PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[DKNewYork]

PhotoLith, great pics!

In the background of this one of the PNC construction site are Roberts Jewelers and the adjacent Skinny Building, both recently bought by the URA to be flipped to a developer. Both are lovely but the Skinny Building the more intersting at barely more than 5 feet across. It has no heat and the floor plates are too small to meet contemporary fire and construction codes. The thinking is that the façade can be restored and the second and third floor will be connected to the adjacent floors in the Roberts building so the space can be utilized. This will be a great project and I hope it moves forward soon so it can be completed by the time PNC is built.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by DKNewYork

PhotoLith, great pics!

In the background of this one of the PNC construction site are Roberts Jewelers and the adjacent Skinny Building, both recently bought by the URA to be flipped to a developer. Both are lovely but the Skinny Building the more intersting at barely more than 5 feet across. It has no heat and the floor plates are too small to meet contemporary fire and construction codes. The thinking is that the façade can be restored and the second and third floor will be connected to the adjacent floors in the Roberts building so the space can be utilized. This will be a great project and I hope it moves forward soon so it can be completed by the time PNC is built.

That would be great if that's possible.

Regarding the gentrification taking place, I saw those pics of the houses in Houston. While I wouldn't call them crappy, I do believe that certain architectural styles belong in certain places. Those look modern, as does that particular house recently constructed in the North Side (Manchester, Mex War Streets area?). Houses like those I think would be better situated in East Liberty where a lot of contemporary construction seems to be taking place. I do agree that if there is a decent amount of historic stock available, hold onto it! As Photolith and others have said, every house counts. All of those old houses will give neighborhoods their identity.

Having said that, I'm trying to look for a zoning map of Pittsburgh. Is anything in store for the Chateau neighborhood? I'm producing a SketchUp image of my vision for the Beaver Avenue Expressway (replacing it with two one-way 3-lane streets complete with on-street parking, a bike lane, and the extension of the LRT down a large grass median between the two streets. I see that the current use is mostly industrial, which is a shame. There is a sizeable boat launch between the West End Bridge almost all the way down to the Brunots Island RR Bridge...

[Wave]

Originally Posted by Private —

Actually it said that the city "didn't reply to his offer to buy the three-story, red brick row house".

Which means he wanted to get the property for a song once it was removed from the tax rolls. Not the same thing as the city saying fu to him at all.

Why didn't he (or any of the other concerned residents/neighborhood preservation groups) buy it for peanuts at the sheriff's sale?

Because they wanted to basically get it for free, or have someone else do the work. It's the same story in any city. Complaints and "action" after the thing has been torn down. So I have zero sympathy for any of these "concerned" neighborhood residents.

Quick update. I checked with someone who deals with the city on these sorts of things. According to the city, both adjoining properties are privately owned with all taxes paid up to date. SO I am not sure where the Trib article got the info that the house next door was also controlled by the city.

Of course 1405 Buena Vista went up for Sheriff's sale. My understanding of the process is that during a sheriff's sale, very few properties sell -- just a small fraction. This is due to the fact that at this stage, as Private — mentions, these properties can be loaded up with liens. Once it becomes a certified sale, which could take many months, the City will most likely become the owner. At that time, they will have a 'free & clear' sale of the property.

For better or worse, developers & investors are in business to make a profit. Unless the property is bought by a person interested in living in the rehabbed property (end user) many or most investors are going to wait until the property is lien free to get it for the best price. That's capitalism. Fortunately many of these developers are also preservationists (intentionally or unintentionally) and doing the heavy lifting in terms of saving historical properties by investing in them. Much of the North Side, Lawrenceville and other neighborhoods have been restored by a combination of urban pioneers & investors in the first wave. The issue with this property was that in all of the routine waiting for this to go "free & clear" the city also had condemned the property and began to demolish it. Those are two arms of the city government that have different objectives as far as I can tell. So when demolition began, it probably did come as surprise to a lot of folks. Yes they could've paid more attention, but, really, if SO many folks are interested in saving this property, and the city would prefer to not have to demo it and also have the liens paid off, then clearly the city is not doing a good enough job of marketing, exposing and promoting the property.

[Found5dollar]

I just had a friend move to Homewood the other month and i took the busway to visit him the other day. I stumbled across this development and think it is wonderful.

http://www.oxforddevelopment.com/our-portfolio/homewood-station-senior-apartments/


It is a senior living facility with 41 units and ground floor retail that has saved a historic facade and is reusing it as the main entrance to the building. More density near busway stops is needed and the retail is just icing on the cake. The retail may not fill in right away, but it is perfect of basic services like a laundromat, a corner store, or a small restaurant. I am excited to see this finished.

