Tribune review valley news dis professional#

Realtor Nicole Arduino of Coldwell Banker noted housing affordability is a growing challenge for buyers, particularly in metropolitan areas.

Tribune review valley news dis professional#

The property was renovated in 2018 and features waterfront access, plenty of green space and is zoned professional campus - suitable for office, light industrial, education or single and multi-unit housing. Laratonda said he originally bought the property with plans to develop the site into 10 riverfront condos and 22 patio homes, but that never happened because he retired and spends half the year in Florida. “The property has enormous potential if it falls into the right hands.” “It served as ATI office space until about the time Laratonda acquired the property,” Boehm said. The office building was completed in 1958 and housed about 115 employees. The site commonly was referred to as the shovel works grounds, and the area where the parking lot is located was used by local baseball leagues until the mid-1950s, when Allegheny Ludlum purchased the land and filled it in. The lot had been the site of the Leechburg Foundry & Machine Co. Leechburg resident and local historian Larry Boehm said Allegheny Ludlum first acquired the property at a sheriff’s sale in the early 1950s. “We do not plan to repurchase it,” Gillespie said. “I’ve retired and want to sell and channel the money into other investments.”ĪTI spokesperson Natalie Gillespie said Wednesday that ATI sold the property in 2004. “I just want to move on to other things in my life,” Laratonda said. The 2.83-acre lot is part of three lots totaling 8 acres that Laratonda owns. The building was constructed in 1960 and currently is 80% leased by three tenants: Allegheny Valley Institute of Technology, American Safety & Health Consulting & Training and Merakey Education Center. The three-story, 27,000-square-foot office building and its grounds are listed by Laratonda on LoopNet. By the 1980s, the state Department of Environmental Protection found the only living thing in the river was a frog they found near its confluence with the Allegheny River. “We were forbidden to go into the river, and now it’s a complete turnaround.”įor decades, the river was polluted by runoff from former coal mines, leaving orange deposits on the river bottom. It was so orange from the sulfur, and now it’s pristine,” Smeal said. “I remember as a child when we couldn’t get in the Kiski River. The once chronically polluted Kiski River is drastically different than it used to be, and riverfront revitalization is a logical step, she said. It would be another step toward bringing Leechburg back.” “It would be great if it could be residences or condos of some sort. “I think it’s such an opportunity for anybody to come in here and get this property,” she said. offers great potential for the right buyer because the property has a professional campus zoning distinction, meaning it may be used commercially or residentially. Leechburg Councilwoman Doreen Smeal believes the property at 1 Kiski Ave. “Skip” Laratonda of Harrison City and Naples, Fla. Leechburg officials are hopeful a newly available riverfront property will entice a buyer or developer looking to invest in a scenic location.Ī 2.83-acre property along the Kiski River, previously used by ATI’s idled plants in Bagdad and West Leechburg, went on the market May 8 for $1.39 million by owner E.F.