Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Walnut Capital eyes shopping complex on way to Waterfront
Friday, December 06, 2002
By Dan Fitzpatrick, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Hoping to benefit from the East End crowds now flocking to the Waterfront in the Mon Valley, Shadyside developer Walnut Capital Partners is considering building a new shopping center on a major thoroughfare on the way to the sprawling retail and entertainment complex..

The developer, best known for its property holdings on Walnut Street and its condominium projects in the East End, is accumulating real estate along Browns Hill Road in Squirrel Hill, near a turnoff for a new residential development being built on top of a slag heap.

Walnut Capital recently agreed to buy six acres along Browns Hill Road, including a building leased to a technical school called Electronic Institutes, a garage and some vacant land along Saline Street. In a Nov. 27 letter to homeowners on Saline, Walnut Capital President Todd Reidbord said his company expects to complete the purchase in January, and that "we will likely redevelop the property into a retail shopping center, at some point."

Reidbord told homeowners that a purchase of their property is not necessary for Walnut Capital's development plans, but "we are willing to purchase your property to expand our land area."

The Electronic Institutes property, which is near a Wendy's restaurant and has a "Rosedale Technical Institute" sign facing Browns Hill Road, is controlled by Philip Chosky, who is listed as the Electronic Institutes' director. The school trains electronic and computer technicians. Rosedale Technical Institute trains automotive and diesel technicians.

Reidbord, who would not disclose a purchase price for the property, said he does not plan to oust the schools from their building. In the future, though, the site may work best as a retail center, Reidbord said.

Making it more attractive is its proximity both to property owned by the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority and to one of two entrances to Summerset at Frick Park, the new city housing development being built on a former slag heap in Squirrel Hill. The entrance off Browns Hill is being redeveloped.

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