PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by glowrock

Let's face it, a 1000+ foot long warehouse building isn't exactly the most pedestrian-friendly thing on earth, especially one with such terrible pedestrian access (Smallman St. is a bad street in general for pedestrians right now, unfortunately). If, and it's a big if, Buncher's plan can actually really activate the Produce Terminal by demolishing roughly a third of it in order to facilitate vehicular and pedestrian access to the current immense sea or surface parking behind it, then I'm all for it.

Agreed. The only other alternative was to punch passages through it at the cross streets. That could have been cool in its own right, but it wouldn't necessarily be more "preservationist" than the chosen approach.

I actually think extending the main pedestrian area of the Strip District a couple of blocks north is an excellent idea.

There is obviously a shift in the center of gravity of the Strip with all the development going on in that area, and if the developments behind the Terminal go well it could move that process along further. I know the planned 17th Street plaza is supposed to be the big new public area, but I'd still love to see the area around St Stanislaus treated as a "central square" for that end of the Strip (eighty pages ago now):

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I fear that the new location may be just a little too far outside the "heart" of the Strip District market area. Things die down pretty quickly around 24th. There is a whole block of vast urban-fabric-shredding surface parking seperating the this facility from the eastern edge of the vibrant area (starting around Firehouse/Penn Ave Fish).

And in fact along Smallman, the dead zone really starts immediately after St Stanislaus:

http://goo.gl/maps/cW9Y2

So I understand the issue, but on the other hand there is SOOOO much potential here. This is just one vision, but you could take the spot I have pictured in front of the church, some or all of the parking lot immediately behind the church, and maybe a good chunk of the Ayoob space across Smallman, and do a really funky European-style "cathedral square":

http://goo.gl/maps/0hw3x

Then add some new midrise buildings along the south side of Smallman from 22nd to 24th, and you tie the whole thing together.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

And in fact along Smallman, the dead zone really starts immediately after St Stanislaus:

http://goo.gl/maps/cW9Y2

So I understand the issue, but on the other hand there is SOOOO much potential here. This is just one vision, but you could take the spot I have pictured in front of the church, some or all of the parking lot immediately behind the church, and maybe a good chunk of the Ayoob space across Smallman, and do a really funky European-style "cathedral square":

http://goo.gl/maps/0hw3x

Then add some new midrise buildings along the south side of Smallman from 22nd to 24th, and you tie the whole thing together.

Sounds like your vision would add significant traffic impact to these old streets that are ill-equipped to handle such volume.

[photoLith]

Are there any renders or anything relating to development that may or may not happen on the shit lots behind the produce terminal building? The lots along the river from 11th to 21st street.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Sounds like your vision would add significant traffic impact to these old streets that are ill-equipped to handle such volume.

Oh quit being such a NIMBY!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Are there any renders or anything relating to development that may or may not happen on the shit lots behind the produce terminal building? The lots along the river from 11th to 21st street.

Oh boy, this will open that wound up again...

[Yackemflaber69]

the pitt

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Sounds like your vision would add significant traffic impact to these old streets that are ill-equipped to handle such volume.

I don't think so. Smallman seems, if anything, underutilized to me, and meanwhile the Buncher development is going to add new parallel capacity by extending Railroad (under the name Waterfront Place).

But I do think in the fullness of time, the Strip will need better-organized public transit in the nature of a loop through the main spots extending into Downtown. That could be a streetcar or even just a shuttle bus of some sort.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Are there any renders or anything relating to development that may or may not happen on the shit lots behind the produce terminal building? The lots along the river from 11th to 21st street.

Warning: large PDF

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/Strip_District_PLDP.pdf

[Evergrey]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/the-next-move/2013/03/home-sweet-jail.html?page=all

ar 5, 2013, 3:27pm EST

Home Sweet Jail

It’s not often that you can market a new residential project off an old historic jail.

But that’s exactly what Landmark Development LLC and Heartland Homes are doing with their new Jailhouse Commons project, a development of six townhouses on which they just broke ground on 13th Street on the South Side.

After attempting to redevelop what was once Station No. 7, a 19th century structure that suffered decades of neglect, into a condo project, Landmark has since cleared the site and is building new after the condo plan ran into neighborhood resistance.

“He was going to try and keep the structure up and it just didn’t work,” said Lynne Bingham, a real estate agent for Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, of Landmark principal Greg Harkins.

Bingham, who is representing Jailhouse Commons, said the design now calls for six townhouses situated in a U-shape that will be three stories tall and feature rooftop decks, balconies with city views, open floor plans and amenities such as stainless steel appliances, granite counters and hardwood floors.

I remember writing about a previous developer attempting to redevelop the property into offices in 2002, a project that obviously never came to be.

Even then, the building was a wreck, even if the location in the heart of the South Side Flats was a strong one. The building actually served a host of different purposes over its life, including a magistrate’s office and an office for police detectives.

Bingham said the 2,500-square-foot townhouses will list for $398,000. She expects the first home will be finished in the summer and added the plan is two build two and then pre-sell the rest.

She expects it’s one of the very last sites on the South Side Flats on which new homes can be built.

“There’s really nothing left down here,” she said.

Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, small business, hospitality, arts and entertainmen

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/loca...rocess-begins-for-hazelwood-site-677990/

Tax increment financing process begins for Hazelwood site

March 5, 2013 2:31 pm

By Moriah Balingit / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A bill calling for the largest tax increment financing in Pittsburgh's history was introduced before city council today, bringing the city one step closer to an arrangement that would provide upwards of $90 million in tax benefits for a proposed $900 million residential and commercial development in Hazelwood.

