The URA approved a proposal package yesterday for the sale of demolished Garden Theater Block sites to Trek Development Group and Q Development. Plans for the remaining building* in the block will be separate from new construction at the demolished building sites.

By Ashlee Green

Photos by Lauren Stauffer

Last month, three buildings in the Garden Theater Block: 4, 6, and 8 West North Ave., were demolished. Reportedly, the three-building site will be redeveloped as a 63-unit apartment complex. One building* in the block, though, still remains standing. It’s a double house: 1113 and 1115 Federal St., and according to Nathan Clark, real estate director at the URA, Trek’s current plans, which are drafts, show that the double house will remain separate from the new apartment complex construction to be built along West North Avenue.

Yesterday, Thursday, March 14, at the URA board meeting, board members approved a proposal package for the sale of the demolished building sites to Trek Development Group and Q Development, moving the companies forward on their plan to redevelop the Garden Theater Block. It could take up to six months, though, Clark said, before the URA board authorizes the signing of the final deed of sale.

“We would like Trek to have community input and its exterior design a little further along before we sign the contract,” Clark said. In an email, he explained that the Federal Street structure will be rehabilitated at the same time that the new construction will take place on West North Avenue.

*Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said that two buildings remain standing. To clarify, one building, which is a double house: 1113 and 1115 Federal St., remains standing.

Rehab for 1113 and 1115 Federal St., shown above, will be separate from new construction built along West North Avenue. According to John Canning, vice president of the Allegheny City Society, a similar double house used to be next door and housed a cobbler’s business and a fruit store.

Below: Snapshots of the buildings along West North Avenue in the Garden Theater Block show the stages of demolition, which began in early February.