Former School Building in Lawrenceville Goes Residential

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

A New York company specializing in the adaptive reuse of historic buildings has acquired the former Career Connections Charter School in the Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville business district, with plans to turn the 40,000-square-foot structure into an apartment building of between 12 and 16 units.

Career Connections Charter School – 4412 Butler St. – Pittsburgh

According to the Pittsburgh Business Times, Crow Hill Development purchased the property located at 4412 Butler St. from the Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania. The organization operated the school until 2014 .

Pete Licastro of Point Bridge Realty Advisors LLC represented Crow Hill in the transaction. The four-story redbrick building sold for a reported $762,000. This is slightly less than its $800,000 asking price from two years ago, when the property hit the market. The building, which dates back to 1912, was originally a YMCA designed by local architect Robert Trimble, who also designed the Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.

Brooklyn-based Crow Hill Development is led by England native and former software developer Fabian Friedland, who has spent the last 20 years working in real estate development and investment. Friedland estimates that once approvals have been obtained, which may take about four months, the conversion could be complete in about 18 months.

Earlier in this year, Crow Hill acquired another Pittsburgh property, the fully leased 45,900-square-foot Stone Quarry Crossing on Camp Horne Road in Ohio Township. Don Cella’s Five Mile Development Group sold the office building for $7.85 million.

Image via Google Street View