Developer gets OK to tear down Pittsburgh garage where Rolling Rock beer was first sold

Pittsburgh’s Historic Review Commission has approved a plan to preserve an Uptown house once owned by a bootlegger who became the owner of Latrobe Brewing Co., but not a garage that served as the company’s first Pittsburgh beer distributor.

Dallas-based Fountain Residential Partners is acquiring the Uptown property that includes the Tito House on Fifth Avenue and the associated garage, behind the house on Colwell Street.

The developer has presented plans for the site that include more than 250 apartments and on-site parking.

City Council last summer granted historic designation to the Tito House and the garage.

Built in 1884, the home was owned by Joe Tito, a prominent Prohibition-era bootlegger who later became the owner of Latrobe Brewing Co. The garage became the brewing company’s first Pittsburgh beer distributor and was the first known place where Rolling Rock beer was sold, starting in 1935.

There had been significant debate on the historic designation, with the Historic Review Commission not recommending it for the designation. Some community members argued Tito shouldn’t be celebrated because his business practices allegedly included violence and intimidation, while others argued the building had become a blight to the community.

Fountain Residential Partners is buying the house for $500,000, according to President and CEO Brent Little. The developer will donate the house to Uptown Partners for preservation.

The nonprofit plans to put the historic house “into reuse in such a way that highlights the history of the Tito-Mecca-Zizza families, the culture of Uptown and the significance of Rolling Rock,” Executive Director Brittany McDonald said.

The first step, she said, will be to stabilize the property.

The organization, which nominated the house and garage for historic recognition, also has backed Fountain Residential Partners’ bid to tear down the garage to make way for a new development.

Their development plans include more than 250 apartments, more than 150 off-street parking spots, bike storage and public art. Five percent of the housing units will be designated as affordable housing for people making no more than 80% of the area median income.

The developer told the Planning Commission it would not be feasible to include parking — something the Uptown community had said it wanted to see in the development — without demolishing the historic garage.

The development team said they have worked out a plan to preserve its bricks for use in the new development after commissioners previously had expressed concerns about the demolition.

Originally, the developers planned to reuse some of the garage materials elsewhere on the site, said Michael Takacs with Pittsburgh-based Bohler Engineering.

Now they’re planning to recreate the facade of the garage on the side of their new building in the same spot where the garage now stands.

“It very closely mimics the appearance of the actual Tito Garage itself, while being 90% on Tito Garage property,” Takacs said. “We will be reusing that material from the garage to do this.”

Takacs and Little said they’re committed to preserving as much of the material from the garage as possible. They also will include a functioning garage door that will lead into the parking area.

“We feel that the combination of the preservation of the Tito House and our efforts to maintain the character and history of the garage into this new building project, it will hopefully meet the goals and intent of all parties involved,” Takacs said.

Commissioners suggested signage to make people aware of the history of the site, something the development team agreed could be included.

Members of the Historic Review Commission indicated they felt the proposal is a fair compromise between competing interests to preserve history and move forward with new development.

“This community needs this development and also needs to commemorate and honor those who have been there before,” Commission Chair Lucia Aguirre said ahead of a preliminary vote in favor of permitting the garage’s demolition.

“I think that we’ve reached what is a reasonable accommodation to what has been a lengthy, wacky back-and-forth situation that’s lasted a long time now,” Commissioner James Hill said.

Rona Peckich of California said she was a representative of the Tito family that had previously owned the site. The family does not currently own the house, the garage or any other part of the property and so has not been included in the planning for the new development, she said.

“Of course, we’d still like the garage to stay standing because it’s the only thing my family built during their time there, and it’s very significant to Rolling Rock beer,” she said. “This solution is somewhat OK. It’s just not what we would like.”

Little said Fountain Residential Partners will next move to the Planning Commission to seek its approval of the proposed development. He said they plan to go before the commission in September due to the commission’s summer recess in August.