Updated joint LU/LC statement re: TRYP Hotel

Updated statement on 1/10/2025:

As part of our due diligence on the future of the TRYP Hotel, LU and LC have been learning more information since our statement in December. Please see below for some clarifying details about the status of the TRYP Hotel and what we know about the proposed project at this stage. You can also complete a survey on initial questions and feedback HERE.

The property for TRYP Hotel is in receivership and continues to operate as the TRYP Hotel while potential buyers for the property are considered. There are no plans to close down the hotel at this time that we’re aware of. Please continue supporting the TRYP Hotel with your events, lodging, coffee, and dining!
Hullett Properties, a Pittsburgh-based developer, reached out to LU and LC to discuss a potential project of a conversion of the TRYP Hotel into a residential apartment. As part of this project, they have shared their intention to request public funds from the URA and Allegheny County Economic Development, and their desire to earn community support for the award of these public funds, and requested LU and LC to facilitate a community engagement process. No commitments or awards from the URA or ACED have been made, nor have full applications even been submitted yet by the developer to these entities, to our knowledge. In the case of the URA, funding would be presented to the Board of Directors for consideration and a vote in a public meeting, after a due diligence period.
LU and LC have no position on this proposed project at this point. As a firm rule, LU and LC do not take positions on development projects without subjecting the project to our co-facilitated community process (“the Lawrenceville Community Process”), where projects are openly discussed and vetted with community members in public meetings (typically called a Community Development Activities Meeting). You can learn more about our community process here. LU and LC have no financial interest in this development project and did not recruit this developer. As community organizations, our role is to convene neighbors around prospective projects that may affect the community and ensure compliance with our neighborhood plans and priorities.
Many developers reach out early to us before a development project has been fully fleshed out and before site control has been acquired. Many of these projects fail to move forward, for all kinds of reasons. As a general rule, we don’t take speculative projects through our community process until, minimally, we understand what public entitlements they need and have an understanding of the main details of the project.
LU and LC have no control over the sale of private property and don’t attempt to interfere with contract negotiations, which can be illegal and subject us to lawsuits.
As we understand it, the proposed project from Hullett Properties is to convert the TRYP Hotel into 108 studio units of permanent residential housing — not a homeless shelter or transitional/interim housing. In other words, like most rental housing, these units will be subject to individual lease agreements and as long as the lease agreement is followed and renewed, tenants may stay as long as they like.
The project plans are still preliminary and different income and unit configurations are being considered by Hullett Properties.
The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP), which administers the Project Based Voucher program, has committed gap financing for 15 units to the project if it moves forward in this direction. LU and LC didn’t provide any support for this request. Many projects require many different sources of funding to be feasible, each with very different timelines. The Project Based Voucher program provides rent subsidies for units that are rented to households below 50% Area Median Income (a single individual earning about $35,000 per year or less, or someone working full-time earning about $16/hr). Tenants would pay 30% of their income and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh would cover the rest of the rent, which is based on local market rents. This video from HUD provides an overview of the program.
Hullett Properties is talking with the County and HACP about making some of the units available for the County’s “500 in 500” plan, an effort that seeks to address rising homelessness by making 500 units of affordable housing available for “low-risk or low-vulnerability” individuals who have stabilized in shelter (“people who have few to no interactions with the criminal justice system, homeless system, and emergency and intensive medical or behavioral health services and often have significant employment histories”). Extensive on-site supportive services and funding would be provided by the County, contingent on inclusion of a certain threshold of units involving “500 in 500.” You can learn more about “500 in 500” here.
Under the proposed conversion by Hullett Properties, units would largely follow the existing floor plan of the hotel and include private bathrooms in each unit, with the addition of kitchenettes: full-size refrigerators, microwaves, sinks, and stovetops with no oven. There would also be shared community/amenity spaces within the building for tenants.
Our understanding at this point is that the proposed conversion would trigger no hearings at the Zoning Board of Adjustment or Planning Commission and is by-right, meaning that it doesn’t need approvals from these public bodies for the proposed use of the building.
There are also tentative plans to sustain the use of a rooftop restaurant as a public-facing restaurant under the proposed plan.
Again, we want to stress that plans are preliminary. Additional details are still being collected by LU and LC, and Hullett Properties has stressed that they are considering other configurations.

Here’s what community members can expect from LU and LC as we prepare to take this through our community process, our mechanism for conducting an open and public community review process:

We’re working now to schedule an open and public community meeting in which ALL community members can hear more about these plans, ask questions, and provide feedback. We expect multiple community meetings, with the first one in the next month or two. We typically host meetings in the evenings around 6:30 PM and livestream them so that people can participate online or see a recording afterwards.
In advance of the community meeting, LU and LC will gather and verify more information, work to understand any approvals necessary, and measure the plan against our community plans and priorities. As we conduct this process, we want to start inviting community feedback now via this survey: what questions do you have? What initial thoughts do you have about the details above? What else would you like us to know? This will help us to gather questions/comments in advance so that the community meeting can make the best use of everyone’s time.
To get the word out, we will post flyers on LU and LC social media channels, our e-newsletters, and our websites. We will also flyer within 500 feet of the TRYP Hotel to ensure that immediately impacted neighbors are notified in person. We would appreciate support from community members who want to help us spread the flyer so that many community members are aware of this meeting. Please let us know via the survey above if you’d like to help or want to get added to an email list.
Community members are welcome to contact us with any questions or feedback in the meantime. LU can be reached at 412-802-7220 or info@LUnited.org. LC can be reached at 412-621-1616 or info@lawrencevillecorp.com.
About us: Lawrenceville United is a resident-driven non-profit organization since 2001 that’s dedicated to improving and protecting quality of life for all Lawrenceville residents. We have a membership of about 900 Lawrenceville residents, who democratically elect our Board of Directors using an open election process where anyone meeting minimum eligibility requirements can run. We do everything from administering home repairs for low-income homeowners to operating the Lawrenceville Farmers Market to running a Friday food distribution to supporting resident groups like the Tree Tenders and the Bernard Dog Park. Lawrenceville Corporation is a community development non-profit organization that acts as the catalyst and conduit for responsible and sustainable growth in Lawrenceville. We are governed by a Board of Directors. We staff the Better Streets Lawrenceville and encourage developers to incorporate the Butler Street Design Guidelines which aim to make the streets safe and efficient for all modes. We support the business district with resources, networking and events that bring visitors to the neighborhood.
How will a position be determined by LU and LC? We want to stress again that we currently have no position on this proposed project. The community process, and hearing from impacted community members, is essential to us determining our position on any development project. After feedback has been solicited, LU’s Board of Directors will formally vote on our position. LC’s Board of Directors will do the same. These positions will be reported back to community members who participated in the community process, along with any opportunities for community members to make their voice heard in any public meetings affiliated with the project.

Again, if you have any questions or other feedback at this time, please reach LU at 412-802-7220 or info@LUnited.org, and LC at 412-621-1616 or info@lawrencevillecorp.com.

Take the survey here

Please see our original statement on 12/2/24 here.

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