Uptown Partners event looks to rally support for preserving historic Tito House

Pittsburgh’s Uptown Partners is holding an event Saturday to educate the community about the Tito House, a building nominated for historic designation.

The event is part of a larger effort to rally support for preserving the Fifth Avenue building, which is at risk of being demolished to make way for development.

Built in 1884, the house was owned by Joe Tito, a prominent Prohibition-era bootlegger who would later become owner of Latrobe Brewing Co. The Tito Garage behind the house on Colwell Street, which also is nominated for historic designation, became the brewing company’s first Pittsburgh beer distributor and was the first known place where Rolling Rock beer was sold, starting in 1935.

Tito, along with friend and business partner Gus Greenlee, contributed to the success of the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a Negro League baseball team that played at the former Greenlee Field in the city’s Hill District.

The Tito House is at 1817 Fifth Ave., between Gist and Dinwiddie streets. It sits on the site of a proposed development that Fountain Residential Partners, a developer specializing in college housing, wants to build along Fifth. If Tito House is approved for historic designation, it will be protected from demolition.

Fountain Residential Partners would tear down Tito House as part of a plan to develop about 280 apartments, with 5% of the units designated for affordable housing, along with retail space that would likely include a grocery store.

Uptown Partners, which filed a petition for conservatorship of the abandoned Tito House property that is still pending, opposes Fountain Residential Partners’ proposed development, said Sabreena Miller, the community organization’s real estate and development manager.

Julia Felton | Tribune-Review

The Tito House is nominated for historic designation, but a developer wants to tear it down to clear the way for new development.

“Nobody at Uptown Partners wants to see the building come down,” Miller said. “We’re trying to retain some of the character of Uptown as it grows and changes. We see this house as an opportunity to preserve some fabric of our community and bring it into a productive reuse that makes sense and doesn’t include more erasure of Uptown.”

While the building “needs work,” Miller said it appears to be structurally sound and the interior is gutted.

Jon Clayton, vice president of Fountain Residential Partners, said the developer does not intend to be “adversarial” about the situation and has submitted its plans to Uptown Partners.

Miller said she doesn’t feel the developer is really willing to work with her organization.

Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission has voted to recommend historical designation for the site, but the city’s Historic Review Commission voted against it. The measure is now before City Council, which will host a public hearing before making a final decision.

Uptown Partners’ event on Saturday will run from 1 to 3 p.m. The organization will walk people by the Tito House and the Tito Garage, Miller said. The event is free.