights...............................................................................................................1-22 2.0 MARKET ANALYSIS REPORT..................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Allegheny County ................................................................................................................................ 2-2 2.3 Demographic Trends in the Station Areas ........................................................................................ 2-3 2.4 Firmly Scheduled Infrastructure Improvements ............................................................................. 2-9 2.4.1 Commercial Employment and Occupied Space .............................................................. 2-9 2.4.2 Commercial Real Estate ...................................................................................................2-11 2.4.3 Residential Real Estate .....................................................................................................2-13 2.5 Retail Opportunities in the Station Areas ........................................................................................2-14 2.6 Summary and Implications ...............................................................................................................2-19 3.0 ANALYSIS OF TRID BOUNDARIES ............................................................................................................ 3-1 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 The Optimal Number of TRIDS ........................................................................................................ 3-1 3.3 Optimal TRID Boundaries ................................................................................................................. 3-5 3.3.1 Potomac Avenue Station.................................................................................................... 3-6 3.3.2 Dormont Junction Station ................................................................................................. 3-7 3.3.3 Mt. Lebanon Station .......................................................................................................... 3-8 3.4 The TRID District and Value Capture.............................................................................................. 3-9 3.5 Summary and Conclusion................................................................................................................... 3-9 4.0 STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY SITES ........................................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 4-1 Table of Contents TOC-1 4.2 Potomac Avenue Station ..................................................................................................................... 4-3 4.2.1 The Sites.............................................................................................................................. 4-3 4.2.2 The Development Concepts............................................................................................... 4-4 4.2.3 Market Impact.................................................................................................................... 4-5 4.3 Dormont Junction Station .................................................................................................................. 4-6 4.3.1 The Sites.............................................................................................................................. 4-6 4.3.2 The Low Density Concept: Port Authority Site Only ..................................................... 4-8 4.3.3 The High Density Concept: Redevelopment of the Private Sites ................................... 4-9 4.3.4 Market Impact...................................................................................................................4-10