Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Walnut Capital to buy nursery in Squirrel Hill
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Walnut Capital Partners, a Shadyside company known for its Walnut Street real estate holdings and its willingness to take on controversial neighborhood development projects, has agreed to buy a Squirrel Hill nursery.

Walnut Capital plans to turn the 1-acre lot at the corner of Beechwood Boulevard and Wilkins Avenue into a collection of 13 brick-and-stucco townhomes, each with a two-car garage.

Walnut Capital's new development would displace a nursery that opened in the first half of the 20th century, and still serves as a popular neighborhood source for Christmas trees, Halloween pumpkins, flowers and plants. The family that owns the land underneath the nursery put the property up for sale three years ago, asking $1.7 million.

Walnut Capital Partners President Todd Reidbord is expecting some neighbors to have concerns about the new town homes. As a result, he scheduled an Oct. 3 meeting with the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition and an Oct. 7 meeting with nearby home owners.

If he can reach an "understanding" with local residents and City Council approves the project, Reidbord hopes to start work on it early next year.

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