The deal would allow up to $90 million in tax dollars paid on the property to be earmarked for roads, utilities, parks and other public improvements on the riverfront land, the former site of the LTV coke works. It would lay the foundation for a proposed mixed use development at the site, the last of the city's brownfields, that would feature more than 2 million square feet of office and research and development space and as many as 1,200 units of housing, either townhouses, condos or apartments.

The site is owned by a consortium of foundations called Almono, which is made up of the Heinz Endowments and the Benedum Foundation and Strategic Regional Development Inc., which is affiliated with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, and Regional Industrial Development Corp.

Despite controversy over another tax increment financing proposal for a half-billion dollar Buncher development in the Strip District, today's legislation was introduced by Councilman Patrick Dowd with little comment. Mr. Dowd, who chairs the committee that handles TIF legislation, held up the bill for Buncher's tax deal for six months because he said the company's development plans were not specific enough. The corporation dropped its request for the tax deal in January.

Councilman Corey O'Connor, whose district includes the project site, called it "not only great for Hazelwood but for the whole region."

If all goes as planned, the bill will be up for a preliminary vote by council March 13 and up for a final vote in two weeks.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I don't think so. Smallman seems, if anything, underutilized to me, and meanwhile the Buncher development is going to add new parallel capacity by extending Railroad (under the name Waterfront Place).

But I do think in the fullness of time, the Strip will need better-organized public transit in the nature of a loop through the main spots extending into Downtown. That could be a streetcar or even just a shuttle bus of some sort.

I think a street car would be widely popular among Strip residents and visitors. In one of my planning classes, I was discussing with a fellow classmate about how to improve public transit in the strip, and he even suggested a surface street car loop. I'm not sure of which street(s) would be the most suitable for it tho, but I do kinda see one running from the Cultural District all the way to Lawrenceville. Perhaps Penn Avenue could accomodate street car tracks?

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Warning: large PDF

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/Strip_District_PLDP.pdf

That is god awful horrible.

• Video Link

[BrianTH]

This is an odd bit of reporting:

Despite controversy over another tax increment financing proposal for a half-billion dollar Buncher development in the Strip District, today's legislation was introduced by Councilman Patrick Dowd with little comment.

It was never about the basic idea of a TIF, but rather objections to Buncher's plan, and (probably) some other political stuff. So I hope people don't start thinking there is something automatically controversial about TIFs.

[George Woods]

http://blogs.post-gazette.com/news/city-walkabout/37218-grocery-begins-to-rise-in-the-hill


The foundation of the new Shop ‘n Save in the Hill District is finally taking shape. Crews are on the scene at Centre Avenue and Heldman Street.

Construction was supposed to have started well more than a year ago on a grocery store that Hill District and Uptown neighbors have been awaiting for a long time. Funding shortfalls have held the project up until now.

New townhouses are also under construction along Heldman and Reed Streets as the first phase of a 400-townhouse development that’s replacing the former Addison Terrace, a public housing complex whose hillside rubble sits across Reed Street. There were 734 units in Addison Terrace; 400 townhouses will partially replace them.

KBK Enterprises is the developer. The first phase is 186 units. Later phases will include market-rate units.

[Jonboy1983]

^^ I kinda wish they would have replaced that 15-story Reed St. building with something of equal size. I could see that thing from Arlington Avenue at night, and it looked kinda pretty. I always wondered what that building was that was all lit up across the river. Apparently it was schlock.

To be honest, I think I saw the same building in daylight, and it wasn't impressive at all then...

[BrianTH]

Now these are truly, and by intention, suburban-style apartment buildings. But in this part of Squirrel Hill I am OK with that, and of course it is great to see so many residential units (which the core area desperately needs) being put on a former slag heap:

http://www.globest.com/news/12_551/phila...ifamily-suburban-urban-river-330585.html

[BrianTH]

The Pittsburgh Metro continues to rank way above its weight class in terms of site selections (this year #6 among metros nationwide with 1 million plus population, and #1 in the Northeast just ahead of Philly):

http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2013/mar/top-metros.cfm

We've been doing well in these rankings for several years now, and it basically indicates that Pittsburgh is a consistently attractive location for new or significantly expanded corporate facilities. Obviously that in turn feeds into the need for new construction.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Now these are truly, and by intention, suburban-style apartment buildings. But in this part of Squirrel Hill I am OK with that, and of course it is great to see so many residential units (which the core area desperately needs) being put on a former slag heap:

http://www.globest.com/news/12_551/phila...ifamily-suburban-urban-river-330585.html

Yeah, "suburban" in the city done right overall -- density/small lots, garages on back of houses opening to alleyways, traditional home designs with front porches close to the sidewalks, great walkability, mix of single and multi-family residences, focus on energy efficiency, high performing landscape design, and perhaps best of all, as you said, productive reuse of a slag heap brownfield.

I'm happy to say I was involved in some consulting on this project years ago, and its great to see it really taking shape. At the beginning, there was talk of developing a small commercial strip near the Browns Hill Rd entrance -- just a one block stretch to mainly serve the residents of Summerset... dry cleaner, coffee shop, small convenience store, etc. Though not sure if that is still in the plans.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Now these are truly, and by intention, suburban-style apartment buildings. But in this part of Squirrel Hill I am OK with that, and of course it is great to see so many residential units (which the core area desperately needs) being put on a former slag heap:

http://www.globest.com/news/12_551/phila...ifamily-suburban-urban-river-330585.html

That's a lot of new units for the city: 131 apts/building x 6 buildings = 786 units!