Highland Building, Pittsburgh

Highland Building, Pittsburgh
Originally uploaded by rllayman

I don't know what the story is on this building. I figure it's being held by a speculator. Normally it wouldn't be worth much, but it's about 1-2 blocks to a Whole Foods store, a Borders, and other quality chain retail, in the East Liberty Commercial District.

In Pittsburgh, many see this store as a sign that the commercial district is turning up, but I suspect that the stores were drawn to that location not because of its inherent attributes, but because of the site's proximity to Shadyside, arguably the most successful traditional commercial district in the Pittsburgh region, and one with practically zero percent vacancies, and little if any space for the construction of large footprint retail buildings.

You'll be able to say that change is about East Liberty when this building is rehabbed and goes condo... It's maybe a 10 minute walk to the busway, which during commuting hours, provides quick bus service to Downtown Pittsburgh. But the area is also served by other bus lines, providing pretty good transit service overall, even though this part of Pittsburgh lacks rail service.