PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Evergrey]

BrianTH's letter was no match.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...07/point-park-university-brings-out.html

Jul 24, 2013, 1:29pm EDT

Point Park University brings out powerful friends

Point Park University brought out reinforcements Tuesday in seeking approval from the city’s Planning Commission to “deconstruct” or “demolish” three buildings on Forbes Avenue that are core to its plans to develop a new Pittsburgh Playhouse.

The three buildings include the former Honus Wagner Co. store and two neighboring properties that have generated some preservationist support for the quality of the design and for some of the remaining Terra Cotta on the upper floors. The university seeks to take down and replace the three buildings while seeking to preserve and reuse the facades.

While nobody appeared to oppose Point Park University’s plan at the meeting, save a few letters against the plan entered into the record, there was a powerful line of support for the project. Susan Golomb, a former planning professional and now director of retail development for PNC Financial Services Group Inc.; Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation; and Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, all came up to champion the plan.

Ziegler noted Point Park’s other downtown buildings and said the institution has saved more downtown buildings than anybody else.

Waldrup noted how the 800-seat auditorium is expected to serve as both an education and entertainment addition to downtown that will bring more than 200 nights of performance use each year.

Golomb noted how close the project was to her company’s new office tower and how PNC was pleased to support it.

...

[Jonboy1983]

Regarding the heated discussion on Pittsburgh's urban freeways, particularly the North Shore, below are some images for my vision for I-279 on the North Shore.


Above is an aerial shot of the whole site including Allegheny Center, and below is Reetsdale Street in the vicinity of CCAC's North Side campus.


I would love to see PA 65 restored to an urban boulevard. A Ben Franklin Parkway-esque boulevard would look awesome there!

And yes, a cut-and-cover of I-279 would be very expensive, but the benefits would very much outweigh the costs IMO. You can generate new parcels of land for new development, or spur demand for redevelopment of surrounding neighborhoods, particularly Allegheny Center, Spring Hill, etc.

[photoLith]

This highway discussion is getting boring, can we go back to development please.

I cant stand how Point Park and its supporters are like, well theyve preserved a lot already, time to tear everything else down and give up.

[DKNewYork]

Originally Posted by photoLith

I cant stand how Point Park and its supporters are like, well theyve preserved a lot already, time to tear everything else down and give up.

Not sure that is what the university or its supporters are saying that at all. Lost in the argument about the facades is the fact that the buildings are largely devoid of any original interior components and in various states of disrepair (one building is nearly completely separated from its façade). Could the interiors be rebuilt within the existing walls? Probably, but at what cost and to what end? If removing the buildings (note I am not addressing the facades here) allows a better performing arts center to be built—one that incorporates and puts to better use the University Center, which is THE stellar building on the block---why preserve the exterior walls of those buildings and fill them in with contemporary construction?

Now the onus is on Point Park and its architects to present a spectacular plan for the complex. I continually stress this because the Playhouse will be built. Is it more important to save the shells of those three buildings or get the best possible design? I would argue for the latter. That doesn’t make me a bad preservationist---I would argue it makes me a prudent one. Given my emphasis on the Playhouse design, I have come to agree with the university’s implicit argument that moving the main stage west (to use the property now occupied by the three buildings) will allow the University Center to be incorporated to the complex and result in a better Playhouse. That seemed evident from the recent floor plans.

But everything hinges on the design of the complex. I am aware that performing arts centers, while beneficial, can frequently be pedestrian-unfriendly. Lots of blank walls and the like… Even Heinz Hall and the Benedum, or three of the four sides of any of the theatres at Lincoln Center here in New York, can be blank and devoid of those things which make streets inviting. The university has set the bar high by saying that their new complex will bring the “activities within the Playhouse into the streets.” I understand that the plan currently has lots of glass and will be inviting to those on the surrounding sidewalks. Let’s hope that the architects can deliver.

As mentioned in the P-G article, the plan currently calls for the Honus Wagner building façade to be rebuilt in the proposed Forbes Avenue courtyard. The current floor plan shows this courtyard having an entrance to the Playhouse. My inference is that the façade will serve as an entrance to the Playhouse, with functioning doors and people behind the windows on the second floor. This seems to me to be a better use, a more honorable use, for the façade. The doors and upper windows will have clear glass, will allow people to see in and out. The windows and doors will be alive. Leaving the façade in place, given that the plan would place the main stage house right there, would possibly necessitate the window and door openings to be filled with dark or opaque glass, backed by some insulating material.

Fingers crossed. I have long said that I will give the university the benefit of the doubt. Now they have to put up. Show us something impressive.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

BrianTH's letter was no match.

No kidding. I take a very tiny bit of comfort in the fact they felt the need to bring out some big guns.

[Jonboy1983]

Granted, highway talk in an otherwise development-oriented discussion is rather soporific, but how they are designed can have an impact on how adjacent areas are developed...

