PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

haven't the current/previous owners been trying to market this as an office building? Other than Siemens and a few other tenants, this building is mostly empty, isn't it?

Yep. Supposedly they didn't really bring the building up to great condition, and also allegedly violated some terms of their deal with Siemens, but the fact it wasn't a roaring success as an office building lends credibility to the idea it is not necessarily well-suited to that purpose.

Luxury brand/operator, as in Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons?

Sure! There are actually a lot of different luxury brands around these days looking to expand in the U.S., including ones that started in Asia (like Mandarin Oriental), and offshoots like JW Marriott or Park Hyatt. There is also a trend of big international chains doing their own "boutique" hotels, things like Marriott Edition or Hyatt Andaz.

If you read around, a big thing these days is to try to make luxury hotels feel more "authentic", more specific to city/country they are in, more individually distinctive, and so on. Off hand I could see a luxury hotel in the Union Trust Building really fitting that theme, meaning it could be very much a distinctive, Pittsburgh-flavored, sort of luxury hotel.

[Austinlee]

Yeah you guys are right, now that I think about it Union Trust would probably make a pretty awesome high end hotel. I still think shops on the first floor indoor mall would be perfect.

However, if it DID go residential I guess there is already a precedent: The old Pennsylvania Railroad building. I have been in one of those apartments and it wasn't bad. And talk about a GRAND entrance. Holy cow.

[BrianTH]

C.J. Betters Enterprises is expressing the intention to present a development plan "this year" for the properties they have been accumulating on Mt. Washington:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...etters-considering-project-on-mount.html

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission approved Tuesday a plan by an affiliate of his C.J. Betters Enterprises to tear down two vacant houses on Grandview. The move, when combined with two other houses it acquired last year, will total 16 parcels spanning two acres along Grandview Avenue, largely in the 1500 block between Augusta and Shaler streets.

Michael Moidel, the chief operations officer for C.J. Betters Enterprises, said his firm is in the preliminary stages of establishing a development plan for the property, after shelving a one-time condo plan for some of the property. Betters first began buying largely single-family homes along the western edge of Grandview Avenue in 1998. He now has enough property on which to develop a substantial project.

C.J. Betters is considering plans that could include multi-family residential as well as perhaps some restaurant space for a site that’s only a short walk from Monterrey Bay Fish Grotto.

[AaronPGH]

Here is the CJ Betters portfolio, it seems.

http://cjbetters.homesandland.com/Webpage.cfm?WebpageId=12275

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

C.J. Betters Enterprises is expressing the intention to present a development plan "this year" for the properties they have been accumulating on Mt. Washington:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...etters-considering-project-on-mount.html

Wow. All it took was 16 years to get to this point. Impressive progress.

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Here is the CJ Betters portfolio, it seems.

http://cjbetters.homesandland.com/Webpage.cfm?WebpageId=12275

Gross.

[WillyC]

As much as I would love a W downtown in the Union Trust, but I can't image with a Westin by the convention center and a Sheraton in Station Square that Starwood would be eager to have a property eat into each's clientele.

[eschaton]

This seems to be the same Mount Washington project I discussed a few pages back. They are still missing one owner-occupied property in the center of the block, and I presume they won't actually be able to go ahead with any master plans until they buy this person out.

Given the last few people were not bought out cheaply (they spent $350,000 for one house) I can't imagine something low density is going to go there.

[BrianTH]

Yeah, I agree their existing portfolio is not exactly confidence-inspiring, but you would think they planned to be more ambitious here.

[AaronPGH]

I don't think W hotels would eat into the Westin too much. They target different demographics. I'm also not sure that the Union Trust building is appropriate for one – as they're usually far more contemporary.

[photoLith]

Excuse the shitty iPhone photo but I was just in market square. I figure the crane is near the top of where the TO structural steel will be.


The Gardens construction is coming along too now.

[Steel City Scotty]

Not really "development" discussion, but if anyone enjoys crime/suspense/procedural type shows, "Those Who Kill" premiered on A&E at 10:00 on this past Monday night.

