‘It’s time’: May Building in Downtown Pittsburgh to receive $18.5 million makeover

By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A historic Downtown building constructed in the early 1900s for a drug company is about to undergo a major overhaul.

Owner Beacon Communities is proposing to restore the facade, create 10 fully accessible apartments and make other improvements to the 12-story May Building at 529 Liberty Ave. as part of the rehab.

Boston-based Beacon will brief the Pittsburgh Planning Commission on the project Tuesday.

The changes represent the first big renovations to the property since 1974, when work involved converting the building from offices to 88 apartments, constructing an addition on the east side and reconfiguring the first and second floors of the original facade.

“The property hasn’t had a substantial capital investment in over 40 years. It’s time,” said Michael Polite, senior vice president of development for Beacon.

Perhaps the biggest change will involve creating 10 fully accessible apartments, for people with physical disabilities, by gutting one floor of the building. The work will end up reducing the total number of units from 88 to 86.

Beacon also is planning to restore the first and second floors of the facade to the same character as the original building design, essentially undoing the changes made in 1974.

In addition, it intends to replace the roof and all of the windows in the building, construct a new community room and fitness center, upgrade the elevators and improve the management offices.

Last year, Beacon received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under its Green and Resilient Retrofit program to help improve energy efficiency, increase accessibility, and enhance amenities in the building.

The owner is seeking energy savings of 25% or more through the rehab.

Beacon also received $2.43 million in federal and state low-income housing tax credits to help in the financing for the overhaul, which is expected to total about $18.5 million. It also is getting historic tax credits.

Work is expected to start next year.

The May Building features a mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments. Of the 88 units, 46 are supported by Section 8 project-based rental assistance, with the apartments designated for households at or below 50% of the area median income. The rest are market rate.

In its earliest days, the building served as the flagship for the May Drug Company, which by 1921 operated 10 stores throughout the Pittsburgh area, according to the Senator John Heinz History Center.

According to the Beacon planning commission presentation, the structure was built in 1907. The history center dates the construction to 1909.