By Tom Frank, Executive Director, CREDA Pittsburgh
This past week I had the privilege of standing with developers, elected officials, and union leaders in the Strip District as McCaffery broke ground on Brickworks, one of the most significant residential investments the neighborhood has seen. On behalf of CREDA Pittsburgh, I want to open with a straightforward message: congratulations to Dean Welch, to Dan McCaffery, and to the entire McCaffery team. Projects like this do not happen by accident. They happen because a developer is willing to spend years pushing a vision through concept, entitlement, and financing, and then commit real capital to see it built.
Brickworks will deliver 300 new residences to the heart of the Strip: 260 apartments and 40 for-sale brownstones, spread across two city blocks near Smallman Street and the historic St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.
Just as important as what is being built is how it is being built. Brickworks is a 100% union project, financed in part through union equity and backed by public investment. That combination- private developer, public partners, and union labor- is exactly the model CREDA members should want to see succeed.
A financing structure worth understanding
Dan McCaffery noted that Brickworks marks his seventh project in Pittsburgh, a track record that speaks for itself, and one representing an investment of roughly hundreds of millions in the neighborhood. He pointed to two financing pathways that made this groundbreaking possible.
The first is union equity, invested through PenTrust and The ERECT Funds. For members who have not worked with them directly, The ERECT Funds (Employee Real Estate Construction Trust) were created by PenTrust and the building trades to finance commercial real estate built entirely with union labor. PenTrust serves as the exclusive investment advisor and servicer, and the Funds have deployed well over half a billion dollars across Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Ohio, and West Virginia. In short, this is patient, mission-aligned capital that rewards developers for building union. Brickworks is a textbook example of how it works.
The second is public support in the form of RACP (Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program) funds, alongside a sales tax abatement that helped close the gap on a complex urban deal.
What the speakers said
Mayor Corey O’Connor framed Brickworks as part of a larger effort to keep bringing people back to Pittsburgh and to make the city people’s first choice of where to live. He was direct in giving credit where it is due, noting that this kind of momentum does not happen without McCaffery’s long-term vision for the Strip District.
City Councilman Bobby Wilson, who represents the district, spoke to how much this project means for a neighborhood in need of housing. He expressed genuine excitement at seeing a development of this scale deliver much-needed residences, thanked every party at the table for getting it done, and singled out the fact that Brickworks will be built 100% union.
State Senator Devlin Robinson (37th District) spoke in support of a project that delivers critical housing to the city while supporting 100% union construction. The Senator was instrumental in helping secure the RACP funds and getting behind the sales tax abatement that strengthened the deal.
Greg Bernarding, Executive Business Manager of the Pittsburgh Regional Building Trades Council, described Brickworks as a true public-private partnership, one that aligns a private developer, public officials, and union contracting around a shared outcome. It is a useful reminder that the region’s best projects are rarely the work of any single party.
Dean Welch, McCaffery’s Managing Director for Pittsburgh operations and a member of the CREDA Pittsburgh board, closed the developer’s remarks by putting the day in context for the neighborhood and the city.
“Brickworks is a very important project for McCaffery, our partners, and the Strip District. McCaffery has a long history of catalytic development in this neighborhood. The impact of the Cork Factory, Lot 24, and The Produce Terminal and 1600 Smallman is unmatched. Quality buildings with varied uses create a symbiotic neighborhood that supports the community.” – DEAN WELCH, McCAFFERY / CREDA PITTSBURGH BOARD MEMBER
Now, Brickworks, which will deliver 300 residences to this site, sits in the middle of 20 years of investment McCaffery has made in the Strip District”
Our members in the middle of the deal
One of the things I am proudest of is how many CREDA Pittsburgh members had a hand in Brickworks.
The project is being built by Rycon, and CREDA member Reid Cservak and his team are responsible for turning these plans into a standing building on a 100% union job.
“Rycon is proud to continue our partnership with McCaffery, serving as the Construction Manager for the Brickworks residential project. Having worked together on several projects, including multiple fit-outs within The Terminal, Orr’s Jewelers, Design Within Reach, and the Encore Building, we’ve built a strong working relationship over the years. Our team has also been involved throughout preconstruction, working alongside the ownership and design teams on budgeting, design coordination, and value engineering efforts to help align the project with its cost and programmatic goals. As a Pittsburgh-based company with our corporate office just a couple blocks away in the Strip District, this project is especially meaningful to our team. We know this neighborhood, we’ve been part of its growth, and we’re excited to help bring another important development to the area. Rycon has a long history of successfully managing large-scale union construction projects throughout Western Pennsylvania, and we’re looking forward to bringing that experience to help make Brickworks a success.” – REID CSERVAK, RYCON / CREDA PITTSBURGH MEMBER
On the capital side, CREDA board member Tyler Noland of PenTrust helped bring the union equity to the table through The ERECT Funds, the kind of financing many of our members could use on their own projects.
“We are very happy and pleased to partner with McCaffery on this exciting projects. The ERECT Fund is a valuable regional asset which provides debt and equity solutions for developers willing to commit to 100% union labor. The ERECT Funds will provide equity alongside McCaffery and our other partners in this project. This will be the fifth project in the Strip District the ERECT Funds have invested in alongside McCaffery, including the Cork Factory, Lot 24, The Terminal, 1600 Smallman, and now Brickworks. Our partnership with McCaffery extends over 20 years and we have worked on this project alone for probably close to five years. We and the Building Trades are proud to back distinguished partners like McCaffery who provide the vision to revitalize neighborhoods like has occurred in the Strip District. Additionally, our sister company Alluvial Partners helped facilitate conduit bond financing through the Port of Pittsburgh which alleviated sales tax on materials for the project, a vital subsidy that helped this project get over the hump.” – TYLER NOLAND, PENTRUST / CREDA PITTSBURGH BOARD MEMBER
And from the labor side, CREDA member Steve Mazza of the Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters spoke to what a fully union project means for the workforce that builds our region. Steve talked with me about how these types of deals are possible and how impressed he is by the McCaffery team, the multiple parties involved in the creative financing for the deal, and the commitment from the parties involved and the elected officials for ensuring this project is a union construction job.
Why it matters
Brickworks is the kind of deal CREDA Pittsburgh exists to champion. It provides much needed housing supply, is downtown-adjacent, and made possible by a developer willing to partner with both the public sector and organized labor. It keeps the Strip District’s momentum going, and it gives more people a reason to call Pittsburgh home.
To Dean Welch, to Dan McCaffery, and to everyone who moved this project from vision to groundbreaking: congratulations, and thank you for building here!
