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Tuesday, 05 April 2011 11:59

Written by Diana Nelson Jones

Target may be the next big thing in East Liberty, but there’s a project waiting in the wings that would bring the Highland Building back to life, along with the nearby Wallace Building.

Giving an historic building its purpose back seems more meritorious and more interesting than slapping up a giant box store... sorry Tar-zhay.

The state holds the key — a $4.5 million grant from its Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. That money would be spent to build a parking garage between the Highland and Wallace buildings. Lack of parking has been the main reason why four developers over a decade have walked away from repurposing plans for the Highland.

With state funding for the Urban Redevelopment Authority to build a parking garage, Walnut Capital and Massaro Properties could then take advantage of historic tax credits and, with a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, revamp the two buildings into 130 mostly one-bedroom apartments with retail on street level.

By now, it’s a $30 million project... waiting.

“We’re excited about this project,” said Todd Reidbord, president of Walnut Capital. “But the state funding has us on pins and needles.”

When oh when will The Governator decide to release the money that’s already budgeted for this project? Or will he? The waiting game moves into another month.

But the Highland is used to waiting.

In 1991 when it landed on the National Register of Historic Places it had already gone silent, home only to the dust that dances in sun rays through windows.

Henry Clay Frick had it built in 1909 as an office building. Al Mann, Walkabout’s go-to guy on East Liberty, said he remembers going to the doctor in that building.

Father Pitt (from whose site I lifted these photos) tells us that Daniel Burnham, the noted Chicago architect also noted for stating “Make no small plans,” was the Highland's architect.

East Liberty has spent the last decade showing us how dramatically a neighborhood can change. It hasn’t been without the tumult of upscaling and relocation, but many people who had to leave the public high-rises have resettled in the neighborhood. And the mix of businesses is interesting.

The neighborhood is more than poised for two of its most visible buildings to start pulsing again.

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