east liberty station: realizing the potential - City of Pittsburgh

Land Use Analysis
Current Annual Property Tax Revenue:
Today East Liberty already has many of the
attributes of the idealized Mixed Use Center
TOD. The neighborhood contains a broad
mix of uses including a variety of residential
types and price points, complemented
by main street retail, churches, office,
industrial and government/school facilities.
However despite this diversity, most of the
activity occurs within segregated areas.
Unlike an idealized Mixed Use Center TOD
East Liberty Station has only lower density
residential use immediately adjacent to the
primary transit station and they are only
found close to the station to the immediate
south. Moving in other directions the
adjacent land use is dominated by
automobile oriented commercial uses,
surface parking and office and retail uses.
The residential density of the half-mile
radius around the station varies widely
from block to block with an average of only
4.5 across the entire study area. While
some block have no housing, others have
densities upwards of 25 units an acre. The
current residential density pattern is less
than ideal, with entire areas around the
station devoid of housing particularly to the
north and east of the station. These areas
tend to be dominated by single use retail
or office areas as well as large expanses
of supporting surface parking. Looking to
the future of TOD in East Liberty, a more
mixed use pattern of development should
be encouraged as should higher density
residential uses particularly in the quartermile
radius around the station.
Gross Residential density
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Housing Units 2010 Census
Blocks
units / acre 10.1 - 15
< 2.5
2.5 - 5
5.1 - 10
15.1 - 20
20.1 - 25
> 25
Considered in terms of property value, the
half mile radius around the East Liberty
Busway station comprises 390 acres
currently assessed at approximately $513
million. Within this study area, 33% of
the acreage, currently assessed at $139
million, is tax exempt. This represents
approximately $4 million of annual
property tax revenue forgone by the local
taxing bodies. The City, government
authorities, and parking/utilities control
60% of this exempt land area (40% of
exempt assessed value) with the majority
of the rest utilized for religious purposes.
Current annual property tax revenues of
approximate $11 million are generated by
taxable properties within the study area.
City of Pittsburgh $3,998,717.97
Pgh School District $5,153,903.16
Allegheny County $1,736,480.30
Total $10,889,101.44*
Parcel Sizes Taxable Exempt
< 1 acre 2,139 284
1-2 acres 21 14
2-3 acres 3 2
3+ acres 12 7
Source: Allegheny County Office of Property Assessments
*Does not include exempt property including parcels
designated KOZ or within active TIF Districts
The study area contains nearly 2,500 tax
parcels with approximately 90% currently
generating property tax revenue. Less
than 3% of these parcels are larger than 1
acre. Of these sizable parcels, only 15 have
been estimated as suitable for development
given their current status or use. Property
assemblage will be necessary for large
scale redevelopment initiatives.
A rather high percentage of parcels are
currently underutilized. Approximately
15% of parcels within the study area have
an improvement to land value ratio of less
than .95. Much of this area is currently
poorly utilized surface parking, or larger
parcels with inefficient development
patterns. Over 10% of the total land area is
currently classified as vacant.
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