Pittsburgh Lofts & New Condos

Local developer unveils eight luxury apartments Downtown

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - September 28, 2002
By Stephanie Franken

Eve Picker, a local developer who renovates urban buildings, has added eight loft apartments to the Downtown housing supply.

The apartments are in a five-story, Romanesque-style structure at 905 Liberty Ave. in the Cultural District. The building also could have a restaurant on the ground floor.

Friday's unveiling was inside one of the new lofts, where floor-to ceiling windows gave a view of Liberty Avenue. Picker was accompanied by officials from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which owns the building; PNC Bank, the primary lender; and Mayor Tom Murphy's executive secretary, Thomas Cox.

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Architect envisions Liberty lofts

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - October 27, 2001
By Eric Heyl

I refer to the dusty, smiling face on the sign above the old China Chef restaurant at 905 Liberty Avenue. Anyone regularly traveling this busy Downtown thoroughfare probably has noticed the cheerful chef grinning down at them in perpetually happy fashion.

Considering his buffet went out of business roughly a decade ago, our Chinese chef sure is one happy fella. He seemingly has not a care in the world. But Eve Picker is about to knock that smile right off his face and knock the rest of that ugly sign right off the rundown building.

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Penn Ave. apartment project kicks off

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - October 26, 2001
By Michael Yeomans

At 27-feet wide and five stories tall, 905 Liberty Ave. is a fairly forgettable slice of Downtown landscape.

But this building and other "slivers" like it could hold the key to unlocking a Downtown housing revival. Turning such abandoned architectural relics into livable spaces, however, requires uncommon cooperation among banks, government, local foundations and developers.

Work begins in a few months on transforming 905 Liberty into eight residential lofts with a ground-floor retail space where a Chinese restaurant once operated - a space that would be ideally suited for a coffee shop or deli.

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