Spotlight On Main Street | Beneficial Building

Help save history in your community by restoring and reusing historic buildings.

“This building helps tell the story of our past, and it's going to be interesting to go inside it when it is fixed up for a new use.” --student quote

Beneficial Building: 1505-07 East Carson Street; Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Date and Style: Built in 1881; --Victorian Renaissance; The windows are set within basket-handle arches with carved keystones. The cornice, or top of the building, is ornamented with brackets and carvings.; Facade improvements funded, in part, through the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation's Preservation Loan Fund

The datestone consists of a carved beehive surrounded by the name “Elias Kauffeld.” The date of 1881 appears under the beehive. The beehive recalls a famous German phrase: “Work makes life sweet.”
A map of 1916 shows that the “German Beneficial Union” was located here. The initials, "GBU," were uncovered in 2005 during the building restoration (see photo below).
The name "Schwartz Sanitary Market" was uncovered on the storefront signage of 1507 East Carson Street during the 2005 restoration, revealing the original location of Schwartz Market (see photos below).
From the 1960s on, Foto Hut Factory occupied the three-story commercial building, along with a few other tenants. Film was processed on the upper stories, and a store was on the ground floor. The building was painted yellow, representing Foto Hut's corporate color.
In the early 2000s, Foto Hut closed its store and put the building up for sale.

In 2004, the South Side Local Development Company (SSLDC) and TREK Development Group purchased the vacant building, with the help of a $250,000 loan from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Restoration began in the summer of 2005 (see photos below). The project cost was just over $4 million. The project team included UpStreet Architects (Indiana, PA; Michael Eversmeyer, historic preservation architect; and Guardian Construction, contractor).
In 2008 three new tenants moved into the newly-renovated building: Carson Street Deli and Owen's Cleaners occupy the first floor; and Cardinal Resources, an environmental consulting firm, occupies the second and third floors. As of July 2008, one upper-floor commercial space was still available. City Theatre is master leasing the six residential units on the upper floors for out-of-town performers.