Pittsburgh planners to consider plans for 20-story tower above Downtown's YWCA building

Plans for a proposed 20-story tower with 300 apartments above the former YWCA of Pittsburgh building in Downtown now include a rooftop pool, two-story restaurant and health club, according to a project architect.

City Club Apartments LLC bought the former YWCA of Pittsburgh building at 305 Wood St. for $4 million in April. It presented development plans for the site to the city’s Planning Commission on Tuesday.

The city granted the developer a zoning variance last year allowing it to build up to 300 smaller apartments at the site as opposed to about 140 larger units permitted under city regulations.

The YWCA building is four stories tall, with three floors below ground level. It was built in 1963 to house a community center and gymnasium, along with a below-ground swimming pool. Much of the building has been vacant.

Ryan Indovina with Indovina Associates Architects said plans call for a tower to set back about 25 feet from the facade of the existing building on Wood Street. Of the 300 proposed apartments, 10% would be earmarked for affordable housing for people making 50% of the area median income — or about $29,700 a year. Twenty of the affordable units would be studio apartments, six would be one-bedroom apartments and four would have two bedrooms, Indovina said.

“I appreciate your salvaging the building at the bottom and the keeping of the public use down there,” Planning Commission Chair Christine Mondor said of the proposed development. “I enjoy this project for that reason.”