PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Austinlee]

Bakery Square 2.0 also from Strada's website.


http://www.stradallc.com/show_project.php?id=117

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by EventHorizon

I didn't notice an image posted on here yet, so here's a photo from the Post-Gazette taken at the first game held at the Highmark Stadium. Sweet view!

Photo courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/13097/1310544-490.stm

Amazing hats and an amazing view. I think that soccer stadium is a great use for that land.

[BrianTH]

Before it got "modernized" the P-G building was actually pretty nice. You can see it in the background here:

[Austinlee]

^I've seen it. It WAS nicer but in today's downtown it is small and squat compared to it's surroundings.

[Austinlee]

Western Pennsylvania's rural areas increasingly struggle with population loss

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/loca...ly-struggle-with-population-loss-681566/

Allegheny, Beaver, Erie and Westmoreland counties are the only "urban" counties in the western half of the state. The other 15 "urban" counties are in the eastern half. 48 PA counties are considered rural.

Elk County has lost the most population in the state, losing 10.1% of its population since 2000.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

It's such an ugly building. I would love to see it torn down and replaced with something tall and worthy of the beautiful Ft Pitt Tunnel entrance view or added onto in height and rehabbed. That would be an amazing location for a residential tower because of access to the huge renovated point state park.

I am starting to wonder what that would mean in regards to the future of this building. If it means the PG will ultimately vacate, then I too would like to see this piece of land redeveloped into a better more suitable use. What is your opinion of the two surface lots, the one adjacent to the PG building and the one across Commonwealth PL from the PG building? I'd like to see both be history. Would below-grade parking be possible?

[bmust71]

http://www.colliers.com/en-us/pittsburgh.../markets/pittsburgh/2012q4pghoffice.ashx

this link has lots of information on the downtown's vacancy rate... there was a graph that showed the rate from 2000-2012. I wish i knew how to post the graph so everyone could see it so if someone could post it for me that would be great.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

^I've seen it. It WAS nicer but in today's downtown it is small and squat compared to it's surroundings.

I'd still be in favor of restoring it to something like its original look if that was possible, or maybe using that as the base for a contemporary extension.

But I don't know if any of that is possible anyway, and if not I agree it would be a good idea to demo it and then do something a lot taller.

Incidentally, regardless of what gets done with the P-G building itself, they should do something with the adjacent parking lot.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

What is your opinion of the two surface lots, the one adjacent to the PG building and the one across Commonwealth PL from the PG building? I'd like to see both be history. Would below-grade parking be possible?

You are getting pretty close to the river there, but on the other hand there is underground parking right near by under Equitable Plaza, so maybe it would be possible. Even if not, you could replace or increase the number of spots in that area with just a few levels of structured parking. For example, if you had the whole P-G site to work with, you could do something similar to the plans for Market Square Gardens, maybe with a bit less parking.

I'm not sure I would actually build anything on the lot west of Commonwealth, however. That remaining Fort Pitt bastion (the "Flag Bastion") is actually pretty cool, and I would love to see it preserved and featured more, maybe even with a pedestrian tunnel under the ramps to the north. That might also be a good area to put in something like a playground and/or dog park (if there was a playground, it could tie into the fort theme).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by bmust71

I wish i knew how to post the graph so everyone could see it so if someone could post it for me that would be great.

Microsoft snipping tool plus free image hosting website with hotlinks equals . . .



I'm no expert, but it looks to me like we should be building a lot more Class A. As the report points out, the demand for Class B and Class C is not quite a high as you might conclude from the graph because the vacancy rate for those classes is being driven down in part by residential conversions.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/busi...ay-street-in-downtown-pittsburgh-682686/

Forbes Avenue could become two-way street in Downtown Pittsburgh

April 9, 2013 12:12 am
By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



A section of Forbes Avenue Downtown could become a two-way street to help accommodate traffic from a 335-space parking garage to be built as part of a $95 million office and hotel project.

The city is studying the possibility of allowing traffic to flow both directions on Forbes from at least Market Square to Wood Street and perhaps the entire way to Smithfield Street, said Yarone Zober, chief of staff to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

Forbes is now one-way westbound from Smithfield to Market Square.

The impetus is coming from the Gardens at Market Square project, an 18-story high-rise to be built on Forbes near the square. It will be home to 125,000 square feet of office space, a 197-room Hilton Garden Inn, street-level retail and the parking garage.

