Crawford Square
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Project Type: Residential
Case No: C029013
Year: 1999
SUMMARY Crawford Square is an 18-acre residential development located on the eastern edge of downtown Pittsburgh that provides a gateway between the downtown business district and the nearby Hill District and creates a new and vital neighborhood recalling the architectural traditions of the neighborhoods to which it is connected. Crawford Square provides quality mixed-income housing in a friendly, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood to residents with a wide range of incomes. The project's street grid is an extension of the Hill District street grid, stitched into the fabric of the existing community.
FEATURES
Downtown Development Mixed-Income Housing Neotraditional/New Urbanist Design Crawford Square
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Project Type: Residential
Volume 29 Number 13
July-September 1999
Case Number: C029013
PROJECT TYPE
Crawford Square is an 18-acre residential development located on the eastern edge of downtown Pittsburgh that provides a gateway between the downtown business district and the nearby Hill District and creates a new and vital neighborhood recalling the architectural traditions of the neighborhoods to which it is connected. Crawford Square provides quality mixed-income housing in a friendly, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood to residents with a wide range of incomes. The project's street grid is an extension of the Hill District street grid, stitched into the fabric of the existing community.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Downtown Development Mixed-Income Housing Neotraditional/New Urbanist Design
DEVELOPER
McCormack Baron Associates Hadley Square 1101 Lucas Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63101-1179 314-621-3400 314-436-8153 (fax)
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
La Quatra Bonci 95 South 10th St. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203 412-488-8822
MASTER PLANNER
Urban Design Associates Gulf Tower, 31st Floor 707 Grant Street Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 412-263-5200 412-263-5202 (fax)
PHASE II ARCHITECT
Tai & Lee Architects 3114 Bereton St Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219
PHASE III ARCHITECT (RENTAL)
Trivers Associates Nations Bank Tower 100 N. Broadway Suite 1800 St. Louis, Missouri 63102 GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Crawford Square includes 426 units of rental as well as for-sale housing. Approximately half of the rental units are subsidized; they are indistinguishable from the market-rate units and are periodically rotated throughout the project. The development is designed to reflect the character and scale of a traditional Pittsburgh residential neighborhood and does not include retail or other commercial development. However, the new residents have helped to attract a new supermarket to the struggling Phoenix Hill Shopping Center located adjacent to Crawford Square.
PLANNING/DESIGN
The Crawford Square site is located on the eastern edge of downtown Pittsburgh in the lower part of the Hill District, a predominantly African American district of the city. Once a thriving community known for its jazz clubs and ethnic diversity, the area had begun to deteriorate by the 1950s. The community suffered great damage in the 1960s during riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Subsequent urban renewal efforts brought the wholesale removal of homes to make way for construction of the Civic Arena, displacing thousands of lower Hill District residents. The community organized against further commercial encroachment, drawing the line at Crawford Street. The site languished for several years thereafter.
By the late 1980s, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Pittsburgh acquired much of the land and issued a request for proposals to develop the site. Based on its track record of successful inner-city redevelopment, the St. Louis–based development firm of McCormack Baron Associates was selected as developer for the project. McCormack Baron then enlisted the services of Pittsburgh-based Urban Design Associates (UDA), an architectural firm with similar inner-city redevelopment credentials, to complete a master plan for the project.
A project committee composed of the development team and local community leaders and residents was formed, and the master-planning process was heavily influenced by public input. Through numerous meetings a plan emerged to develop a traditional Pittsburgh residential neighborhood evoking the scale, density, and architectural style of existing East End neighborhoods. UDA conducted formal surveys to determine the defining characteristics of those neighborhoods and incorporated their best aspects in its master plan. The development team sought to establish a mixed-income neighborhood that included multiple housing types—multifamily, townhomes, and single-family homes—in a wide range of prices.
The master plan creates an intimate urban pattern with tight streetscapes and narrow street widths and short 20- to 25-foot building setbacks. The plan called for housing in the Colonial Revival style common in East End neighborhoods. The homes feature tall, narrow windows, bay windows, dormers, and gable ends facing the street. The facades are constructed of brick and clapboard siding for quality and stability. All buildings—single family, multifamily, and apartments—are two to three stories in height with front and back yards and front porches. Apartment buildings and townhomes feature rear courtyards. The development avoids a cookie-cutter appearance by encouraging variation in design and mixing of building types.
The project committee wanted to ensure that Crawford Square offered the amenities of a market-rate development and was designed with the same standard of quality, avoiding the appearance of a subsidized development. Amenities include a community center and swimming pool for residents' use. To further establish and connect Crawford Square to the wider community, the land plan creates three new public parks.
New urbanist design principles were employed in both neighborhood and housing design to create a safe and stable neighborhood. Front porches and short setbacks encourage interaction among residents while allowing them to claim "ownership" of neighborhood spaces; the design of the neighborhood leaves no A"unclaimed" space. Public spaces and sidewalks are well-lighted. Despite some initial concerns, crime has been practically nonexistent; as a further deterrent, a few city police officers were encouraged to relocate to the neighborhood by an offer of reduced rents.
