The famously social denizens of Carson Street are about to get a lot of new neighbors: One of the last vacant tracts of land in Pittsburgh’s South Side will soon be home to a 280-unit, mixed-income apartment complex.
On Jan. 15, the City Planning Commission approved construction of Connection @ South Side, a long-in-the-works project that will sit on a 2.6-acre tract of land near the Hot Metal Bridge between Carson and Sidney Streets.
The riverfront neighborhood, home to the Hofbräuhaus and SouthSide Works Cinema, has seen an influx of new apartment projects in the last five years that’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Indiana-based builder TWG Development began negotiations to purchase the land for Connection @ South Side from the Urban Redevelopment Authority in May 2018, with the stipulation that 10 percent of the 280 apartments must be affordable to residents making 50 percent of the region’s median income.
The 28 affordable units start at $665 a month for a studio apartment, with a two-bedroom apartment costing $855. The other 252 market-rate units will start at $1325 for a studio and $2100 for a two-bedroom space.
The company will also repair and restore the sidewalks on the surrounding block, and and will refurbish bus stops and add new benches on Sarah Street. The building will be TWG’s first project in Pittsburgh and will cost an estimated $56.7 million.
According to documents submitted to the Commission, the building will have an open courtyard plaza (pictured in the above rendering), an elevated pool, a dog park, 24-hour fitness center and retail on the first floor.
After consulting with neighborhood stakeholders during the latter part of 2018, the project leads also opted to include green elements such as a stormwater collection system and rooftop gardens. The building was designed in collaboration with the architecture and interior design firm Fifth Dimension.
Construction is slated to begin in May of 2019 and continue for at least two years.
The City Planning Commission at the same meeting also approved Oxford Development’s massive expansion of their existing 3 Crossings projects.