Last week, the city Historic Review Commission approved a revised plan for the Gardens project that included moving the entrance and exit of the garage to Forbes. Previously, the exit from the garage as well as one entrance was on Fourth Avenue.

Lucas Piatt, Millcraft's president and chief operating officer, said the change makes for better design and will help to alleviate parking issues affecting Market Square. With no need for ramps or infrastructure to handle traffic on Fourth, the change also creates better open space near Fourth, he said.


...

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Before it got "modernized" the P-G building was actually pretty nice. You can see it in the background here:

Wonder if the facade is still under that metal cladding? They managed to restore the building on the corner of Forbes and Wood that had that terrible aluminum crap bolted to the outside. Could they restore the PG building the same way?

I don't mind that it's smaller than the buildings around it, I don't see the need to have everything be a skyscraper downtown, a little variation breaks things up a little.

[Topher51]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Before it got "modernized" the P-G building was actually pretty nice. You can see it in the background here:

If the original facade is still in place behind the current one, I would be favor of preserving it and doing something similar to the Hearst Tower in New York. Like the P-G Buidling, I believe this building also housed printing presses before the tower was built. Something similar to this would look fantastic coming out of the tunnel, BTW.

[Steel City Scotty]

^^^That idea of building new on top of old has been discussed on this board as a possible compromise to Oxford Development Company's long-delayed decision about whether to construct a 33-story skyscraper on Smithfield Street or simply renovate the former Lord & Taylor building.

But, I haven't actually heard the company discuss this as an option so I doubt it's something that's even being considered.

[BrianTH]

I'm not sure Forbes being two-way is a great idea--I suspect it is more pedestrian-friendly one-way--but I'd love to see the redesigned Gardens.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Topher51

If the original facade is still in place behind the current one, I would be favor of preserving it and doing something similar to the Hearst Tower in New York. Like the P-G Buidling, I believe this building also housed printing presses before the tower was built. Something similar to this would look fantastic coming out of the tunnel, BTW.

The Hearst Tower is AMAZING. One of the best high-rises in the country. But it cost $500 million to add that tower on top, not even counting the original cost of the smaller building and land.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Tower_(New_York_City)

So that's only $100 million more than PNC's new HQ tower. Let's hope we have some other deep pocket companies willing to pony up that kind of cash for new construction.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

--but I'd love to see the redesigned Gardens.

I don't think that article implied there will be a re-design of the building, only a change in the garage entrances. At least that's what I got from it.

[novaCJ]

While it may seem slightly counterintuitive, 2 way streets are often more efficient than 1 way streets. Not to mention easier to navigate.

[kennypip]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

The Hearst Tower is AMAZING. One of the best high-rises in the country. But it cost $500 million to add that tower on top, not even counting the original cost of the smaller building and land.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Tower_(New_York_City)

So that's only $100 million more than PNC's new HQ tower. Let's hope we have some other deep pocket companies willing to pony up that kind of cash for new construction.

The hearst tower is the same design as the United Steel Workers tower in Gateway center. It just the stretched out accordion version...

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

You are getting pretty close to the river there, but on the other hand there is underground parking right near by under Equitable Plaza, so maybe it would be possible. Even if not, you could replace or increase the number of spots in that area with just a few levels of structured parking. For example, if you had the whole P-G site to work with, you could do something similar to the plans for Market Square Gardens, maybe with a bit less parking.

I'm not sure I would actually build anything on the lot west of Commonwealth, however. That remaining Fort Pitt bastion (the "Flag Bastion") is actually pretty cool, and I would love to see it preserved and featured more, maybe even with a pedestrian tunnel under the ramps to the north. That might also be a good area to put in something like a playground and/or dog park (if there was a playground, it could tie into the fort theme).

I guess I'd like the idea of having structured parking near the P-G building. I do not like the fact that there's a surface lot right adjacent to part of the original Ft. Pitt footprint like you say. If anything, I'd like that surface lot removed in favor of recreational ground, essentially expanding Point State Park by a little bit.

Regarding the Hearst Tower in NYC, how tall is that building? Isn't it some 40 floors? I don't think we need necessarily anything that tall, especially in that part of Downtown. I could see something in the 15-20 story range though. Still, we'd probably be looking at something in the range of $250-300 million cost wise to build something like that if we were to use Hearst as a benchmark. Then again, we're comparing two totally different markets...