“As a charter school, we’re supposed to think differently; we’re supposed to think out of the box,” Richard Wertheimer, the school’s principal and co-founder, told KDKA-TV.
After spending 10 years in the Clark Building, Wertheimer said they wanted to keep City High downtown. The school has the first four floors of the building with over 600 students.

While the students are separated inside from the tenants, Wertheimer says being downtown immerses them in a professional world. “To come downtown, to rub elbows with all the people that are working… white collar, blue collar people and just get to know what the world is about. I think it gives them a whole new perspective.”

Robert Edelman with PMC Property Group says most of the 158 newly renovated apartments have already been filled. Applauding the relationship for working so well, he says they consider the school to be just another tenant. “It works. The kids do not see the tenants,” Edelman adds, “the tenants don’t see the kids… it’s worked well!”

The PMC Property Group says they’ve tried this model before and it’s worked, but by far this is the most successful combination of residential living and education.

Reuse of existing buildings is what PMC Property Group does, but its pairing of purpose in the former Verizon headquarters may be the most unusual of developments and redevelopments in the city — luxury apartments atop a high school, two-thirds of whose students qualify for free or reduced lunch prices.

In fact, the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties is considering 201 Stanwix, among others, for an award for best mixed-use reuse in 2011.

The glass partition separates the four residential elevators from the school’s two. City High moved into the first four floors on Jan. 6. Floors 5-12 include 158 apartments.
“There’s a nice symmetry here,” said Richard Wertheimer, CEO and principal of City High. “We start at 7:30, 8 o’clock, when many tenants leave [for work] and we end at 4:15 or so, before they come home.” The arrangement “makes a great deal of sense. This has been a wonderful relationship. I think it’s very cool.”

PMC — Philadelphia Management and Companies — rents the school’s 80,000 square feet at “affordable market-rate commercial” rate, said Bob Edelman, PMC Property Group’s supervisor in Pittsburgh.

The other 205,000 square feet include 126 one-bedroom and 32 two-bedroom apartments renting from $850 to $2,000. More than half are already rented less than a year after PMC began interior renovations, he said.

Ms. Crane moved in Oct. 1 and was the only person on the 10th floor for five weeks. Now she has neighbors on both sides.

“I found it on Craigslist when I was apartment hunting,” she said. Then living in Honolulu working for the federal government, she was transferred here and called on friends in Pittsburgh to look at the places she was finding online.

“A high school friend here looked in this building and told me, ‘You’re going to love it.’ ”

At first, she didn’t. Not everything was ready and there were a few heating glitches, “but I love it now. I have a small one-bedroom, 650 square feet, and an awesome view. I can see the river and the Fort Pitt Bridge.”

The developer used federal historic tax credits, so it was required to comply with historic standards of the National Park Service. It had to retain the corrugated metal doors in the lobby, the marble columns and walls throughout the building, “the light fixtures that look like flying saucers, anything that shows original details,” Mr. Edelman said.

The executive suites on the 12th floor included marble bathrooms. One apartment has a pull-out liquor bar original to the corporate suite, another a built-in wood file cabinet. Others have wainscoting and double-entrance doors like those of a board room.

The school’s upgrade from its location on Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District included Bell Atlantic’s original 200-seat auditorium.

“This is amazing for us,” Mr. Wertheimer said. “We can put on productions on this stage.”
He said the students were bug-eyed over the marble walls when they began moving in.
City High turns 10 this year and was recently named a bronze medal school by U.S. News. The walls of the administrative area on the first floor are lined with biographies of graduates who went on to college — at a higher rate than the national average.
“We have students from every possible walk of life, but most of our kids are from the inner city,” Mr. Wertheimer said. “We prove with every class that you can achieve greatly no matter where you’re from.”

“This is the first time I’ve done a mixed-use building,” Mr. Edelman said. “I’ve done other [housing] projects for PMC, but this is my first with a school.” He said the collaboration is particularly satisfying because “I am proud of what this school does.”
For the school, the developer created a large cafeteria and kitchen, where a chef prepares fresh lunches.

The move gave the school and its 600 students 18,000 square feet of additional space, larger classrooms, more conference and meeting rooms, science labs with chemistry capabilities and a design to accommodate independent study for 12th-graders.

