PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Steel City Scotty]

Could someone please provide me with a little more guidance as to where this Exxon station near Station Square is located?

I've tried to use Google Maps to find it so that I could have some perspective, but so far, I haven't seen it anywhere.

Thanks!

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Steel City Scotty

Could someone please provide me with a little more guidance as to where this Exxon station near Station Square is located?

I assume people are talking about this one:

http://goo.gl/maps/oJqjH

[themaguffin]

I wish the complaints about the hotel being "plain" had been elaborated on in the article.

[Evergrey]

How can I be angry at such an adorable NIMBY family?

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/s...renceville-residents/Content?oid=1634869

Spreading its Wings: Thunderbird Café owners want nightclub to grow, but expansion plans don't sit well with Lawrenceville residents

"The expansion needs to be responsible."

by Lauren Daley


Photo by Heather Mull

The Hydzik family, who live on Fisk Street, oppose the Thunderbird expansion

On a recent Thursday, staff at Lawrenceville's Thunderbird Café methodically carried high-top tables out of the bar.

They were making room for that night's act — funk band Turkuaz — who would later perform on the Thunderbird's mezzanine level stage. The venue, which has been around since 2000, has become a home for a variety of music — from local and national blues and roots music, to indie rock and the weekly Space Exchange jazz series.

That popularity and a current space crunch, says owner John Pergal, is the reason he and his wife, Ami, are pursuing a $3 million development project to consolidate several properties in the block between 41st Street and Almond Way along Butler Street. The plan would create a new two-story building that will house an expanded Thunderbird, raising the venue's capacity from 246 to 600, and a new three-story building that would hold a restaurant kitchen and residential units above.

"The issue we have now is it gets so crowded we can't even do a good job for our customers," he says. "It's a good problem to have, but we need to expand."

Pergal says the idea is to create a "supper club" for 300-400 customers with live shows three or four nights a week. The current Thunderbird encompasses 5,500 square feet; the new facility would be 8,900 square feet.

...

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

http://popcitymedia.com/devnews/federalhill040313.aspx

All of the new homes are under contract with buyers. Andy Haines of S&A Homes says his company receives continuous calls of interest for Federal Hill.

“It's one of our best selling developments throughout the three states we work in,” Haines says.

Every home in each previous phase has also been sold

That really says something about the pent-up need for housing on the Northside. Hope that they continue the project, there's still a lot of room for infill housing on either side of Federal.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

I wish the complaints about the hotel being "plain" had been elaborated on in the article.

This is the Highland Street elevation posted on the actual building site (I don't know if this is what was shown to the commission):



Doesn't look too bad to me.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

This is the Highland Street elevation posted on the actual building site (I don't know if this is what was shown to the commission):



Doesn't look too bad to me.

I like that. It's a good combination of classical and modern/contemporary. Plus, I think it will mesh well with other developments taking place as well.

Speaking of East Liberty, HOLY —!! I'm really getting excited about how this neighborhood will be completely transformed within the upcoming year(s).

I can't wait to see that ugly strip-mall transformed -- the one along Penn Avenue between the Bakery Square developments and the transit center. That design, as I've said before, is going to prove to be a down-right dreadful use. It's already a bad use given its location in a high-density urban setting, but it will be even more of an eyesore once Bakery Square I and II, the transit center, and everything else going on are all finished.

Bakery Square phase III perhaps? I heard there was something in the works for that at some point...

Also, I meant to point something else about the Almono project. I guess we could see some additional labs in the re-worked mill structure. Isn't that considered as light industrial?

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

This is the Highland Street elevation posted on the actual building site (I don't know if this is what was shown to the commission):



Doesn't look too bad to me.

Hotel Indigo - Houston



Hotel Indigo - Miami



Hotel Indigo - Toronto



Hotel Indigo - Nashville



Hotel Indigo - Scottsdale

[Steel City Scotty]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

I like that. It's a good combination of classical and modern/contemporary. Plus, I think it will mesh well with other developments taking place as well.

Speaking of East Liberty, HOLY —!! I'm really getting excited about how this neighborhood will be completely transformed within the upcoming year(s).

I can't wait to see that ugly strip-mall transformed -- the one along Penn Avenue between the Bakery Square developments and the transit center. That design, as I've said before, is going to prove to be a down-right dreadful use. It's already a bad use given its location in a high-density urban setting, but it will be even more of an eyesore once Bakery Square I and II, the transit center, and everything else going on are all finished.

