PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Evergrey]

Welcome back, McKeesportDude.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Phillydude

Hey folks. I've been in Philly for 36 years but moving back to McKeesport next month (my hometown). I've been keeping up with the new construction and whatnot but if anyone knows whether PAT has any plans to restore some/all of the service that was suspended back in (I think) 2011 could you let me know? I would appreciate it. Figures I'd leave Philly when a construction boom was starting but at least I'll get to see PNC go up.

If PAT gets properly funded by the transportation bill, I'd assume some of the lost service would come back, although possibly as part of route reorganization.

[Phillydude]

Thanks Evergrey and Aaron. I should change my name to McKeesportDude but I think I'll keep my last remaining connection to Philly. I went back and read BrianTH's post about the transportation bill. Politics as usual while people suffer. It seems McKeesport/Port Vue/Liberty took a huge hit when they cut service though.

[BrianTH]

Somewhat ironically (from a political perspective), the areas hurt worst by the failure of the state government to restore its transit funding cuts are not the innermost urban areas, but rather the first couple rings of suburban areas around the larger cities, including places like McKeesport. For that matter, those suburban areas around the larger cities are also hurt worst by the state's road/bridge funding shortfalls.

This also provides a seed of hope (again from a political perspective): Republicans cannot win statewide elections or control the state legislature without a lot of support from the suburban areas around the larger cities, particularly Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. That is a very large part of why politicians like Corbett, various Republican State Senators, and so forth have supported the Senate Bill. Indeed, it is a large part of why until recently, it was not so hard to make transportation deals. And if you are feeling optimistic, you might think sooner or later we will get back to that dynamic.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Phillydude

Thanks Evergrey and Aaron. I should change my name to McKeesportDude but I think I'll keep my last remaining connection to Philly. I went back and read BrianTH's post about the transportation bill. Politics as usual while people suffer. It seems McKeesport/Port Vue/Liberty took a huge hit when they cut service though.

http://triblive.com/neighborhoods/yourmc...9-74/bus-glassport-service#axzz2jIrZxEjC

Bus is back in some Mon Valley towns


Jennifer R. Vertullo | Daily News
Picking up the 55 Glassport bus, Joe Lacivita and his 4-year-old granddaughter head home from morning errands on Tuesday.


Jennifer R. Vertullo | Daily News
Max & Odi's owner Rich Farmer and waitress Samantha Barker welcome Port Authority's new 55 Glassport to the borough's business district.


By Eric Slagle

Published: Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, 4:11 a.m.

After a two-and-a-half year absence, Port Authority bus service has made a welcome return to some communities in the Mon Valley.

On Sunday, buses bearing the route marker 55 Glassport began traveling roads between Century Square in West Mifflin and Wal-Mart in North Versailles Township for the first time since March 2011.

The route restores and expands one that was previously known as the 55 Jefferson. The old route, which went only to McKeesport, was one of 29 routes axed in 2011 because of budget constraints.

Area residents were glad to have the bus back as local stops were populated with riders on Tuesday waiting to catch buses traveling in both directions.

“I go to town to shop and the VA Hospital in Oakland,” rider James Harper said Tuesday just before he boarded the bus in Glassport heading toward McKeesport.

While Harper was waiting on the bus to make a connection with other buses into Pittsburgh, Joe Lacivitas and his 4-year-old granddaughter Morgan were waiting across the street to catch the bus so they could run some local shopping errands around Glassport.

“My car broke down and I need the bus to get around,” said Lacivitas, adding his granddaughter enjoys using public transportation. “We were so glad to hear the 55 was coming back through town.”


...

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

I'm in favor of any development that puts high rises anywhere in the city other than the triangle, and I think the closeness to the subway station, and walking distances to other amenities would offset the traffic issues on game days and big concert events.

Thanks for that remark! Those are my sentiments exactly and why I think putting 20-plus story residential towers plus the hotel makes sense. Just to give you an idea of how far of a walk it is to the Allegheny Station, it's right in the back. I have an alley way back there with car and bus access (I noticed a bus shelter beneath the tracks there on Google Earth Streetview.), and the cars can access a parking structure adjacent to the residential/retail complex.

I did a rough configuration of apartment layouts for those buildings, and I have over 500 apartments, ranging from 1,045' for a one bedroom, roughly 1500 to 1600 sq ft for a 2 bedroom, and 1800 sq ft for a 3 bedroom. In the tallest building, I have 4 penthouse suites at over 4000 sq ft each...

You're going to have big traffic issues in just about any large/major city. In these urban areas, it makes sense to not only have the appropriate infrastructure in place (bike/pedestrian/transit-friendly and accommodating), but also the appropriate uses to reflect that.

Right now I'm working on the best solution for that headache at the PA65/US 19/California Avenue interchange.

