Mt. Lebanon housing project meets with cool reception from developers
Developers showed little appetite for Mt. Lebanon’s proposed residential development along Shady Drive East, according to information presented at the Oct. 14 commission meeting.
In June, the municipality issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a high or low-density residential development to 200 different firms. It received exactly one response.
Pittsburgh-based Trek Developments proposed a low-density, 25-unit, tax credit funded housing development for senior citizens.
“While we recognize there is a need for affordable senior housing in the community, this was not the catalytic proposal we were looking for,” economic development officer Eric Milliron said. “This is a tough site. It’s backed up against a rail line. Developers took a look at that and probably wondered how they would make money. Trek got there using tax credits.”
The RFQ document, posted on the municipal website, indicates a high-density development would likely be prohibitively expensive – an initial financial analysis identified a $22 million funding gap.
“As a result, Mt. Lebanon is pursuing the low-density residential option,” the RFQ concludes, “but is not precluding innovative concepts that utilize all or a portion of the air rights space (above the light rail line).”
Milliron said the municipality requested Trek produce a revised proposal for a market rate development, and that it had just received the revision. “We still have to take a look and really digest that information,” he said.