Bakery Square phase III perhaps? I heard there was something in the works for that at some point...

Also, I meant to point something else about the Almono project. I guess we could see some additional labs in the re-worked mill structure. Isn't that considered as light industrial?

I assume you're referencing the strip-mall that currently features a Trader Joe's? Just to the side of Bakery Square?

[Steel City Scotty]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I assume people are talking about this one:

http://goo.gl/maps/oJqjH

Ah, yes, thanks. That must be it.

I actually did see that on the map, but from an aerial view, it's hard to tell that it's a gas station. It looked more like a group of solar panels or something.

[BrianTH]

None of those other Hotel Indigos look much better to me, and some look not as good.

But the real charm of the project (for me) is in the reused portions. Apologies for the small snips, but from the Kirkwood side:



And from the Whitfield side:

[themaguffin]

I think it looks fine. I'm not sure what expectations are.

It would be nice if such critical eyes were over the casino and its garage....

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

I think it looks fine. I'm not sure what expectations are.

I should emphasize I don't know if the commission was looking at the same designs as we are looking at here (the project has been redesigned at least once before for financial reasons, although I think that redesign was actually a big improvement aesthetically).

I could also see the Highland side being a little problematic from right at the street level, and so a tweak to address that issue would be fine with me.

Finally, the big sign on the corner isn't a dealbreaker for me, but I could see that being a source of concern as well.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by Steel City Scotty

I assume you're referencing the strip-mall that currently features a Trader Joe's? Just to the side of Bakery Square?

I am. I think the Trader Joes is the only good part of that strip mall. The rest of it needs to go IMO. It's all one level that surrounds a surface parking lot. It's the kind of strip mall you'd typically find in some outlying boring auto centric suburb; not in or near the heart of a large and growing business district.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

None of those other Hotel Indigos look much better to me, and some look not as good.

But the real charm of the project (for me) is in the reused portions. Apologies for the small snips, but from the Kirkwood side:



And from the Whitfield side:

And I would like to give my 2 cents on this as well.

I think all of those Hotel Indigos is to illustrate that each location is unique from the others. I like this one, especially after you provided the streetscapes for two different streets, to show that this should blend in rather nicely with the surrounding neighborhood, especially since it's going to reuse some existing structures.

[PEORIA]

(image from lh6.googleusercontent.com)

" It's GREAT! " City officials and residents would be wise to ' pick and choose ' their battles over design details and other trivialities, when concerning development, OR risk losing private investors and their projects because of an abundance of city regulations. After all, it's not like ANY of these investors can't build these projects in the suburbs with less restrictions. MORE cities are being blessed with, exciting, urban investment. Their communities should embrace them instead of hinder them ...... ' Just sayin! '

[BrianTH]

I think there is a balance the City's planning officials need to seek. You certainly don't want to make it so hard to do projects that it completely discourages investment. On the other hand, the positive dynamic in the City these days is such that there is a lot of money to be made, and developers will likely go along with reasonable requests for modifications as part of the approval process. And at the end of the day, you want each new project to contribute to making the City a more desirable location for the next round of investments, so some amount of thoughtful planning and standard-setting (again within reason) is well warranted.

In this particular case, it doesn't sound like the developers have a problem with making some design tweaks in order to secure final approval, so provisionally at least, this doesn't seem like the sort of thing that will discourage further investment.

[popstar]

What are the complaints with the Indigo? I think it looks great. Besides....between the Indigo, the other hotel near the Highland building, and then the Highland development itself right in the main East Liberty corridor, imagine the transformation that will occur within that block from the new energy and foot traffic. To me it seems silly to delay or derail over minor design elements.

[mikebarbaro]

Originally Posted by psuhoops123

Does anyone know why they're taking the Exxon down by Station Square.. Does this have anything to do with Garden City or am I just getting excited over nothing...

Does anyone also know what is being built down Carson Street a bit further by the automatic car wash? Right now they are erecting steel beams. Looks like possibly a parking garage.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by mikebarbaro

Does anyone also know what is being built down Carson Street a bit further by the automatic car wash? Right now they are erecting steel beams. Looks like possibly a parking garage.

Not a parking garage. It's some sort of Goodwill-operated transitional housing building, something like that. At least it's being built right to street level!

Aaron (Glowrock)