PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by pj3000

12 stories!!!! That just can't happen in the Strip -- too tall for Pittsburgh! Mondor & Co. will shut this down... unless of course the developer commits to establishing an official Equity District or some other BS on which her firm can "consult".

Mondor is now off the commission. Burton-Faulk is now the chair, and O'Neill is the vice chair. They both seem pretty lowkey. Neither have a design background. Burton-Falk has been on the commission for awhile, having gotten involved originally due to her role in Manchester Citizens Corporation. O'Neill is a real estate lawyer at Reed Smith.

Watching the more recent presentations, Jean Holland Dick is the only board member I find completely objectionable, since she basically seems to exist on the board just to be one of those annoying Oakland NIMBY homeowners who thinks everything that happens in Oakland needs to be oriented towards her. She's in her 80s, and I have to presume this is her last term.

The remainder of the board is (from what I can tell) 100% different from the Peduto years:

Dina Blackwell - Has no industry experience, leads a community organization in Homewood

Monica Ruiz - Has no industry experience, leads Casa San Jose

Peter Quintanilla - Design director at Baker

Mel Ngami - Young black architect at GBBN

Phillip Wu - Urban planner at Environmental Planning and Design

Steve Mazza - 25-year member of the Carpenters

On the whole, there seems to be more of a focus on getting stakeholders across the city, and less on the Commission as a group of nitpicky architects and urban planners. Presumably they have to rely more on DCP staff as a result.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Mondor is now off the commission. Burton-Faulk is now the chair, and O'Neill is the vice chair. They both seem pretty lowkey. Neither have a design background. Burton-Falk has been on the commission for awhile, having gotten involved originally due to her role in Manchester Citizens Corporation. O'Neill is a real estate lawyer at Reed Smith.

Watching the more recent presentations, Jean Holland Dick is the only board member I find completely objectionable, since she basically seems to exist on the board just to be one of those annoying Oakland NIMBY homeowners who thinks everything that happens in Oakland needs to be oriented towards her. She's in her 80s, and I have to presume this is her last term.

The remainder of the board is (from what I can tell) 100% different from the Peduto years:

Dina Blackwell - Has no industry experience, leads a community organization in Homewood

Monica Ruiz - Has no industry experience, leads Casa San Jose

Peter Quintanilla - Design director at Baker

Mel Ngami - Young black architect at GBBN

Phillip Wu - Urban planner at Environmental Planning and Design

Steve Mazza - 25-year member of the Carpenters

On the whole, there seems to be more of a focus on getting stakeholders across the city, and less on the Commission as a group of nitpicky architects and urban planners. Presumably they have to rely more on DCP staff as a result.

Well, I stand corrected! I obviously haven't been paying attention. Seems like a decent group -- hopefully a big improvement on the overly picky, top-down, antagonistic tenor that the previous commission conveyed... seemingly in furtherance of individuals' own philosphies regarding development, rather than adhering to the City's zoning, land use, and development guidelines.

I got so tired of hearing about how certain project proposals did not address "equity" in their designs or did not incorporate "capacity building" framework principles.

[eschaton]

The Planning Commission this week also okayed the spot-rezoning of Mellon's Orchard to RM-VH.

The plan isn't 100% out of the woods yet. It calls for 264 units, but even with the rezone, it's only allowed 223 units by right. So it will go to the ZBA, giving local NIMBYs (who tried to block this) further chances to fuck with things. But the unit count is getting close enough to the plan now I think redevelopment is in the cards, even if they lose at the ZBA.

[eschaton]

Some minor development news:

1. Walnut Capital is going to be briefing OPDC on a new 169-unit apartment building on August 12. No renderings yet, but I'm going to watch the space to see what comes. Location is this block, which unfortunately means three nice prewar multi-units will be gone as well, but we knew they were doomed. It will be interesting to see if the Coltart Street NIMBYs try and mess with this, though they didn't stop the rezone which helped greenlight this, and the owner-occupied stuff is more on the next block south.

2. I noticed there's an upcoming Development Activities Meeting to convert 125 First Ave into a single-unit residence. This isn't allowed without a variance downtown. Honestly, given the alternative is the Troianis buy it and try and get it knocked down for parking eventually, this might be for the best. The dimensions of the building make for a good house, and there are others on First Avenue (probably the only street downtown appropriate for houses).

