Scott Schroeder is bringing a taste of Times Square to Downtown Pittsburgh.
Greenway Realty Holdings, Mr. Schroeder’s company, will convert the former Salvation Army building on the Boulevard of the Allies into a 186-room boutique hotel to be called Distrikt Pittsburgh.
The only other Distrikt Hotel, also developed and owned by Greenway, is in Times Square. While the spelling of Distrikt is a nod to New York City’s Dutch roots, the nine-story Golden Triangle hotel will be “all about Pittsburgh,” Mr. Schroeder promised.
“We have our own unique design. We’re not bound by corporate franchise standards,” he said. “What we built in New York is a tribute to New York. What we build in Pittsburgh will be a tribute to Pittsburgh and its neighborhoods.”
Among the local touches will be an aerial map of Pittsburgh in the lobby, and every floor will feature a backlit collage of photos from a city neighborhood.
Mr. Schroeder and Victor Afonso, his partner at Greenway, hope to start demolition work inside the building within a couple of weeks and have the hotel ready for occupancy by spring 2016.
They had considered other uses for the building, which Greenway bought for $2.8 million earlier this year, but ultimately decided a hotel was the “highest and best use,” in part because of how the city “is taking off and booming,” Mr. Schroeder said.
The Distrikt is the latest in a string of hotels headed Downtown. Another boutique hotel, Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco, is expected to open on Sixth Avenue in January. A Holiday Inn is planned on First Avenue, a stone’s throw from the Salvation Army building.
In all, about 1,500 rooms are under construction or in the pipeline Downtown. Other hotels in progress are a Drury Inn and Suites, an Embassy Suites and a Hilton Garden Inn. The Granite Building at Wood and Sixth Avenue also is being converted into a boutique hotel.
Mr. Schroeder said he’s not worried about the competition. Given market fundamentals and the amount of travel here, “we believe it can support the added hotel rooms and especially new product,” he said.
He’s also hoping some of the Distrikt’s amenities will set it apart. There will be a living plant wall in the lobby and a zen garden on the roof. Greenway also plans to restore the building’s chapel.
Greenway also plans for a full-service restaurant and a mezzanine lounge in the hotel. Mr. Schroeder said the developer has been speaking to a number of high-end restaurant operators in Pittsburgh about being part of the project.
The project is expected to cost $12 million to $15 million. Greenway has been working with Continental Building Systems and the Strada architectural firm on the hotel.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: October 31, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
