Student apartment plan clears Greensburg hurdle

Plans for a 27-unit student apartment building on College Avenue in Greensburg moved forward Tuesday with a recommendation from the city Historic and Architectural Review Board.

Greensburg Property Partners LLC presented plans to the board for the second time, after tweaking the proposal's designs in response to criticisms raised last month.

The porches in front of the three-story brick building will be larger and have a more classical look. The windows will be more consistent and symmetrical. The bricks will be all red, instead of the red and tan scheme originally proposed.

It is much more comprehensive, and I'm grateful for that, said HARB member Barbara Jones.

Board President Steve Gifford abstained from the vote. He is the director of the Greensburg Community Development Center, which sold some property to the developers for this project.

The rest of the board members agreed unanimously to recommend the building to city council.

If the project receives approval in March, construction will begin immediately. The developers are aiming for completion by Aug. 1, in order to house Seton Hill students in the 2015-2016 school year.

Nate Morgan of Monroeville and Deanna Seruga of Harrison City own Greensburg Property Partners and will oversee construction.

Most of the building will be constructed modularly off-site, then rapidly assembled. Once all the pieces are on the property, the building will be up in only three or four days, Morgan said.

The project would demolish five vacant houses, four on College Avenue and one on Brown Avenue, all built sometime in the 1910s or 1920s.

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Student apartment plan clears Greensburg hurdle