3. The family that owns Pennsylvania Macaroni is in the process of selling off their real estate portfolio in The Strip. This will open up a lot of underutilized properties in the Strip to redevelopment.

4. The sale of parcels for the Live Nation venue was approved by the URA, but the parking garage was (as expected) separated and deferred. This is the best possible outcome, as I remain concerned about over-engineering parking for the area - particularly given the decline in parking lot utilization downtown post-COVID.

[dmaTN]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Mel Ngami - Young black architect at GBBN

Wow.

Why include ethnicity? It's insulting to Ngami with that insinuation of racial preference - and there is not grey area of intention.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by dmaTN

Wow.

Why include ethnicity? It's insulting to Ngami with that insinuation of racial preference - and there is not grey area of intention.

Why is it insulting? I am 100% in favor of affirmative action, and I think it's particularly important on these sorts of boards have a diversity of backgrounds. For example, in a city that doesn't have a very large Latino population at all, we have two Latino PC members now - one with community experience, and one with design experience.

There are other African Americans on the board, like Burton-Falk and Blackwell, but both of them come from a community organization background, and are not active in architecture or urban design. Pittsburgh has talented black architects, so why not have one on the commission.

And, FWIW, I specified her background because I presumed based upon the surname she was Asian, and only realized she was black after using Google.

[Wally G]

Originally Posted by dmaTN

Wow.

Why include ethnicity? It's insulting to Ngami with that insinuation of racial preference - and there is not grey area of intention.

I just read it and shook my head.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Why is it insulting? I am 100% in favor of affirmative action, and I think it's particularly important on these sorts of boards have a diversity of backgrounds. For example, in a city that doesn't have a very large Latino population at all, we have two Latino PC members now - one with community experience, and one with design experience.

There are other African Americans on the board, like Burton-Falk and Blackwell, but both of them come from a community organization background, and are not active in architecture or urban design. Pittsburgh has talented black architects, so why not have one on the commission.

And, FWIW, I specified her background because I presumed based upon the surname she was Asian, and only realized she was black after using Google.

You are completely fine on this. These other posters who crawled out of wherever to criticize the only meaningful poster on this forum need to check themselves. Your post gave me a snapshot of how diverse the commission is and that is a good thing. Pretty outrageous to think simply stating someone's gender or race is a foul. Get over yourselves.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by xdv8

You are completely fine on this. These other posters who crawled out of wherever to criticize the only meaningful poster on this forum need to check themselves. Your post gave me a snapshot of how diverse the commission is and that is a good thing. Pretty outrageous to think simply stating someone's gender or race is a foul. Get over yourselves.

It reminded me of a post that a blogger I have followed for years made a few months ago - that for some reason it's considered rude to even infer someone got a job due to affirmative action, when the entire purpose of affirmative action is to get more underrepresented groups into positions.

I don't think there's anything shameful about saying that policies which take diversity in account mean some people get hired into positions who might not otherwise get consideration. It does not follow from that at all that you're inferring their not qualified. Hell, in this particular case I don't even know if it's been taken into account, but I think it's a good look for the city regardless, so bravo.

The only dead weight on the planning commission is a white woman in her mid 80s who lives in Oakland.

[eschaton]

The August 7 HRC presentation is online. There is only one item of interest - new tennis facilities for Mellon Park. This replaces the existing "bubble" - a semi-permanent inflatable structure with a true building, complete with lobby, office space, and restrooms. Looks like a nice design for what it is. I wonder if they're also going to retire the old bathrooms at Mellon Spray Park, which are only around 400 feet away.

Edit: Also noticed this on the OPDC website. It seems Hudson Companies isn't building a third residential highrise on a single block of Melwood. Instead, it's just converting the historic building into a 42-unit apartment building. It's a bit of a weird choice for a residential conversion, given the floor plates, but perhaps the large ground-floor gym space will be a draw for a certain kind of tenant.

