Developer Cambridge Venture Partners has proposed a hotel, restaurant, condominium and retail complex for the site -- described by residents as the gateway to the community. It would include a nine-story building with a restaurant, 135 hotel rooms and 20 condominiums.
The site includes the closed Poli's Restaurant, several commercial establishments and the Squirrel Hill Theatre, which would be closed.
The zoning board asked an attorney for the developers to submit a brief based on testimony at Thursday's public hearing that included concerns raised by several residents and by employees of the Tango Cafe, a restaurant on the site, about parking and traffic congestion.
Attorney William R. Sittig Jr. said he will await a transcript, expected within 30 days, before submitting the brief. It may take the three-member board up to another month to reach a decision.
"Often, it is a traffic nightmare to attempt to cross the street from Forward to Murray. And unless there is a plan by the developers to improve the intersection with traffic signals and turning lanes, the project will only add to the problem," said Anne Robertson, who lives in the 2700 block of Beechwood Boulevard. She said students from nearby Allderdice High School and pedestrians find the site difficult to cross.
Lisa Mellay, a waitress at the Tango Cafe, agreed that traffic problems make the intersection "difficult" for pedestrians.
Robertson also raised concerns about parking for retail customers.
The project would include a 52-space parking lot on Murray, opposite the Poli site, plus a 112-car lot on Forward, toward the Parkway East, said Bob Murray of Renaissance 3 Architects PC. There would be 20 parking spaces for the condominiums.
Cynthia Jampole, a consultant who conducted a parking study for the developers, said she did not include any traffic considerations but plans to follow up on that question. Regarding parking, she said the project will have 184 spaces, while only 121 are required by zoning.
Rabbi Daniel Wasserman of Shaare Torah Congregation on Murray, who supports the project, said he has been waiting about 20 years for improvement of the site. He cited the need for a hotel in Squirrel Hill and "a fresh new look" for that corner.
Cambridge Venture Partners is seeking a special exception for the hotel and restaurant and for the two off-site parking lots, and a variance for the height-to-floor-area ratio, which zoning permits as 2-to-1 while 4.55-to-1 is requested because of the nine-story building.
Investors in Cambridge Venture Partners are R.E. Crawford, president of R.E. Crawford Construction of Springdale; Russell Mills of Mills & Henry law firm; and Steve Davis of Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate. Also involved is Alderson-Forward Properties LLC, an out-of-town investment group that owns the properties along Forward.
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