PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[ShooFlyPie]

Thank you. Chambersburg is a very beautiful town, and the country side from York over to Chambersburg is superb. I always thought that this southern section of Pennsylvania is one of the most desirable areas to live for small town/country living.

[glowrock]

Welcome aboard, Steel City Scotty! Though I've only been through Chambersburg once, I can definitely say it's a very, very nice small city in a gorgeous part of the state!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Steel City Scotty]

Thanks for the kind words about Chambersburg and Franklin County. I expressed my love and passion for Pittsburgh in my introductory message, but I didn't expect to see the favor returned with people praising my home base as well.

I'm glad a few of you are familiar with the area. When I'm out in Western PA, I usually have to use Gettysburg as a point of reference for people who I talk to because they usually don't know where "Chambersburg" or "Franklin County" are located.

I should've known that a well-traveled group such as yinz are a step above the average everyday citizen.

[bruchaus]

Welcome Scotty.

[Wave]

Transit hub, apartments, new shops in works for East Liberty

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/loca...s-for-east-liberty-674934/#ixzz2Kf7ktZlo


So much to like about these projects:

*$117MM in new development including the Transit Hub and the residential/retail/parking
*Transit Oriented Development
*Good Density, 4-6 story buildings (I love when mid/high density projects are squeezed onto a difficult tight urban location-great use of this space)
* Several hundred additional residential units will further enliven the area
*Pedestrian connection to Shadyside further tying these to important neighborhoods together into the urban fabric
* Parking with Park & Ride capabiltities
*Bike Friendly
*Walking Paths
* Mosites is a very capable, quality builder/developer (eastside & others)
*will tie in and conform nicely with the many other adjacent East Lib developments

Don't know what the architecture will actually look like but the proportions are good and the project has so much going for it otherwise that hopefully we will get great design to boot.

Sorry could not get the rendering on here but follow the link to the PG.

http://db66abc2c256b763aaef-ce5d943d4869.../253/east-liberty-transit-center_420.jpg

Transit hub, apartments, new shops in works for East Liberty
February 12, 2013 12:04 am

By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After bringing big developments such as Whole Foods and Target to East Liberty, a local developer is switching gears, with plans for more than 360 apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail in a project designed to work in concert with a new $52 million transit center.

The Mosites Co., based in Downtown, sees the $65 million development as the final phase in a series of so-called "Eastside" projects that have helped to trigger a commercial renaissance in the East End neighborhood.

Mosites hopes to break ground on the 366-unit apartment development, the additional retail space and 595 parking spaces by mid-2014.

But before that, it will partner with the Port Authority and the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority to help develop the new transit center, which will serve as the hub for nearly 1,000 bus arrivals and departures each day. The center also will help connect the East Busway to the East Liberty commercial corridor and create a new pedestrian link between East Liberty and neighboring Shadyside.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/loca...s-for-east-liberty-674934/#ixzz2Kf1pQT48

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

I've never been to Berlin, but that Highland/Penn/Centre intersection is starting to give me a very Berlin-ish vibe, with the mix of the old and new, with the looming gothic Cathedral rising up at the center of the neighborhood.

[BrianTH]

That's actually a big improvement from the plans incorporated into the Transit Center application, which had an open parking section and wasn't focused on residential. Between this, Bakery 2.0, Highland/Wallace, and the Odeon, that would be a very large number of new apartments.

[Steel City Scotty]

Speaking of the redevelopment of East Liberty...has anyone seen a photo of the demolition taking place at the former Reizenstein school?

I've tried to find one online, but none of the articles have an image of the project included.

My wife attended middle school at Reizenstein, and while a little sad to see it go, I thought she might be interested to see what's happening on the site now.

Again, she's the Pittsburgh-native, but she relies on me and my research for new information about the city, haha.

[BrianTH]

State grant (RACP) list:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3465797-74/million-county-development#axzz2KbD3HT6L

Pittsburgh projects:

The Tribune-Review reported on Friday that six development projects would receive a combined $16.75 million in Pittsburgh, with the largest amount ($5 million) going to the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority. The authority plans to use the money to install utility lines and build roads on 28 acres in the Lower Hill District that once was home to the Civic Arena. The other Pittsburgh-based recipients are: Walnut Capital's Bakery Square 2.0 project in East Liberty ($4 million); Millcraft Industries' The Gardens at Market Square ($4 million); an expansion of the Heinz History Center's archival space in the Strip District ($2 million); Elmhurst Co.'s seven-story Schenley Place office building in Oakland ($1 million); and a renovation of the Steamfitters Technology Training Center in Duquesne Heights ($750,000).