[qwho]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The August 7 HRC presentation is online. There is only one item of interest - new tennis facilities for Mellon Park. This replaces the existing "bubble" - a semi-permanent inflatable structure with a true building, complete with lobby, office space, and restrooms. Looks like a nice design for what it is. I wonder if they're also going to retire the old bathrooms at Mellon Spray Park, which are only around 400 feet away.

Edit: Also noticed this on the OPDC website. It seems Hudson Companies isn't building a third residential highrise on a single block of Melwood. Instead, it's just converting the historic building into a 42-unit apartment building. It's a bit of a weird choice for a residential conversion, given the floor plates, but perhaps the large ground-floor gym space will be a draw for a certain kind of tenant.

LOL the two cubicles I worked in will both be bathrooms for two different units.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by qwho

LOL the two cubicles I worked in will both be bathrooms for two different units.

Something similar might happen to me if the Gulf Tower residential conversion ever happens. I had offices on the 19th and then 20th floors in the late 90s.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The only dead weight on the planning commission is a white woman in her mid 80s who lives in Oakland.

So did she get the gig because of her race, gender, or age?

[qwho]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Something similar might happen to me if the Gulf Tower residential conversion ever happens. I had offices on the 19th and then 20th floors in the late 90s.

My uncle worked for Transarc in the Gulf tower before they got bought out by IBM and eventually moved to the Westinghouse Building. He brought me up to see his office one time, it was so classy. He had a window overlooking Koppers, it was a great view.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by qwho

My uncle worked for Transarc in the Gulf tower before they got bought out by IBM and eventually moved to the Westinghouse Building. He brought me up to see his office one time, it was so classy. He had a window overlooking Koppers, it was a great view.

That's who I was working for too.

[eschaton]

Some of the September ZBA agendas are online now. Let's take a look.

September 5: Not much of note other than a big Edgar Snyder sign on one of the North Shore buildings and an infill house in Lawrenceville. Sadly the second has no attached documents. This is the location. I used to live around the corner from here (literally) and never thought this actively used side lot from a demoed rowhouse would be filled in, but Lawrenceville is hard-up for lots these days not requiring teardowns.

September 12: A very short agenda, with only three items. Not much of note, though the conversion of another building on First Avenue to a single-family house will be reviewed.

Also, the Public Art & Civic Design Commission is meeting on August, 28. They're reviewing the new planned apartment building by Homewood Station. While there's nothing new here, there are renderings I haven't seen before. They're also reviewing a nice new plan for a park in the Upper Hill, which includes a substantial indoor assembly space with a rooftop plaza.

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Also, the Public Art & Civic Design Commission is meeting on August, 28. [URL="https://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/redtail/images/25664_DCP-ZDR-2023-04631_Homewood_Gateway_Residential_PACD_Commission_Presentation.pdf"]

It is interesting how the proposed development on North Homewood Ave deals with the through streets. The end of Cassina Way would be eliminated and Tiago Street would pass under the upper three stories. I'm guessing that takes some special permitting, to build apartments over a public street!

[skysoar]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Something similar might happen to me if the Gulf Tower residential conversion ever happens. I had offices on the 19th and then 20th floors in the late 90s.

Just speaking of the Gulf Tower, I saw a view of it on television during the Steelers vs Bills game and its lighted top was still impressive. I remember as a young man living in the Hill district and seeing Gulf's weather indicating lit tower top and it still brings fond memories of Pittsburgh.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by dfiler

It is interesting how the proposed development on North Homewood Ave deals with the through streets. The end of Cassina Way would be eliminated and Tiago Street would pass under the upper three stories. I'm guessing that takes some special permitting, to build apartments over a public street!

The East Mall apartments in East Liberty used to straddle Penn Avenue and walled off the business district.

The homeowners on Finance Street are probably pleased with the planned limited access of the alley and Tioga Street.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by dfiler

It is interesting how the proposed development on North Homewood Ave deals with the through streets. The end of Cassina Way would be eliminated and Tiago Street would pass under the upper three stories. I'm guessing that takes some special permitting, to build apartments over a public street!

I just noticed the renderings show a Chipotle and a Bank of America. I think it's rare to not use fake mock-up logos in these renderings, which make me wonder if they've already signed on as tenants.