Anyway, I will be posting a 3-part blog post on that topic, starting with http://urbandesigneggshell.blogspot.com/2013/07/rethinking-urban-freeways-my-vision-for.html

Given that, back to the topic of P.P.U. I know they're in some sense preserving at least the one facade of this set of historic facades. It would be nice to see all three incorporated in some way, but I am holding out some hope that this thing will be spectacular once it is built.

Over in the World Trade Center, we were all bashing the redesign of the spire and base among other things. As some folks said on there, maybe we should hold off on passing judgement until this thing is finished. Yes, as I've said, it would be nice to see the facades incorporated in the design, but I will reserve judgement until the playhouse is built.

[Johnland]

Is there a rendering of what Point Park plans to replace the old buildings with?

I understand the need for new construction if existing buildings are unsalvagable. If classic old buildings are to be lost, I just hope the new buildings aren't going to be the typical cheap looking sterile buildings that tend to be build today.

[photoLith]

My bet is that it will be a sterile piece of shit modern piece of schlock, devoid of any human m touch.

[DKNewYork]

Originally Posted by photoLith

My bet is that it will be a sterile piece of shit modern piece of schlock, devoid of any human m touch.

God, I hope you are wrong. But if not, I will join the rest of you in your complaints and letter-writing. Until the plans are published, I will remain cautiously optimistic because Dr Hennigan has talked about a performing arts center "unique in the United States." Plus, the Heinz Endowments provided some funding to the project during the early planning stage and is rumored to be one of the big "gets" for a major grant, and the foundation, in previous projects, has paid a lot of attention to the quality of the architecture and design.

[DKNewYork]

For the record, I very much enjoyed the transportation riff. I don't know a lot about transportation issues and hence I don't have a lot of opinions. So it was an enlightening discussion, with lots of possibilities that I had never considered. As a native of the South Hills, I will chime in that the condition of Routes 88 and 51 is embarrassing. They look the same as they did when I was a kid. My younger brother moved into the city in order to escape the traffic mess that he was encountering in the South Hills.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by DKNewYork

My younger brother moved into the city in order to escape the traffic mess that he was encountering in the South Hills.

Awesome! Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh, younger brother of DKNewYork! As a resident of the city, I love not having to deal with highway hassles!

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/loca...s-create-productive-partnerships-696746/

Industrial parks, communities create productive partnerships

When government and business join forces, economic development frequently follows


Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
A view of part of the Southpointe industrial parks, which cover more than 800 acres in Cecil.




Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
Southpointe, with a residental development in the foreground.



By Len Barcousky / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Industrial parks that have sprouted all across southwestern Pennsylvania demonstrate how government and business can work together, Jeff Kotula says.

Mr. Kotula wears two hats: He is president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and director of the county's Department of Economic Development.

His agencies have shepherded the development of Southpointe I and Southpointe II industrial parks, the familiar landmarks along Interstate 79 near Canonsburg that have brought thousands of new jobs to the county.

...


Washington's experience

Washington County officials began making plans for Southpointe in the early 1980s. They had their eyes on a large tract that had been the site of a reform school and later a state mental hospital, according to William McGowen, executive director of the county's Redevelopment Authority. The state transferred land for Southpointe I to Washington County in 1986, and the first industrial and commercial buildings were completed in 1993.

Today, the Southpointe parks cover more than 800 acres in Cecil. In addition to offices and factories, they offer housing, a hotel and a golf course.

"You can live, work and play right in the park," Mr. Kotula said.

As real estate professionals always say, location matters.

"This land was close to [Pittsburgh International] airport and had easy interstate highway access," Mr. Kotula said. Lower tax rates were an added attraction.

Economic development efforts in the area got a boost with the growth of the Marcellus Shale natural gas industry.

"Washington County is marketing itself as the energy capital of the east," Mr. Kotula said. The presence of companies such as Range Resources, Chesapeake Energy, Consolidated Natural Gas, Noble Energy, MarkWest Energy, Rice Energy and WPX Energy has attracted related businesses. Those companies, seeking to provide goods and services to gas exploration firms, want to locate in industrial parks close to their customers, he said.

While Southpointe I is fully developed and only a few parcels remain in Southpointe II, some additional space is expected to be freed up later this year. That's when Mylan Inc. will open its new 280,000-square-foot headquarters in Southpointe II. Mylan, best known as a maker of generic drugs, relocated its headquarters to a 95,000-square-foot building at Southpointe I in 2003.

Even as Southpointe II was filling up, Washington County officials were making plans to develop another 900 acres in Cecil on the east side of I-79. That project is called Cool Valley industrial park.

Beaver County is in the running for a multibillion-dollar Royal Dutch Shell petrochemical plant that would use natural gas from the Marcellus Shale layer as its raw material. Washington County wants to be prepared to provide space for new businesses linked to the natural gas boom.

"We want to have a site ready to go when plastics companies and fertilizer makers want to locate manufacturing facilities, offices or headquarters here," Mr. Kotula said.

The Southpointe parks are among eight economic development sites in Washington County. Others include Alta Vista Business Park in Fallowfield and Starpointe Business Park in Hanover and Smith townships.

...

