Pa. Turnpike Commission renting homes it bought in Plum, Penn Township

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission does more than operate a highway across the breadth of the state.

In several locations, it’s also a landlord, including in Plum, where the turnpike commission bought a single-family house that had been for sale in the Regency Park neighborhood.

The turnpike commission paid $247,000 for a three-bedroom ranch at 526 Millers Lane, which is now up for rent.

The property was sold by the estate of the late Helen Sopcak, who died in July . She had owned the house with her husband, John, who died in May 2007. The Sopcaks had lived there since 1957.

It is one of eight residential rental properties the turnpike commission owns in the Greater Pittsburgh area, commission spokeswoman Rosanne Placey said.

In Plum, another is nearby at 3326 Cassius St. The turnpike commission bought it in 2018, according to Allegheny County real estate records.

Both Plum properties are near the turnpike corridor.

Judi Dryburgh said she’s been renting the house on Cassius Street for about two years. She said people are amazed when she tells them the turnpike is her landlord.

She and her son stumbled on the house when they were looking for a nearby townhouse to rent and made a wrong turn. They pulled in the driveway at the end of a dead-end street, saw a sign and called the turnpike commission.

They were told the “for rent” sign had gone up just the day before.

“It was like a godsend,” she said. “I was looking for houses forever.”

Dryburgh’s understanding is the commission bought the house overlooking the highway in anticipation of a widening project.

“I’m here until they do that or until God takes me away,” she said.

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While Dryburgh said she has no problems with the turnpike commission as a landlord, she said it doesn’t fix anything: when her stove broke, she had to buy her own. But on the other side, she said she’s more free to do what she wants to the house, such as paint, that other landlords wouldn’t permit tenants to do.

“So far, we’ve had good luck,” she said.

And the highway noise? “It doesn’t really bother me. I just wipe it out,” Dryburgh said. “I enjoy watching the vehicles.”

The constant highway noise also does not bother Erik Lindstrom, either. He has rented a turnpike commission-owned house on Harvison Court in Penn Township, about five miles west of the Irwin interchange, for about 3½-years.

Lindstrom is very pleased with the turnpike commission as his landlord, which has had the property for rent since October 2019, Placey said.

“They’re the best,” Lindstrom said.

Whenever he needs something repaired, the turnpike commission has its employees fix it, Lindstrom said. Turnpike workers also mow the lawn, saving him several hours of time, Lindstrom said.

Lindstrom said he learned that the turnpike commission had houses for rent from a sign at a site along Arona Road near the intersection of Route 30 in North Huntingdon, where the commission razed two houses.

Lindstrom said he was told he can continue to live in the brick ranch house until the turnpike commission takes the land for its long-awaited project to widen the road between the Irwin and Monroeville exits. That house might be razed for the widening of the road or the replacement of the Harvison Road bridge over the turnpike, Placey said.

That, Lindstrom said, could take years.

“They will have to pry me out of here,” Lindstrom said.

The turnpike commission charges $800 a month for rent and the lease is year-to-year, Placey said. He sends his monthly rent check to the turnpike commission in Harrisburg, Lindstrom said.

For those wondering what it would be like to live some 60 feet from a highway busy 24 hours a day, Lindstrom said that once inside the red brick house, he does not hear the constant noise of passing cars and trucks. The highway noise does not keep him awake at night, he said.

“It’s one of the best decisions I ever made,” Lindstrom said.

He has, however, seen several motorist make the wrong decision by driving down the quarter-mile-long Harvison Court, thinking it will lead them to a shortcut to the turnpike. All it gets them is a close-up of the turnpike on a dead end road.

Of the remaining five houses, three are in West Mifflin, with one each in Monroeville and McDonald in Washington County, Placey said. The site in West Mifflin would be along the proposed route of the Mon-Fayette Expressway, which is to connect the current terminus of the tollroad in Jefferson Hills with Pittsburgh.

Placey said the commission bought the house on Millers Lane because it was for sale and is near a deep drainage pipe crossing, which she said is any pipe that is 20 feet or more below the turnpike’s roadway surface.

Buying the property “will permit a contractor to gain construction access to the pipe through turnpike property,” Placey said.

“This would certainly not be needed for many years, but again, since it was for sale, it was decided to acquire it now,” she said. “But since we would not have any immediate plans to access the property, it seemed appropriate to lease it.”

Placey did not say what the rent costs for the Millers Lane house.

According to the Allegheny County real estate website, 526 Millers Lane has 1,368 square feet of living area and sits on 2.83 acres. The sale to the turnpike commission is not yet reflected on the site.

When the commission buys properties for projects in advance, Placey said officials look at the condition of the property and structures and determine whether it’s possible to rent for a short term.

“At that time, our maintenance department becomes responsible for the upkeep of the property,” she said. “If the property is rentable, we place ‘for rent’ signs on the property, such as the one placed on 526 Millers Lane, and we receive applications. We then process the applications for the best potential renter for the property.”

As part of a lease, Placey said the commission requires tenants to be responsible for the upkeep of the property, such as mowing, and to pay all utilities.

“Sometimes, however, the condition of a property warrants us to demolish the structure rather than to maintain or lease it,” she said.

Placey said there are three other properties — one each in Everett, Bedford County; Chester County; and Scranton — that the commission bought adjacent to upcoming projects that are being rented.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Brian by email at brittmeyer@triblive.com or via Twitter .