D.C. developer pitches 334 unit apartment building in place of Lawrenceville warehouse

Lawrenceville may land 334 more housing units by 2027 if plans for a five-story apartment building, submitted by a Washington D.C.-based developer, clear the City Planning Commission.

During a June 11 briefing, representatives of Dalian Development touted the five-story building with space reserved for affordable housing in the place of a disused warehouse complex in Lower Lawrenceville.

The apartment building along Foster Street between 38th and 39th streets would have 334 apartment units, of which 10% would be priced to be affordable. The building would also have 245 parking spaces on the first floor and 55 stall parking units directly across 38th.

The Lawrenceville Three Rivers Heritage trail would connect to the building and enhance green space along the Allegheny Valley Railroad line to the west.

A warehouse would be demolished to make way for the building, and a Peoples Gas building at 38th and Foster may be screenwalled in an attempt to “beautify” the neighborhood, according to Jeff Young, principal at Perkins Eastman Architects.

“The site right now is pretty scrappy,” said Young. “It’s made up of a lot of industrial buildings.”

But the alternative is still lackluster, according to Commissioner Peter Quintanilla.

“It just looks like a big Amazon box,” he said. “It almost looks like a box that was just plotted there.”

The proposed building would be covered in gray, metal paneling which Quintanilla likened to an “office building.” He raised concerns about the boxy look and feel of the building and described it as unwelcoming for someone walking down 39th Street.

Traffic would not be affected during construction, which would take place from 7 am to 4:30 pm along 39th Street, except for sidewalk and parking lane closures.

This would be Dalian’s first project in Pittsburgh.

The building is set to have Bronze National Green Building Standard. It would also have co-working and residential spaces as well as two courtyards.

The commission is expected to hold a public hearing and vote on the proposal on June 25, and construction could begin in the first quarter of 2025, with a 2027 completion date.

Laura Turbay is and editorial intern at PublicSource and can be reached at laura@publicsource.org

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