PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Good news: a Starz production of a TV version of American Gods may shoot in Pittsburgh. That would be cool!

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2015/11/10/60m-tv-production-in-jeopardy-over-state.html

Bad news: the show may pull out due to the budget impasse rendering the availability of film tax credits uncertain.

Sidenote: as I previously acknowledged, this is one industry where tax credits potentially do play a major role in site location decisions.

[Captain Crash]

Came across this interesting loft conversion scheduled to open next year in Lawrenceville. They're making three units out of a small commercial building and expanding it using shipping containers. Hm.

http://kbennettdevelopmentgroup.com/portfolio/duncan-street-lawrenceville

[themaguffin]

his is one industry where tax credits potentially do play a major role in site location decisions.

It's definitely a major role in the decision.

I can say from being in Atlanta, it's been a huge difference since GA got aggressive with credits about a decade ago which has dealt massive blows to the Louisiana and NC share of filming (NC also pulled back on credits when the circus took over their legislature).

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Captain Crash

Came across this interesting loft conversion scheduled to open next year in Lawrenceville. They're making three units out of a small commercial building and expanding it using shipping containers. Hm.

http://kbennettdevelopmentgroup.com/portfolio/duncan-street-lawrenceville

Cool

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Extremely interesting paper on gentrification, or really the lack thereof, in East Liberty (this is from an analytics group hired by ELDI to do a series of these papers--this is the fourth):

http://www.eastliberty.org/sites/default...%20Paper_Addressing%20Gentrification.pdf

Even as the crime rate has dropped and property values have increased, there have not been large changes in the demographic and socioeconomic composition of East Liberty. As discussed in the paper, this outcome was no accident--there was careful planning to this end, including the provision of replacement affordable housing units. And that will probably require an ongoing effort, but one might hope this is a model that can be used in many other local neighborhoods.

That's good. Every urban planning book says that having mixed income neighborhoods is the way to go to avoid concentrated poverty.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Cool

Ditto!

Edit: OMG that site is hilarious . . .

Our approach to the renovation process has always been straightforward: a home shouldn’t just accommodate your lifestyle — it should elevate it. Allow us to translate. We want you to live like a f***ing boss. And sometimes, amidst that process, we latch on to a word like “elevate” and define it very literally. Welcome to 5227 Duncan Street: future home to three kickass, three-floor luxury lofts, stowed away in trendy little Lawrenceville. We call ’em the Cargo Lofts, but you can call them home if you want to. The origin of their name goes a little something like this: the third floor of Units A + B — and every floor of Unit C — will be constructed entirely out of brand-spanking-new shipping containers. (Wait. What?) As in, straight off the barge, industry-size, steel transportation units. You heard it here first: we’re amping up the renovations this time around with a new wave of architecture that’s gradually making its way to the east coast and our hearts.

There is even more. And those prices . . . . But I totally get it. These are places for ProBros (bros with professional jobs).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

That's good. Every urban planning book says that having mixed income neighborhoods is the way to go to avoid concentrated poverty.

Yep, and there is good evidence that way you ultimately get less total crime, better average educational results, more economic mobility, and so on.

We've got a real opportunity here to handle all these issues much better than most of our East Coast cousins, in part because we have the benefit of learning from their mistakes.

[Wiz Khalifa]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Huh?
Yes. Not only would you massively increase turbidity in already turbid waters (rivers are naturally turbid), but you would also dredge up tons of contaminants and put them into back into the water which they naturally settle out of. So, it would not be a good idea... and unless you completely paved over the entire watersheds of the Allegheny and Monongahela, Yough, etc, and stopped all precipitation in the watershed, Pittsburgh's rivers would fill right back up with mud, even if you could somehow do what you ask about.

Uhh... they already dredge the rivers on a regular basis so that the central channels maintain a certain depth. This does not release tons of contaminants because they mostly get washed downstream to begin with.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by Wiz Khalifa

Uhh... they already dredge the rivers on a regular basis so that the central channels maintain a certain depth. This does not release tons of contaminants because they mostly get washed downstream to begin with.

Of course rivers are dredged. This is not done to the extent haimon was asking about (which was fantasy world). And fyi, yes, even navigational dredging does release contaminants a lot of contaminants. Uhh..


Don't argue with me on this one, dude. I'm a civil/environmental engineer who focused on water resources for 15 years.

[Evergrey]

Hate to diverge from the fascinating river dredging discussion. ..

CNN profiled Bakery Square. .. some gorgeous aerial shots of the city.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/11/...burgh.cnn/video/playlists/united-states/

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Hate to diverge from the fascinating river dredging discussion. ..

CNN profiled Bakery Square. .. some gorgeous aerial shots of the city.

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/11/...burgh.cnn/video/playlists/united-states/

Wonder how much Walnut greased CNN's palm for that one. Bakery Square is still such a gross development to me. The far superior one sits just down the street at EastSide.

[BrianTH]

That was a really, really pretty video. Well done, fluff producers at CNN!

I think the retail/hotel portion of BKSQ 1.0 is a bit of a mess, but the renovation portion was cool, and I quite like how the new office portion of BKSQ 2.0 is turning out. I realize the design portion of Bakery Living is "controversial", but I think the density is solid for that area. The townhouse plan actually looks nicer, and while I am not thrilled with the density I understand why that component was required for neighborhood relation purposes.

