Pittsburgh Planning Commission approves Alcosan, Mt. Washington school projects
A new parking garage and lab that will allow the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority to meet a 2036 deadline to upgrade its facilities was approved Tuesday by Pittsburgh Planning Commission.
Alcosan presented plans for the parking garage and environmental compliance building to the commission earlier this month.
“We are pleased with the commission’s decision and look forward to continuing the path toward realizing the overarching goal of the Clean Water Plan, which is cleaner rivers and streams,” Alcosan spokesman Joey Vallarian said after the meeting.
The new buildings are a small, but necessary part of Alcosan’s work to implement a $2 billion plan to upgrade its system by 2036. Because the sprawling complex at its Woods Run treatment plant in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood is squeezed between the Ohio River, railroad tracks and Route 65, making upgrades to the system is tricky, Vallarian said.
The five-level garage will replace a surface lot and will be built first. The compliance building will be finished by May 2022.
The moves will allow Alcosan to tear down other buildings as it works to implement the Clean Water Plan mandated by federal and state environmental agencies to reduce sewage overflows in the system.
The plan was approved by a federal judge last May. It replaced a previous plan approved in 2008 and extends a deadline for completion to 2036.
Mt. Washington apartment plan approved
Planning commissioners also approved development of the Grandview Lofts in the former Bishop Leonard-St. Mary of the Mount Academy building in Mt. Washington.
The school will be renovated into 34 loft apartments that are being developed by Mindful Grandview LLC, a group owned in part by Dustin Jones, who also operates Mindful Brewing Co. in Castle Shannon.
The apartments will offer commanding views of the Downtown skyline from atop Mt. Washington, Jones said.
The project was supported by Mt. Washington Community Development Corp. The building had been vacant since the school closed in 2012.
Work on the project is set to start as soon as all of the regulatory approvals are granted, Jones said previously.
He couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.
Tom Davidson is a TribLive news editor. He has been a journalist in Western Pennsylvania for more than 25 years. He can be reached at tdavidson@triblive.com.
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