New era in East Liberty housing

The only reminder left of East Liberty's high-rise legacy -- a bare space at the neighborhood's western gateway -- is being reclaimed by the construction of a four-story complex of 52 new apartments and 11,000 square feet for retail.

The $14.2 million East Liberty Place South, at Penn Avenue and North Beatty Street, will complete the redevelopment of the former site of the East Mall high-rise, which was razed in 2005.

Work began more than a month ago, but the official groundbreaking ceremony is 10:30 this morning because the site, which once held a gas station and dry cleaner, had to be capped and sealed and old foundations stabilized, said Jim Eby, senior project manager for Community Builders.

The nonprofit also has redeveloped and is managing other former public housing high-rises in East Liberty. They include Pennley Commons, New Pennley Place, Penn Manor and East Liberty North.

They are all mixed-income communities. East Liberty North was completed two years ago directly across Penn Avenue from the current construction site.

"This has been a long time coming," Mr. Eby said.

East Liberty Place South, whose completion is expected by next October, is almost anti-climactic after the drama of East Liberty Place North's development. When North got underway in 2009, the parties involved remarked on the arduous effort it took, largely because financing was extracted at the height of the economic crisis.

"Probably only a thousand people had to work very hard to make this happen," Rob Stephany, who was then executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, said at the time.

In 2001, Community Builders bought three East Liberty high-rises -- East Mall, Liberty Park and Penn Circle Tower -- from a multipartnership group led by Federal American Properties in a foreclosure arrangement.

East Mall was 17 stories and had 160 units. Liberty Park was 20 stories with 158 units. Along with their demolition, another 174 distressed townhouses and apartments were razed. The 20-story Penn Circle Tower was sold for redevelopment as a Target store.

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New era in East Liberty housing