I do think adding a Busway station would be nice, and maybe at some point that BKSQ 1.0 retail portion could be revisited. But overall, I think this has been quite a good project.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Wonder how much Walnut greased CNN's palm for that one. Bakery Square is still such a gross development to me. The far superior one sits just down the street at EastSide.

I don't know. I work here (not for Google) and as a place to work, it's perfectly fine. I'd rather be downtown so that I could commute on foot or bike but as a place to spend eight hours a day, five days a week, it's as nice an office building as anywhere else I've worked.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Good news: a Starz production of a TV version of American Gods may shoot in Pittsburgh. That would be cool!

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2015/11/10/60m-tv-production-in-jeopardy-over-state.html

Bad news: the show may pull out due to the budget impasse rendering the availability of film tax credits uncertain.

Sidenote: as I previously acknowledged, this is one industry where tax credits potentially do play a major role in site location decisions.

Oh wow. That's one of my favorite books, that would be awesome if they filmed it here.

[BrianTH]

The URA may already have a buyer for the Detective's Building in East Liberty:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...home-furnishings-retailer-targeting.html

The URA director's report describes Schoolhouse Electric & Supply as "a consumer product design and manufacturer that is looking to establish a design and manufacturing presence on the East Coast with the purchase and renovation of the Detective’s Building." Schoolhouse plans to renovate the building for use as "a retail, distribution, assembly, and repair center" and to also include a "design library" and community space. A company that does business with ACE Hotels, which is also based in Portland and slated to open soon in East Liberty, Schoolhouse also operates as a retailer that sells a mix of furniture and other home accessories, according to the company's website.

The building is four stories and totals 63,326 square feet. The URA bought the property, which is located at 206 North Euclid Ave., to create a larger block for redevelopment in combination with its neighboring Mellon's Orchard site. The URA report indicates that only a portion of the Detective's building site will be retained for redevelopment.

Edit: PG article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...me-base-development/stories/201511110110

Robert Rubinstein, the URA’s acting executive director, said Schoolhouse Electric began looking for properties in the city while it was doing work for Ace Hotel, which is scheduled to open next month. “They fell in love with Pittsburgh is probably the best way to put it,” Mr. Rubinstein said. “They started asking around the neighborhood for properties.”

[AaronPGH]

C'mon guys, let's get real here. Just because Google resides there doesn't mean they get a pass. We dish plenty of scorn out to much better looking developments. If this were proposed tomorrow you'd all be freaking out.

[BrianTH]

There was also an interesting discussion in that PG article about the URA regarding the SSW TIF being dissolved early:

[T]he URA board will be voting on whether to dissolve a tax increment financing district set up in 1999 to pay for public improvements associated with the redevelopment of the former LTV Steel site on the South Side into SouthSide Works, which has become a successful retail, office, entertainment and residential development on the Monongahela riverfront. Retiring the district 3 1/2 years early will mean nearly $19 million in additional tax revenue to the city, the Pittsburgh school district, and Allegheny County, the URA stated.

Since 1999, the site has gone from producing no tax revenue to $7.7 million a year, while the assessed value has climbed from $607,600 to $339.2 million. Nearly 2.9 million square feet has been developed at the site and another 364,000 square feet is under construction. Only 530,000 square feet remains to be developed.

So that worked out well! Not to keep beating the same drum, but TIFs are a way to increase the tax base through investing in public improvements, rather than trying to bribe large companies into site locations by providing windfall returns to their investors around the world.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

C'mon guys, let's get real here. Just because Google resides there doesn't mean they get a pass. We dish plenty of scorn out to much better looking developments. If this were proposed tomorrow you'd all be freaking out.

Well, I did say it was a bit of a mess . . .

I don't have a huge problem with the Urban Active portion of the project, considering all that is being wrapped around the parking structure.

The design of the hotel sucks, but that isn't really the main problem on that side.

The things I don't get are: that useless lawn along Penn; the Coffee Roasters and West Elm "out buildings" that look like they belong in a suburban mall; and that horrible little parking lot which is like 70+% driving lane.

The good news, though, is I don't see why you couldn't redevelop some or all of those particular elements some day into something more appropriate for the site. Which could also serve to hide the less-than-attractive hotel design too.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

C'mon guys, let's get real here. Just because Google resides there doesn't mean they get a pass. We dish plenty of scorn out to much better looking developments. If this were proposed tomorrow you'd all be freaking out.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The things I don't get are: that useless lawn along Penn; the Coffee Roasters and West Elm "out buildings" that look like they belong in a suburban mall; and that horrible little parking lot which is like 70+% driving lane.

bakery square - not a square, more like a parking lot with a small lawn feature

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Well, I did say it was a bit of a mess . . .

I don't have a huge problem with the Urban Active portion of the project, considering all that is being wrapped around the parking structure.

The design of the hotel sucks, but that isn't really the main problem on that side.

The things I don't get are: that useless lawn along Penn; the Coffee Roasters and West Elm "out buildings" that look like they belong in a suburban mall; and that horrible little parking lot which is like 70+% driving lane.

The good news, though, is I don't see why you couldn't redevelop some or all of those particular elements some day into something more appropriate for the site. Which could also serve to hide the less-than-attractive hotel design too.

The parking lot is terrible and full of people driving giant SUVs who don't know how to park them and that bit of grass is incongruous but handy for the Googlers who take their dog to work. That said, I like the plaza space around the Coffee Tree which gets a lot of use during the day; there seems to be a constant game of table-tennis going on and there's almost always people sitting outside.