The modified street grid of Crawford Square seeks to reconnect the Hill District to the downtown core. "We wanted to enable the community to expand toward downtown should the possibility arise," says Barry Long, project manager with UDA. An east/west connection with downtown is largely blocked by the parking lots of the Civic Arena that border Crawford Street on the western edge of the development; the street grid therefore emphasizes a strong north/south orientation with the existing Hill District street grid. The new Protectory Place, with a wide tree-lined median, forms the north/south spine of the neighborhood. Beyond its aesthetic appeal, the median also serves to calm traffic.
Crawford Square is a pedestrian-oriented development that acknowledges the reality of the automobile. Some intersections in the community are bulbed to slow traffic, and stop signs are present at all intersections. Sidewalks connect the entire development, both internally and with the surrounding community, and they feature the planting strips, brick strips, and street trees common in Pittsburgh neighborhoods. Low, decorative street lamps keep the sidewalks well-lighted at night. Residents of Crawford Square enjoy easy pedestrian access to public transportation and to the business district and downtown attractions.
The steep 15 percent slope of the site precluded the development of the alleys and rear-loaded garages found in a traditional neighborhood. Single family homes feature full basements with front-loaded garages located 12 feet beneath the front porch, hidden from the street. Apartment buildings and townhomes form a perimeter around the parking areas, hiding them from view; an electronic key card is required to enter these parking areas. Space devoted to off-street parking was kept to a minimum. The city revised its parking standards, allowing for a low 1:1 ratio of units to parking spaces. Ample on-street parking is available for visitors, which further serves to slow traffic through the neighborhood.
DEVELOPMENT
Phase I of the development, completed in 1993, consists of 203 rental apartments and townhomes; 50 percent of the units are subsidized. In the second and third phases of the development, completed in 1995, the rental program was scaled back in favor of more for-sale housing due to resident and market pressure. In Phase II, 72 new rental units and 30 for-sale units were developed. In Phase III, to be completed in 2000, 74 rental units and 30 for-sale units will be developed.
In response to the reduction in rental units, McCormack Baron partnered with the Hill Community Development Corporation (HCDC) in the second and third phases of the development. McCormack Baron continued to develop and manage the rental units, its area of expertise, while the HCDC assumed development of the for-sale housing.
The master plan for Crawford Square provides detailed guidelines and covenants meant to foster development of a coherent, attractive community. Nevertheless, to encourage variation, different architectural firms were hired to design the buildings for Phase II and Phase III. The housing was constructed by a variety of local minority firms working with several general contractors.
FINANCING
Conventional financing was inadequate for Crawford Square. The financing package, particularly for Phase I, was complex and multilayered. In addition to the equity contributed by the developer and obtained through the sale of low-income housing tax credits, four other financing sources were used: the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (loans and grants); the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (loans and bond proceeds); a consortium of four local lenders, PNC Bank, Mellon Bank, Dollar Bank, and Integra Bank (loans and grants); and a consortium of local foundations (grants). "Each participant was necessary to the deal and provided an element of credibility that convinced the others to become involved," said Vince Bennett, vice president of McCormack Baron. "The withdrawal of support from any partner could have stopped the development. Spreading the financial risk both increased the community's sense of responsibility and ensured that the project would be done without sacrificing its quality or scope and that it would be affordable to a diverse population."
MARKETING/MANAGEMENT
The ability to attract market-rate residents is a concern in any mixed income development. To the surprise and delight of the development team, market-rate units in Crawford Square have leased up faster than subsidized units and demand for for-sale housing has been exceptionally strong. Pent-up demand for quality in-town housing combined with Crawford Square's exceptional location and downtown views has worked to attract a strong economic and racial mix of residents. Rents range from less than $300 per month for some one-bedroom apartments to $1,200 per month for a three bedroom townhome. For-sale housing starts at about $89,000, and some four-bedroom units in the final phase of development are selling for as much as $200,000. About 80 percent of residents are African American, many of them former Hill District residents who returned to their old neighborhood because new, quality housing was available.
Special financing incentives were provided to homebuyers in the first phase of development. These included a $15,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and a mortgage subsidy of $25,000 from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh. In light of the unexpectedly strong demand, these offers were significantly scaled back in later phases.
McCormack Baron provides management services to all rental units at Crawford Square, as well as the community center, pool, and some common areas. A homeowners association manages the common areas around the for-sale housing portion of the development. The association also is responsible for the enforcement of architectural codes and covenants.
