PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

They are also soon beginning street construction on the eastern part of the Lower Hill site, where the Penguins plan to do their first phases:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/5924203-74/conturo-site-million#axzz2yVnm9ll9

[Found5dollar]

new planning commission presentation is up:

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/schedule51/presentation-51-518.pdf

Only 2 new thing:
-Interior and small exterior renovation for Hill House Passport Academy Charter School
-CCAC Physical Education Building renovation and addition. it is a very small addition, but very nicely handled.

[BrianTH]

Recently-secured state funding may allow the East Liberty Transit Center to add back in some amenities that got cut when the original bids came in higher than expected:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5926197-74/transit-east-marina#axzz2yZg4Uy4T

As we discussed back then, this is not necessarily a critical issue--good functionality is by far the most important issue when it comes to what is expected to be a heavily-used transit station--but it certainly isn't a bad thing if the state wants to help make it a more attractive place as well.

[BrianTH]

This sounds encouraging. The South Side Works site which keeps getting and then losing possible restaurant tenants may be used for office instead:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...ew-plansprogress-for-the-riverfront.html

“We want to use that site and go up as high as we can,” said Despres. “We think the office market is heating up and there’s market opportunity there.”

They are also moving forward with plans for a marina.

[BrianTH]

The URA is looking to buy some more properties in East Liberty from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority with the idea of converting them to a development opportunity:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...gotiate-to-buy-the-former-detective.html

This is the property and parking they are talking about (although I am not sure how much of the nearby parking is included):

https://goo.gl/maps/Z7WKd

As I mentioned recently, I would personally love to see those underutilized blocks between Euclid and Beatty fill up with apartments.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The URA is looking to buy some more properties in East Liberty from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority with the idea of converting them to a development opportunity:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...gotiate-to-buy-the-former-detective.html

This is the property and parking they are talking about (although I am not sure how much of the nearby parking is included):

https://goo.gl/maps/Z7WKd

As I mentioned recently, I would personally love to see those underutilized blocks between Euclid and Beatty fill up with apartments.

I work in East Liberty now and have been walking around the area a lot in my spare time and have been amazed at how many freaking parking lots there are there. What a waste of land in a business district.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I work in East Liberty now and have been walking around the area a lot in my spare time and have been amazed at how many freaking parking lots there are there. What a waste of land in a business district.

All part of the mall-like experience they were trying to create:



That said, it appears to me that corner of the Penn Circle footprint used to be residential with lots of SFHs:

http://37.media.tumblr.com/7db5c8b471db4f8ca0e3d87f8a0980b7/tumblr_mpoxw4BgNk1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg

So not to put lipstick on this pig, but if in fact that does get in-filled with reasonable-sized multi-units (maybe with ground floor retail), you could be looking at an increase in density/utilization over what existed there historically.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The URA is looking to buy some more properties in East Liberty from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority with the idea of converting them to a development opportunity:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...gotiate-to-buy-the-former-detective.html

This is the property and parking they are talking about (although I am not sure how much of the nearby parking is included):

https://goo.gl/maps/Z7WKd

As I mentioned recently, I would personally love to see those underutilized blocks between Euclid and Beatty fill up with apartments.

It looks like the city also owns that smaller lot on the other side of N Beatty. Wonder if it's also part of the deal.

As an aside, I hope they reconnect N Beatty through that block as well. Maybe get rid of that wide turn corner at the intersection of Station Street and N Euclid too.

[BrianTH]

Courtesy of Chris Briem, a nice article about the urban gondola system they are building in La Paz. The descriptions of the issues they faced in La Paz and why they opted for this technology seem very familiar . . .

http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/apr/09/largest-urban-cable-car-la-paz-bolivia

[photoLith]

I think wishing for a gondola is just a pipe dream. It should be much more important to focus on things that could maybe come to fruition like light and heavy rail.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It looks like the city also owns that smaller lot on the other side of N Beatty. Wonder if it's also part of the deal.

Based on the square-footage quoted in the article I would guess not, but I'd love to be wrong.

As an aside, I hope they reconnect N Beatty through that block as well. Maybe get rid of that wide turn corner at the intersection of Station Street and N Euclid too.

Agree all around. It may be tough to imagine at the moment, but Beatty could become a reasonably important street if that section of East Liberty gets redeveloped well.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

I think wishing for a gondola is just a pipe dream. It should be much more important to focus on things that could maybe come to fruition like light and heavy rail.

Possibly, but given the fact this technology is being used in more and more applications in other countries, and given that we have been talking about basically the same possible rail projects in the Pittsburgh area for many, many decades now with very few of them actually getting done, and given that the basic appeal of this emerging technology is that it is a low-cost, low-impact way of dealing with precisely the sorts of problems that have kept those rail plans from being implemented in Pittsburgh, I think it is a technology worth keeping an eye on.

And, of course, "we shouldn't even think about that because it is not likely to happen" is a self-fulfilling prophecy. And even if it is true that Pittsburgh decision-makers won't start seriously considering using this technology until there are some specifically U.S. predecessors, we could move earlier on the list of U.S. adopters if we are at least thinking about the possibility before that time.

Edit: Some commentary on why the La Paz system is worth tracking:

http://gondolaproject.com/2013/12/04/la-paz-telefericos-update-december-2013/

[BrianTH]

It appears to me they are starting to work on the foundation of The Gardens:

http://oxblue.com/open/TheGardens

[Found5dollar]

^ i love how you can see both the Gardens and PNC tower in that webcam.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

All part of the mall-like experience they were trying to create:



That said, it appears to me that corner of the Penn Circle footprint used to be residential with lots of SFHs:

http://37.media.tumblr.com/7db5c8b471db4f8ca0e3d87f8a0980b7/tumblr_mpoxw4BgNk1rr5swxo4_1280.jpg

So not to put lipstick on this pig, but if in fact that does get in-filled with reasonable-sized multi-units (maybe with ground floor retail), you could be looking at an increase in density/utilization over what existed there historically.

Redeveloping our urban centers as suburban-style retail centers was murder on our urban fabric. Of course, East Liberty and Allegheny Center come to mind for reasons I need not mention...

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

This sounds encouraging. The South Side Works site which keeps getting and then losing possible restaurant tenants may be used for office instead:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...ew-plansprogress-for-the-riverfront.html



They are also moving forward with plans for a marina.

I wonder what they mean by "as high as we can go." I hope something in the form of an 8-to-10 story building could be in the works, maybe taller...

[daviderik]

Photo: Post-Gazette

[BrianTH]

Wow, that's pretty.

[AaronPGH]

The South Side Works is turning out to be a pretty interesting project, overall. It's funny – a lot of the initial missteps and stumbles in the early years may turn out to be what saves the whole thing. They've had a lot of time to learn from mistakes and adapt to the different market needs down there because they didn't plop the entire project down at the same time.

[themaguffin]

So the Lower Hill project will start, but what is the actual proposed project going to look like? I don't think I've seen much other than the early rendering that wasn't a real plan.