When Lisa Perrone was thinking about moving from Cincinnati nine years ago, she found Mt. Lebanon listed among the best places to raise a family and chose a home.
"I love this town. I love Mt. Lebanon," Perrone said Friday as ground was broken for the development that will include her new condominium.
Washington Park Condominiums, located at the corner of Washington and Bower Hill roads, will offer two- and three-bedroom luxury condos with six different floor plans. The 40 units are priced from $380,000. The complex will include 14,000 square feet of retail space.
Construction is expected to get under way in March, said Michael D. Heins, chief financial officer for the developer, Zamagias Properties. The project has a 16-month construction schedule.
That will allow Perrone time to put her home in Virginia Manor up for sale next May and give her a year before she moves.
A plan to use tax dollars for the project stirred controversy when opponents didn't think tax monies should be used for turning lanes and other portions of the project.
"Everybody finally came together," Heins said.
The Mt. Lebanon commissioners joined the school board in approving a $6.1 million tax break to Zamagias to allow the $42.8 million project to proceed.
That tax-increment financing allowed money that would have been paid as property taxes to be used for infrastructure improvements. The Zamagias project calls for the addition of 50 public parking spaces; a new park, plaza and bus shelter; and road improvements along Bower Hill Road.
An independent financial analysis by Janney Montgomery Scott said the amount of money pledged by the school board and municipality was reasonable because it represented new income, rather than an existing revenue source, and would not impact their budgets.
The report said that when completed, the assessment of the 1.71-acre site will increase $845,000 to $37.3 million and generate $20.7 million in tax revenue over a 30-year period.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride," developer Michael Zamagias said. "But we knew we had to raise the bar to an incredible height because of the community."
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