[BrianTH]

I've been watching the Homewood project from the Busway and it is coming along very nicely, and definitely has a visual impact.

[Evergrey]

Anybody have any duck photos to share?

[PITairport]

Industrial Scientific finally broke ground on their new global headquarters in Robinson:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2013/09/30/industrial-scientific-breaks-ground-on.html

At 200,000 sq ft, this would be scaled back a bit; I recall original plans called for a 330,000 sq ft structure and approx 100' high (about 8-9 stories).


I have yet to find any renderings which is quite unusual since ground has been broken. The architect firm however has some innovative designs around the world.

http://www.idcarchitects.com/portfolio/default.asp

[themaguffin]

the duck thing made buzzfeed the other day, but I don't have the link handy.

[Found5dollar]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

the duck thing made buzzfeed the other day, but I don't have the link handy.

here you go.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/passantino/worlds-largest-rubber-ducky-makes-its-american-debut-in-pitt

[GeneW]

Peduto looks for alternatives to Buncher's Pittsburgh development plan

The councilman said he has been meeting with Buncher representatives every few weeks to discuss the development and ways to achieve it while at the same time addressing "sticking points," including riverfront access, proper stormwater mitigation, historic preservation and the potential for an adaptive reuse of the terminal.

"At the end of the day, I want to be able to show to them and to their board that there is a potential third way of doing it that still allows them to do what they want to do on their property," he said.

Mr. Peduto doesn't believe the terminal building, once the hub for produce wholesalers in the region but now nearly vacant, necessarily has to be part of Buncher's Riverfront Landing project.

"Obviously their concern with the terminal building is that it provides a wall between what they want to do and the Strip District itself. So if there are ways to find a different developer for the terminal building that would also be open to ideas of having access through the building to the site that would fit within Buncher's plans, then we should be pursuing that," he said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/loca...h-development-plan-705641/#ixzz2gTb0x0Ml

[photoLith]

I can't wait for peduto to be mayor.

[Urbana]

I am concerned that Peduto may be pushing too hard - we don't want another 30 years of parking lots. And for what? A section of the building built quite recently, with very little historic value. It would be one thing if the entire terminal was coming down, but just one section of an already too long building seems like nothing but another benefit of the redevelopment effort. At least they have made Buncher go back to the drawing board a few times, perhaps resulting in more appropriate use of urban space.

[GeneW]

This is not so much about the building itself as about Peduto firing a warning shot across the bow of Buncher and all developers in the city. This is him saying that it's not business as usual and you're not going to get the city to rubber stamp any lazy suburban-looking project you come up with just because you threaten to leave the site as a big parking lot.

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Peduto looks for alternatives to Buncher's Pittsburgh development plan

If another developer can be found to re-work the Produce Terminal Building in conjunction with Buncher's development plan that allows for better access to the riverfront then I'm all for it. I have my doubts that someone will be found to do this with the actual funding to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, but I'm all for it if it can be done!

Aaron (Glowrock)

[Urbana]

DLA+ seems to have completed the master plan for the Iron City Brewery.







I thought this was to be a 500 million dollar development, it sure doesn't look like it.

Image Credit: DLA+

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Urbana

I am concerned that Peduto may be pushing too hard - we don't want another 30 years of parking lots.

That is a reasonable concern, but it is hard to know whether he is pushing too hard without being in the conversations and seeing how Buncher is reacting. Hopefully he can strike a reasonable balance, and for what it is worth, Peduto is claiming the discussions have been positive so far.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Urbana

I thought this was to be a 500 million dollar development, it sure doesn't look like it.

I thought the number was $100 million, but in any event I like what I am seeing, because this is definitely a project where I want to see them highlighting and complementing the historic buildings.

Edit: More info here:

http://buildingpittsburgh.com/2012/12/06/something-new-brewing-at-iron-city/



Aerial shot for comparison:

[photoLith]

That looks like a pretty kick — project and didn't know it was going to be that big. That part of town needs it bad too.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

That looks like a pretty kick — project and didn't know it was going to be that big. That part of town needs it bad too.

Agreed, and it is a nice chunk of Transit Oriented Development as well.

[GeneW]

The Iron City project is really going to tie in well with the development going on at Doughboy Square around the corner. It's neat see those developments on the fringes of Lawrenceville heading toward The Strip at that same time as The Strip seems to be inching towards Lawrenceville.