Built in 1956 as Western Pennsylvania’s Bell Atlantic headquarters, the building was last used by Verizon, which vacated last January. PMC Property Group bought it from Hertz Investment Group for $4.4 million in December 2010.

The developer also owns the 117-unit Penn Garrison apartments Downtown, the New Kenmawr Apartments in Shadyside and has recently closed on the Robin Building on Ross Street, Downtown. It is still doing due diligence on an effort to buy the Regional Enterprise Tower Downtown and wants to buy the former Schenley High School in Oakland.

Mr. Edelman said a former staffer for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Patty Burk, “was instrumental in getting us information” about residential need among young professionals for one-bedroom apartments.

“I call them kids. In the age bracket of people coming out of professional schools, 25 to 37 years old, there are a lot of singles who want to live Downtown, don’t want roommates anymore and want minimal space and no clutter because they are going to be moving on later.”

For Ms. Crane, the fit is also perfect for now.

“I’ve never lived right in the middle of a big city before,” she said, “so it’s kind of exciting.”

Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. Read her blog City Walkabout at www.post-gazette.com/citywalk .

Students, Tenants Co-Exist In City Charter School « CBS Pittsburgh.

Part of City High’s first graduating class, Eric is also one of the first high school students ever to be granted an internship at the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office. A prestigious achievement that took weeks of negotiations between City High faculty and county officials.

Eric’s 13-week internship allowed him to attend preliminary hearings, watch autopsies and shadow forensic scientists in the crime lab. “I loved it,” Eric beams. “I got to network with business people, and I got great references from them.”

“My mentor, Timothy G. Uhrich, Esq., who’s a Solicitor to the Coroner’s Office, gave me information about colleges, jobs and opportunities I could take,” says Eric. “He helped me map out my future.”

Students will begin the second trimester at the new location. Their first day is Friday, January 6, 2012.

City High will occupy the first four floors of the new building. The rest of the building will consist of luxury apartments. The move provides us with a number of improvements to our program:

• 18,000 sq.ft. of additional space
• Exclusive entrance for City High students and staff
• Larger classrooms
• More conference/meeting rooms
• Improved science labs with chemistry capabilities
• 200 seat auditorium
• A vastly improved kitchen and food service program
• An increase in the student body from 570 to 600 students
• A new 12th grade classroom design that promotes independent learning

Students will be taken on a tour of the new facility prior to the move. We will have an open house for parents once we are moved in.

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Human Resources Director Heather Ann Urban and hotel staff recently presented the proceeds to Education Manager Mario Zinga here at City High. The Renaissance Pittsburgh also supports City High with staff participation in volunteer opportunities, by hosting interns and by notifying the school of employment opportunities. We are grateful for all of the support this partnership provides.

City Charter High School has been repeatedly ranked among the best high schools in the nation by US News and World Report.  The magazine recently asked their top 1000 ranked high schools about their technology use.  As a result of the survey,  City Charter High School is ranked in the top ten (8^th) of these high performing high schools in the nation with regards to technology infrastructure and its use.

The Most Connected Classrooms »

Thanks to each and every one of you for contributing to a very successful school year in 2010 – 2011. Last year’s accomplishments were many:

• The largest graduating class in our history – 111 graduates;
• 93 of our graduates were accepted into either a 2-year or 4-year post-high-school university or training program;
• 419 MOS certifications in the graduating class;
• 99% of our 11th graders were proficient or advanced in writing on the PSSA; and
• Of our graduates who attend college, 75% earned a bachelors degree within 6 years as compared to 57% nationally.

I am looking forward to another outstanding year with academic success for all our students. Please note the important information about the start of school below.

• School opens on Tuesday, August 30th. 9th graders and new 10th graders should report by 7:45. All other students should report at 9:45.
• School dismissal is at 3:45 for 9th/10th graders and at 3:35 for 11th/12th graders.
• Please pay close attention to our dress code. Students who don’t comply with the code will be sent home to change their clothes.
• Parent conference reminder. Fall conferences will be on October 10th from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. More information will follow.

Welcome back for the 2011 -12 school year. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Working together we can achieve greatness!

Sincerely,

Richard Wertheimer, Ed.D.
CEO/Principal

We hope their reflections on all stages of the process–preparation, journey, return–will enlighten and inspire those who support them along the way, while bringing a bit of Pittsburgh flavor to Latin America and some Latin American flavor to Pittsburgh.

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