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Awesome! Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh, younger brother of DKNewYork! As a resident of the city, I love not having to deal with highway hassles!

As a resident of the city who happens to live very close to his workplace, that is. I'm a resident of Pittsburgh as well, but I don't, unfortunately, have that luxury.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[DKNewYork]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Awesome! Welcome to the City of Pittsburgh, younger brother of DKNewYork! As a resident of the city, I love not having to deal with highway hassles!

I will pass along your welcome, although it is a bit belated. My brother moved into the city in 1996. His job requires travel around the region and the South Hills were too isolated from the major roads that he would be traveling. Hence my interest in the transportation discussion.

[BrianTH]

More iron facade pictures. Looks like they will be identical except for the trim color (brown, greenish, and red, L-R):

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by glowrock

Such idealism, dfiler. Look, while I agree in general that the more people use transit or other means besides private vehicles to get to work, get around town, etc. the better it is, you're just not going to be able to do that here in Pittsburgh without MASSIVE transit infrastructure improvements. Our bus system is fairly pathetic, our road network needs help (and let's face it, outside of the busways our buses drive on the same congested, narrow, clogged roads as regular cars do!), and our light rail system is antiquated, slow and needs upgrading and expanding to other parts of town besides the western side of the South Hills.

Spare me the platitudes about needing to stop being so car-centric, please. I've heard all of your talking points before, and even though I agree with a good number of them many of them don't necessarily apply to Pittsburgh, mainly because of topographic constraints. Change is hard? People get annoyed? Wow, such platitudes. Lifestyle change? Cultural change? My god, give me a break! Pittsburgh's not trying to force change on anyone, it (and PennDOT, and the Port Authority, and the State Government, and of course the voters) just seem to think we're still living in the past in this place. Urbanity IS good, Not having enormous amounts of 8-16 lane highways IS good, I don't deny that one bit. But saying that making targeted improvements to congested/gridlocked/woefully outdated roads like 51 and 88 in the South Hills is a bad thing makes you look foolish. People already live in these areas, and many of them date back 30-50 years. This isn't encouraging sprawl, it's being able to handle the people that have already lived in these areas for decades. And we're not talking about far-flung suburbs, either. How far are places like Bethel Park, Whitehall, Pleasant Hills, etc., from Downtown? From the South Side? As the crow flies, they're very close. As the roads are currently built, they're so close yet so far in terms of time involved. It's a mess, period.

Your condescending attitudes might get you far on SSP and in this particular thread, but they're not going to get you very far in terms of trying to get your point across to the city, county or state governmental agencies.

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Edit: To clarify and hopefully avoid misunderstanding, this has never been an argument against targeted improvements. Instead, here is the only comment that I've made on route 51. "To determine when capacity should be added, the landscape and proximity to other residential and commercial/industrial areas must be considered. In my opinion, trying to expand road capacity in the 51, if done in isolation, will actually make the problem worse in the long run. Granted, this is quite debatable and even experts speculate about such topics."]

Please read what I wrote again. It isn't idealism nor condescending. Instead, we merely have different opinions on the optimal urban and transportation structure for pittsburgh. What we need is reasoned debate, not accusations.

The preference for transit/walking/biking is not idealism. It is actually the predominant model in use in the world today. The United States strayed farthest from that model but is now returning to it in many urban centers.

Acknowledging that this requires a cultural shift isn't condescending. Instead it is acknowledging the effect that people will experience. Noting that the shift or even discussion of the shift annoys or enrages some people isn't condescending either. I think your heated post exemplifies that it does exactly that.

Our decisions on the topic have never been perfect so a healthy discussion should involve what mistakes have been made. Without doing that, there will be little chance of improvement. Thus, I propose that such discussions are needed and proper whenever a proposal is put forth to increase road capacity.

[Captain Crash]

The old Lamp Theater out in Irwin should hopefully be restored soon. May not be downtown but at least some old buildings are being preserved.

http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourno...-74/lamp-theater-cassandro#axzz2a5XxgsDC

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Captain Crash

The old Lamp Theater out in Irwin should hopefully be restored soon. May not be downtown but at least some old buildings are being preserved.

http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourno...-74/lamp-theater-cassandro#axzz2a5XxgsDC

Thanks for the Irwin update, Capt. Crash.

[Austinlee]

At least Southpointe is a dense development employing thousands of people many with very high incomes. Any successful metro nowadays needs good city and CBD amenities as well as high quality suburban office parks for the companies that might consider Pittsburgh to locate to and employ many people and grow the business but won't setup shop in the city center.
Also brownsfields are a great assets for future development and hopefully large scale facilities of advanced manufacturing needed for the future economy. I feel that Pittsburgh has plenty of choices for business development and has tons of room to grow while already having a killer city with lots of culture and a place with personality that makes people feel like they are somewhere special and not some bland soulless place.

[Private Dick]

What's going on with the airport? Is the demand for flights into and out of Pittsburgh just not there right now?

For all the good things happening in Pittsburgh and the seemingly-constant, positive national press, the airport is completely dead. It doesn't seem to make sense.