The show was entirely shot in Pittsburgh and the city's surrounding communities, and it takes place there as well. Several shots of the skyline, railroad tracks and old furnaces were used throughout the first episode. The characters even make frequent references to real-life locations and municipalities.

Anyway, a link to the trailer is posted below. If you missed the first episode but want to get caught up, it can be viewed on A&E's website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plFCSURAVPk

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

C.J. Betters Enterprises is expressing the intention to present a development plan "this year" for the properties they have been accumulating on Mt. Washington:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...etters-considering-project-on-mount.html

CJ Betters is a major developer. He is the biggest developer in Beaver County. He was the losing bidder to have the hopeful $2 billion Shell Cracker plant built on his hundreds of acres he owns where the old massive J&L Steel Mill used to sit out here (it employed 14,000 people at its peak).

Anyway, he owns a shit load of properties. He is known for being a pretty smart developer. He might have something big planned for Mt Washington.

[WillyC]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

I don't think W hotels would eat into the Westin too much. They target different demographics. I'm also not sure that the Union Trust building is appropriate for one – as they're usually far more contemporary.

It really depends on the locale for W. Most of their new showpiece hotels are in the asia. However, in other instances they find ways to incorporate the old.

They were part of redevelopment of old row houses in Istanbul, there is a thread on it on these forums: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1433687

They also did the Hotel Washington downtown in DC.

So I think they could actually be great tenets, especially with the potential for an upstairs bar where the atriums are.

[BrianTH]

Although I don't think it is impossible to imagine a W hotel in the Union Trust Building, their modern, minimalist decor style would seem to be fighting against the nature of the building.

I don't really entirely understand all of the Starwood brands, but something like a St. Regis or The Luxury Collection might be a better fit.

Edit: As an aside, in these descriptions of the Starwood brands you can see an example of what I was noting earlier about a hot trend in luxury hotels:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/autoclubs/brands.html

An impeccable staff, offering flawless and discreet service, ensures an extraordinary stay at St. Regis® Hotels & Resorts. From New York to Beijing, each St. Regis captures the distinctive personality of its location.

It definitely seems to me that could be the ideal sort of niche for this property.

[BrianTH]

Article on the RiverParc lawsuit, which is apparently going to trial:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5659562-74/trust-cultural-project#axzz2v5qlxAfA

I have no idea about the merits, but hopefully once this is resolved, one way or another, something can actually happen with these properties.

[BrianTH]

A few interesting details in this article on the 6-month extension of Buncher's option on the Produce Terminal:

http://www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/produceterminal030514.aspx

In addition to preserving the building, the city would like to see Smallman Street completely refurbished from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, including making the stretch more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists and transforming the area into Pittsburgh’s answer to Seattle’s Pike Place Market or Philadelphia’s Reading Terminal.

I'm not sure I knew before they wanted to redo Smallman all the way to the Convention Center.

Also this:

Any equitable solution, Peduto says, will involve access to the site through the terminal. “Even the preservation community understands that would be a condition by which the preservation of the building could happen,” Peduto says. “Even with that, it opens up the terminal building in a way that you have different pods, and those pods could be of different uses, from housing to commercial to other options that are kind of cutting edge. With all those proposals that are out there, the critical part of the next six months is showing the financing.”

That "pods" approach is interesting. It certainly seems to me that you could open up more possibilities for sustainable uses if you could do different things with different sections.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I have no idea about the merits, but hopefully once this is resolved, one way or another, something can actually happen with these properties.

As long as the Cultural Trust doesn't get taken to the cleaners, I'd guess ...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

As long as the Cultural Trust doesn't get taken to the cleaners, I'd guess ...

Sheriff's sale works for me too.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I really don't see any inherent appeal to having an entity like that in control of the development rights.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Sheriff's sale works for me too.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I really don't see any inherent appeal to having an entity like that in control of the development rights.

Wouldn't it be delicious if Concord got the property back and did it without the Cultural Trust somehow?

[BrianTH]

Article about the Benedum's plans to expand into the Clark Building via the new pedestrian bridge:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/201...se-part-of-building/stories/201403050049