Chabad Planning to Move by Fall

Pittsburgh, PA — Chabad of the South Hills will be on the move in a few months.

Chabad, which is known as the Jewish Center for Living and Learning, currently rents space on Bower Hill Road at the Bower Hill Swim Club, but has purchased its own building in Mt. Lebanon, with plans to move by fall.

The new site is 1701 Helen Drive at its intersection with McFarland Road, in a building which currently houses an insurance company. The building fronts on McFarland Road.

Rabbi Mendel Rosenblum, leader of the center, said the building is 14,000 square feet but that his group may look to rent out about 7,000 square feet, preferably to a nonprofit group.

It has 25 parking spaces on site and 13 it will rent across the street.

The new site, which will be owned, rather than leased, will give the group the opportunity to customize the facility. Right now, Rabbi Rosenblum’s study not only serves as the library and classroom, but also storage. The new building will have separate space for all of those uses, including the Jewish Learning Institute and a “full-blown library with Internet access,” he said.

About 200 families are affiliated with Chabad of the South Hills, which is not only a synagogue, but also offers education, social activities and advocacy for such issues as kosher kitchens, Rabbi Rosenblum said. They also serve other individuals, who take classes and participate in activities regardless of where, or if, they worship.

Chabad came to the South Hills nine years ago, starting first in the basement of Rabbi Rosenblum’s Mt. Lebanon home, and then moving to a building on North Wren Drive, before spending the past five years on Bower Hill Road.

The group attempted to buy a family home to use as a learning center, but ran into problems with parking and storm water runoff, issues it does not face in the new building, he said.

Chabad hopes to close on the property in September and begin “several hundred thousand dollars worth” of renovations, which should take about two months. The group will still likely be in its Bower Hill address for the Jewish High Holy Days in September.

The group expects to be in the new building by late fall.

Chabad has received a recommendation for final approval for a conditional use permit from the Mt. Lebanon planning board, with final approval expected from the commission. The conditional use is required to locate a place of worship within a commercial district. The area is currently zoned C-2, said Mt. Lebanon planner Keith McGill.

A public hearing is scheduled for May 29.