PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[eschaton]

It's great to see infill there. I've always wondered why Bryant Street is so run down looking with so many vacant lots considering it's in the middle of one of the more gentrified neighborhoods in the city. I mean I know it's actually a "retrofitted business district" which didn't really exist as such to a large degree until the decline of East Liberty. But it's still always been weirdly sparse.

[BrianTH]

The very expensive (for Pittsburgh) luxury condo project in the Strip at 2500 Smallman has met with a strong initial reception and has started construction:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...on-seven-figure-city-homes.html?page=all

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The very expensive (for Pittsburgh) luxury condo project in the Strip at 2500 Smallman has met with a strong initial reception and has started construction:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...on-seven-figure-city-homes.html?page=all

I guess that's a good thing? I'm curious about what kind of buyers have a spare $1.1 million for a condo in The Strip.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I guess that's a good thing? I'm curious about what kind of buyers have a spare $1.1 million for a condo in The Strip.

The article suggested a lot of out-of-towners were expressing interest, which makes sense.

I think it is an OK project since it is adapting an existing building, but I hope most future residential in the Strip is in much larger multi-unit structures.

[BrianTH]

Moment of silence for the Penn-Lincoln Hotel in Wilkinsburg, which is coming down in the next few weeks:

http://www.phlf.org/2014/04/29/a-note-on-the-fate-of-the-former-penn-lincoln-hotel-building/
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...-in-wilkinsburg-soon-to-be.html?page=all

It is too bad they couldn't find a way to reuse it (although I believe the efforts were sincere and exhaustive).

Incidentally, the PHLF post notes both that they are working on a project for the site, and also that they are preparing a National Register of Historic Places historic district nomination for the Penn Avenue/Wood Street district. I can't believe it has been over four years since I posted the below photo tour of that area:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=178388

[Urbana]

^^^
I always thought is was a pretty bland building myself, not that it didn't add a good dense feel to that area. But wasn't it pretty much irreparable? I remember hearing something about how it was beyond profitable redevelopment.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Urbana

I always thought is was a pretty bland building myself, not that it didn't add a good dense feel to that area.

Up close and in person you could see more exterior detail, but admittedly I think a lot of the original appeal was in the interior, which was trashed long before there was a serious effort to try to conserve it.

But wasn't it pretty much irreparable? I remember hearing something about how it was beyond profitable redevelopment.

That's what they (meaning the PHLF and various Wilkinsburg officials) eventually determined, but I don't think that was necessarily obvious prior to that process unfolding. However, I do think that was a reliable determination, which is why I am merely lamenting its passing, not advocating it be stopped.

[Minivan Werner]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The very expensive (for Pittsburgh) luxury condo project in the Strip at 2500 Smallman has met with a strong initial reception and has started construction:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...on-seven-figure-city-homes.html?page=all

That's really cool looking.

[photoLith]

Millvale is rapidly changing. Since that new little library opened up tons of stuff has started to happen on grant around the blocks where I live. A house across the street that's been abandoned forever is getting restored and turned into millvales first coffee shop and offices. Then behind my apartment a new brewery is opening up that looks like it really be trendy for the lawrencville type crowd. And also across the street another building is being restored and turned into an apartment and beauty salon.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Millvale is rapidly changing. Since that new little library opened up tons of stuff has started to happen on grant around the blocks where I live. A house across the street that's been abandoned forever is getting restored and turned into millvales first coffee shop and offices. Then behind my apartment a new brewery is opening up that looks like it really be trendy for the lawrencville type crowd. And also across the street another building is being restored and turned into an apartment and beauty salon.

Good to hear. I need to take my bike up into Millvale for a look around one of these weekends. I usually just hit the end of the trail at the 40th Street bridge and turn around and head back. What's a good place for a snack/lunch up there?

[Urbana]

Another chapter in the ridiculous tale of the August Wilson Center. Now the goddamned state attorney general is involved.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/05/05/URA-state-agenc/stories/201405050210

By Mark Belko and Amy McConnell Schaarsmith / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

State Attorney General Kathleen Kane and the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority urged an Orphan's Court judge Monday to reject the sale of the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Downtown, to a New York company that wants to put a hotel on top of it.

In court papers filed in response to the proposed sale to 980 Liberty Partners, both told Common Pleas Judge Lawrence O'Toole that the transaction would violate deed covenants put in place before the center opened in 2009.

One requires the building to be used as an African-American culture center and the other prevents changes to the building's exterior without the approval of the URA, they argued.

Ms. Kane said those covenants related to the center's use as an African-American culture center "go to the very mission and purpose for AWC's existence."

She stated that the 980 Liberty Partners proposal "lacks detail" as to the property's use as an African-American cultural center. The only reference, she said, is a "limited five-year license with 'options' to renew, but only if the hotel consents; there is no detail about the size of the space for such a charitable use; and all details are subject to the (undisclosed) hotel franchise agreement."

[photoLith]

Well there's the P&G Diner, and a couple other delis. I don't really go to them that often, I usually go over to lawrencville. But now with this coffee shop opening I won't have to go over there and can just walk across the street.


In other news, why hasn't anyone brought up the new mid rise hotel going in the strip on smallman, they have been tearing down that 2001 built building and it says I believe it's a hilton going in.

[SkyPittsburgh]

Originally Posted by photoLith

In other news, why hasn't anyone brought up the new mid rise hotel going in the strip on smallman, they have been tearing down that 2001 built building and it says I believe it's a hilton going in.

It came up a few pages ago, and I think it's a Homewood Inn and Suites.

[BrianTH]

Nice roundup of developments in progress in East Liberty:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/2014/05/06/whats-next-east-liberty/

It included this photo of East Liberty Place South under construction:

[markson33]

We might actually get residential construction on the North Shore. Wouldn't that be a shock.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...-building-eyed-for-north-shore-near.html

[BrianTH]

Another article on the Strip condos and a bigger render:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/2014/05/05/2500-smallman-will-offer-pittsburghs-luxurious-townhomes/

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by markson33

We might actually get residential construction on the North Shore. Wouldn't that be a shock.

The discussion of parking in that article really ticked me off. This is frickin across the street from the subway stop, and a quick walk to Downtown. You'd think that would be a little more prominent in Continental's analysis.

[BrianTH]

Whoa--Oxford is looking to way up the scale on its Strip District project:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...elopment-expand-strip-district-plan.html

The company's project, called Three Crossings, is slated to include a 299-unit apartment complex. But the new agenda for the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh board meeting scheduled for Thursday suggests a project much bigger and ambitious in scope, adding 250,000 square feet of urban flex office space, complementary retail space and an intermodal transportation facility with 700 parking spaces. Also proposed in the larger plan is 60 bike-parking spaces, a bicycle repair station and EV charging stations.

The URA report describes the proposal as a "$122 million mixed-use development [that] will repurpose and transform approximately 11 acres of brownfield and former industrial properties into a new mixed-use development." That's a much bigger ticket than the $40 million Oxford's apartment development by itself was expected to cost.

Hopefully Buncher is paying attention.

[themaguffin]

I can't wait to see how Continental disappoints us this time....

[themaguffin]

Where exactly in the Strip will the Oxford project go?