[Evergrey]

Elmhurst Co.'s seven-story Schenley Place office building in Oakland ($1 million);

This was first proposed back in 2005 or so. Nice to see it's finally moving forward.

http://www.elmhurstgrp.com/detail.php?propID=44



...

Apparently Chinese investors gave this project new life... from this March 2012 article:

http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_785600.html#axzz2KblhtVpv

Foreign dollars fill funding gap in Pittsburgh region

...


The Immigrant Investor Program, known as EB-5, created by the Immigration Act of 1990, enables foreigners to invest private money in American projects in return for permission to live here and possible, but not guaranteed, interest on their investments.


...


In the Pittsburgh region, Pietryka's office is providing $15 million toward the $30 million Schenley Place project in Oakland that Elmhurst Group is developing,

...

[glowrock]

The news on the EL Transit Hub apartments and retail is truly outstanding! True integration of residence, retail, office and transit, what a concept! In all seriousness, it really does look like a pretty amazing project, and I'm 110% in support of it.

On another note, I'm glad the office building in Oakland is going to happen, too. There's always something going on in Oakland in terms of construction, and I of course look forward to more and more of it coming down the pike.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Wave

*Good Density, 4-6 story buildings (I love when mid/high density projects are squeezed onto a difficult tight urban location-great use of this space)

I wanted to note I really agreed with this. They may not be as inherently exciting as true skyscrapers, but this sort of apartment building, which is cropping up all over Pittsburgh these days, can lead to pretty darn high residential densities, easily high enough to support walkable retail/restaurant/entertainment areas, rapid transit, and so on.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Apparently Chinese investors gave this project new life... from this March 2012 article

I had missed that article the first time around. It is great to see it working to promote foreign investment in local projects. I also wonder if it could even promote the region as a possible long-term immigration destination (which would make it even better in my view).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by glowrock

On another note, I'm glad the office building in Oakland is going to happen, too. There's always something going on in Oakland in terms of construction, and I of course look forward to more and more of it coming down the pike.

Agreed!

For those not familiar with the location, it is basically just a block from Schenley:

http://goo.gl/maps/mZmog

So that is a couple major projects (assuming the PMC project goes forward) in that part of Oakland.

[BrianTH]

Poking around I also found this older news I missed on the renovation of the Fiserv building (the funky building between the convention center and CAPA):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/pr...building-gets-35m-makeover.html?page=all

Working with Strada Architecture LLC, Elmhurst is now moving forward with renovating the building. The $3.5 million investment — $500,000 more than originally planned — calls for renovations that take better advantage of the building’s dramatic 10-story atrium, extending the office floors into what is now a circular mezzanine walkway and replacing the walls with glass, which will allow more daylight to cast through each floor. Hunt said upgrades at the building will include a terraced common area going from the first floor to the second, a large art project spanning much of the 10 floors of wall space beneath the atrium and the conversion of an outdoor area behind the building into a green courtyard.

It sounds to me like a lot of that could have a positive impact even just looking from the outside, potentially including from on the bridge and across the river.

[themaguffin]

Wow, it's nice that such imposing skyscrapers are acceptable to East Liberty residents...

[BrianTH]

As indicated here, Mosites was at one point thinking retail only for this East Liberty site:

http://www.mosites.net/portfolio_3.html





It is interesting to see these plans evolving as Pittsburgh's overall real estate market is changing.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Poking around I also found this older news I missed on the renovation of the Fiserv building (the funky building between the convention center and CAPA):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/pr...building-gets-35m-makeover.html?page=all



It sounds to me like a lot of that could have a positive impact even just looking from the outside, potentially including from on the bridge and across the river.

I love that building and that block.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Uhh, hey Mosites, think maybe you guys could buy all that land in the Strip from Buncher?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Uhh, hey Mosites, think maybe you guys could buy all that land in the Strip from Buncher?

The residential portions are already very similar, although Buncher might go taller.