EXPERIENCE GAINED
As one of the first successful inner-city examples of new urbanism, the community serves as a model for future redevelopment activities. Building on the success of Crawford Square, planning for the eventual redevelopment of the entire Hill District is now underway by neighborhood representatives and city officials. In order to attract market-rate buyers to a mixed-income community, subsidized units must be indistinguishable from market-rate units. At Crawford Square the same level of management service and commitment is extended to all units. PROJECT DATA LAND USE INFORMATION Site area: 18.5 acres Gross density: 23.0 units/acre Housing types: Rental and for-sale apartments, townhomes,and single family homes Parking: 304 spaces Parking ratio: .71 spaces/unit
Dwelling units Rental For-sale Phase I 203 27 Phase II 71 30 Phase III 74 21
Total dwelling units: 426
DEVELOPMENT COST INFORMATION Phase I (rental) Cost per residential square Cost per foot Cost Total dwelling unit (170,788 square feet) Site acquisition $431,600 2,126 2.52 Site preparation 1,000,000 4,926 5.85 Construction 11,725,000 57,758 68.65 Architecture/engineering 927,000 4,566 5.42 Developer fee 500,000 2,463 2.92 Soft costs/other 4,083,400 20,115 23.90 Total $18,667,000 91,955 109.29
Phase II (rental) Cost per residential square Cost per foot Cost Total dwelling unit (62,066 square feet) Site acquisition $166,000 2,338 2.67 Construction 5,000,000 70,422 80.55 Architecture/engineering 412,000 5,802 6.63 Developer fee 1,135,000 15,985 18.28 Soft costs/other 1,287,000 18,126 20.73 Total $8,000,000 112,676 128.89
Phase III (rental) Cost Total Cost per dwelling unit $150,000 Site acquisition (by city) 2,027 Construction 5,399,000 72,959 Architecture/engineering 362,000 4,891 Developer fee 811,000 10,959 Soft costs/other 713,000 9,635 Total $7,285,000 98,445
Development cost Phase I (for sale): $3,469,871 ($128,481/unit) Development cost Phase II (for sale): $4,981,025 ($166,034/unit) Development cost Phase III (for sale): N/A (Will be finished in 2000)
Total development cost of rental housing: $33,952,000 Total development cost of for-sale housing: $8,450,896 Total development cost of rental and for-sale housing: $42,402.896
UNIT INFORMATION Size range Price/rent Type Number (square feet) (market rate/affordable) Phase I (rental) Garden (1 bedroom/1 bath) 61 675–703 $560/$364 Garden (2 bedroom/1 bath) 80 862 $640/$437 Split townhouse (1 bedroom/1 bath) 21 696–698 $600/$364 Split townhouse (2 bedroom/2 bath) 21 1,154–1,009 $775/$437 Townhouse (2 bedroom/1.5 bath) 12 1,006 $750/$437 Townhouse (3 bedroom/1.5 bath) 8 1,205 $875/$488
Phase I (for-sale) Townhouses 9 1,200–1,450 $89,500–$138,900
Detached 18 1,210–1,820 n/a1
Phase II (rental) Garden (1 bedroom) 19 674 n/a Garden (2 bedroom) 27 880 n/a Townhouse (2 bedroom) 15 880 n/a Townhouse (3 bedroom) 10 1,230 n/a
Phase II (for-sale) Townhouse 7 n/a $93,900–$141,000 Detached 23 n/a n/a
1n/a = not available
DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE Site acquired: 1987–1990 Planning started: 1988 Construction started: 1991 Phase I completed: 1993 Phase II completed: 1995 Phase III to be completed: 2000
DIRECTIONS
From the airport: Take I-279 to Fort Pitt Bridge. Merge on to U.S. 22 East. Take the Boulevard of the Allies/Liberty Avenue exit toward the Civic Arena. Merge on to Liberty Avenue. Turn right on Grant Street. Turn left on Seventh Avenue. Turn right on Washington Place. Turn left on Centre Avenue and Crawford Square.
Driving time: approximately 35 minutes in nonpeak traffic.
David A. Mulvihill, editor, Project Reference File David A. Mulvihill, report author Eileen Hughes, managing editor Joanne Nanez, layout/art
This Development Case Study is intended as a resource for subscribers in improving the quality of future projects. Data contained herein were made available by the project's development team and constitute a report on, not an endorsement of, the project by ULI-the Urban Land Institute.
Copyright © 1999 by ULI-the Urban Land Institute 1025 Thomas Jefferson Street, N.W. Suite 500 West, Washington D.C. 20007-5201 Occupying 18.5 acres in the lower Hill District of pittsburgh, the mixed-income Crawford Square heals a longstanding rift in the city. Area residents wanted to ensure that the development would not look like a subsidized project. The design of Crawford Square seeks to reflect the architectural qualities of historic East End neighborhoods. Multifamily dwellings form a secure perimeter around parking areas and block them from view. Crawford Square provides easy pedestrian and transit access to downtown pittsburgh. Demand has been high among young professionals. Subsidized units and market-rate units enjoy the same amenities and are indistinguishable. Subsidized units are rotated periodically to further blur their identities. Site plan.