[Phillydude]

Thanks a million for the updates. I'm really hoping they start running the 56 back to Penn State McKeesport or something that goes by the high school. There used to be 3 different buses there but now the closest one is up a very long, steep hill.

[Found5dollar]

11 or so "city homes," costign over 1 million a piece, are coming to the strip district.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...the-hammels-to-bring-city-houses-to.html

[Urbana]

^^^
Interior and exterior rendering at the architect's website.
Seems like a unique concept.

http://www.desmone.com/project/smallman-street-apartments/

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Found5dollar

11 or so "city homes," costign over 1 million a piece, are coming to the strip district.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...the-hammels-to-bring-city-houses-to.html

Is there really a market for million dollar condos in The Strip? I could be wrong but that seems like a bit of a stretch. Condos* seem to have been a tough sell here in Pittsburgh.

*Yeah, I know that the developer says that they're not but if you're buying a unit in a building I don't know what else they'd be. "City House" is a dumb neologism.

[Jonboy1983]

Is anything going to go across the street from there? This may have been discussed before. If it was, my bad. Also, what's in the 5-story warehouse catercorner to this new development? According to the 2011 streetview imagery, it looks like a vacuum research lab...

[markson33]

Yeah, I have a hard time seeing those "city-homes" being successful. I like the renderings, but I don't know if there is a market for it. Not really a fan of the scale of the project.

I can see the concept of condos coming back, but not at that price range.

[SkyPittsburgh]

Hi everyone!
I am new to this page in the terms of being a member, but I have been reading the posts for many months (he said in a non-stalker way)

I hope to bring some fun ideas to the page, as pictures of the booming East Liberty area (where I live)

Thanks!

[Steel City Scotty]

Originally Posted by SkyPittsburgh

Hi everyone!
I am new to this page in the terms of being a member, but I have been reading the posts for many months (he said in a non-stalker way)

I hope to bring some fun ideas to the page, as pictures of the booming East Liberty area (where I live)

Thanks!

Welcome to the page!

We look forward to having you provide pictures and join in the discussion.

[Evergrey]

http://triblive.com/business/headlines/4990141-74/building-hotel-drury#axzz2jUcD6AYI

Former Fed building in Downtown Pittsburgh will be hotel


By Sam Spatter

Published: Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, 11:07 p.m.
Updated 9 hours ago

There is an answer to whether the former Federal Reserve Bank building Downtown will be turned into offices or a hotel.

Crews will begin remodeling the Downtown building mid-month into a Drury Inn & Suites with 180 rooms and the work should be complete by next November, Joe Pereles, vice president of Drury Hotel Co. said on Friday.

The subsidiary of Drury Southwest Inc. will operate the hotel when its sale by M&J Wilkow of Chicago closes in a couple of weeks, Pereles said. No price was disclosed.

The estimated $30 million project will mark Drury's entrance into the Pittsburgh market, an area the company has eyed for some time, Pereles said. The Drury Inn & Suites model is similar to a Hampton Inn or Courtyard by Marriott, he said.

“We recently purchased a building in Cleveland, and our historic restoration crew will be going there to have that building converted into a hotel,” Pereles said. “Following that conversion, the team will come to Pittsburgh.”

...

[BrianTH]

Given what luxury apartments are renting for in the Strip, I don't think that is necessarily overpriced. Whether there is enough of a market for homes for sale in general is another question. Incidentally, while I would agree this would be underscale for a vacant lot development, I don't have a problem with it as a creative reuse project.

I'm glad to see they are going with a hotel for the former Federal Reserve building. As we have discussed before, that is a great location for the Convention Center.

Edit: Oh, and from my perspective "condo" is a legal term, implying the existence of a condo association with related governance, bylaws, fees, and so on. Given all the shared spaces, I'd think they would need such a thing. As far as the actual configuration is concerned, it looks to me like each unit occupies all floors, meaning the neighbors share walls but aren't above or below each other. So that reads more "rowhouses" (or "townhouses") to me than apartments (or "flats", a useful term in this context).

[SkyPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'm glad to see they are going with a hotel for the former Federal Reserve building. As we have discussed before, that is a great location for the Convention Center.

I'm really excited to see more hotels popping up downtown, especially close to the convention center!

[MattofSloppyVariety]

I'm really excited it's Drury Inn that will be moving in. When I visit Columbus that's where I stay.

[Urbana]

Driving through Oakland yesterday, I noticed that the lot at Ruskin and Bayard has been cleared down to the soil with quite a bit of construction equipment on site. Hopefully construction will begin soon on the proposed office building.

[SkyPittsburgh]

I walk past that site everyday and I can remember wondering "when will they ever start?" I'm really excited to see some development in Oakland moving forward.