PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[chiaroscuro]

Is the Granite Building still vacant?

[markson33]

Bishoff is his own worst enemy. He built low quality condo's, treats his employees poorly and doesn't pay brokers. I wouldn't be surprised at all if another developer would have more success. The site is not ideal either.

That being said, it makes more sense now to do apartments anyway. Student housing would be the way to go, given the proximity to Point Park.

[BrianTH]

Apartments do seem to be the preferred approach these days.

Incidentally, I could see most or all of the historic office buildings along or near Fourth Avenue getting residential conversions eventually. As office buildings they are pretty meh, but they are the perfect sort of buildings for residential conversions (in fact the ones on Cherry were originally hotels). And there is a ton of potential for new retail, bars/restaurants, entertainment, and so forth on that side of Downtown, if the residential density gets high enough to support it.

[markson33]

I agree about Fourth Avenue. The Investment Building and Arrott building specifically seem like good residential conversion targets.

[Austinlee]

Copy from the Tower at PNC thread. More angles!

Originally Posted by Urbana

We have already seen these renderings, they have updated them to have a bit more scale now.

Enjoy

Image Credit: PNC

[Jonboy1983]

I also agree that apartments seem to be the better way to go in this city. Where is the Commonwealth Building again?

[BrianTH]

That second rendering really demonstrates the gap-filling effect PNC Tower should have from the Mt. Washington vantage. I'd love to see a similar rendering as viewed from the northeast, since that gap is equally prominent from that direction, including from such very common vantages as the Veteran's Bridge:

http://goo.gl/maps/gqk61

Edit:

Another notable gap vantage from the north:

http://goo.gl/maps/0srLg

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

Where is the Commonwealth Building again?

On the south side of Fourth west of Wood, one building in:

http://goo.gl/maps/HChs7

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

On the south side of Fourth west of Wood, one building in:

http://goo.gl/maps/HChs7

It's a huge building on a tiny street. Fourth is such a cool little street with some crazy cool towers.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

It's a huge building on a tiny street. Fourth is such a cool little street with some crazy cool towers.

That it is. What is up with the building adjacent to that one, at 322 Fourth? It looks like many of the floors above the ground floor are boarded up. That is a cool looking building tho.

[BrianTH]

Upscale townhomes coming to the West End:

http://www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/westend013013.aspx

http://westendoverlook.com/

Obviously they are cashing in on what is arguably the best view in Pittsburgh, but I also wonder if we are going to start seeing more development in general in the West End . . . it is often overlooked (no pun intended), but the proximity to Downtown, access to the Robinson/airport area, and (I would assume) competitive land and structure pricing make it a logical place to look for development opportunities.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

What is up with the building adjacent to that one, at 322 Fourth? It looks like many of the floors above the ground floor are boarded up. That is a cool looking building tho.

It is called variously the Pittsburgh Information Technology Center, the Pittsburgh Tech Center, the Tech Center Bunker, etc. These links explain a bit how it is being used these days:

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16591934/322-Fourth-Avenue-Pittsburgh-PA/

http://www.evbco.com/PITC.html



Here is a little about the building, originally the Keystone Bank:

Boston-trained architects MacClure and Spahr established their Pittsburgh firm in 1901. Remodelings have compromised MacClure & Spahr’s original design of 1903: the center light court has been partially filled in and some windows have been totally bricked up. Fortunately, the lions still roar above the entrances and an eagle stands guard atop an immense keystone. J. J. Vandergrift (1827–99), the famous Pittsburgh riverboat captain and oil magnate, was president of Keystone Bank and a founder of the Pittsburgh Stock Exchange.

http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Fourth-Avenue-Tour-2011.pdf

For more on the bank's early history and the construction and design of the building see here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=WEXPAAA...e%20bank%20322%20fourth%20avenue&f=false

Early rendering from that source:

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Upscale townhomes coming to the West End:

http://www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/westend013013.aspx

http://westendoverlook.com/

Obviously they are cashing in on what is arguably the best view in Pittsburgh, but I also wonder if we are going to start seeing more development in general in the West End . . . it is often overlooked (no pun intended), but the proximity to Downtown, access to the Robinson/airport area, and (I would assume) competitive land and structure pricing make it a logical place to look for development opportunities.

Wow, those are some pretty amazing (and expensive!) townhomes that they're about to build! Talk about being priced WAY over the local market, though...

Of course with those views, I think the costs are very well-justified!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[BrianTH]

I suppose you can look at it as getting a million-dollar view at a discount.

Generally, new builds in the City seem to go for quite a premium.

[photoLith]

Man they totally destroyed that tech building. They should fine the people that did that crap back in the 50s-80s for crimes against humanity.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Upscale townhomes coming to the West End:

http://www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/westend013013.aspx

http://westendoverlook.com/

Obviously they are cashing in on what is arguably the best view in Pittsburgh, but I also wonder if we are going to start seeing more development in general in the West End . . . it is often overlooked (no pun intended), but the proximity to Downtown, access to the Robinson/airport area, and (I would assume) competitive land and structure pricing make it a logical place to look for development opportunities.

The Overlook at West End Pointe? God, I hate that name. In 2013 you'd think we'd be over adding stupid superfluous 'e's to the end of names to make them sound more expensive.

Hoping the actual building look better than those renderings.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Man they totally destroyed that tech building. They should fine the people that did that crap back in the 50s-80s for crimes against humanity.

It is pretty awful, but on the plus side, they left a lot of the original ornamentation in place. And I have often wondered if it would be possible to undo at least a large chunk of what they did.

[photoLith]

Surely it wouldnt be that hard to unbrick those windows at least.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Surely it wouldnt be that hard to unbrick those windows at least.

That seems right to me, although that may require some significant interior work.

The big issue would be whether they could at least partially unfill the center court.

[ShooFlyPie]

DSC_0781 by photolitherland, on Flickr
(Photo from Photolith's recent thread)

What is the status on the renovation of this block? I read about this years ago. Is there demo work going on right now as indicated with the scaffolding and gates in front of the Garden Theater?