PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Brentsters]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

finally... new development coming to the strategically-located yet gap-toothed Uptown

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/6358076-74/fifth-parking-avenue

Three years later. At least the number of units has gone up.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/pr...-development-apartment-pgh.html?page=all

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Larimer is one of six or seven finalists for a Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant from HUD:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...ch-for-larimer-to-win-30m-community.html

We've discussed the Larimer plan before--it would be truly transformative and a great example of how to leverage something like the renaissance of East Liberty into a much wider pattern of neighborhood reinvestment.

We don't know how many they will grant, but in the prior two rounds they awarded 4 and 5 respectively, so hopefully the odds are decent:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=implementgrantlist.pdf

Edit: It is specifically six finalists, and with $109M in funding, they are likely to do 4 grants (they are usually in the $20-30M range):

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=..._indian_housing/programs/ph/cn/finalists

Looks like the Larimer project got the grant!

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6359619-74/housing-neighborhoods-hud#axzz35rzKyrz8

[BrianTH]

As of my writing this, a crane has appeared at the BKSQ 2.0 site:

http://bakerysquare.no-ip.biz:8080/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=482

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

As of my writing this, a crane has appeared at the BKSQ 2.0 site:

http://bakerysquare.no-ip.biz:8080/view/viewer_index.shtml?id=482

Looks like there will soon be an erection.

[BrianTH]

And now there is a bunch of steel piling up on the site, and it appears they may well be putting up the first beams (it is hard to tell because it appears to be starting mostly off the lower right corner of the image). But I did just see the crane appear to swing a vertical beam into place.

[BrianTH]

Some interesting crane activity at The Gardens as well:

http://oxblue.com/open/TheGardens

[BrianTH]

And the $30 million grant for Larimer is official:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...-to-rebuild-Larimer/stories/201406300171

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...nt-check-and-what-it-means.html?page=all

[Evergrey]

http://triblive.com/business/headlines/6311361-74/piatt-millcraft-downtown#axzz36BVrQGTA

Washington-based Millcraft Investments makes successful transition


Sidney Davis | Tribune-Review
The principals of Millcraft Investments – Jack Piatt, chairman (seated); Lucas Piatt, president & CEO (center) and Marcus Piatt (right), who heads the Hospitality Division at the company's building in Washington on Monday, June 30, 2014.

...

Millcraft's biggest focus remains on Downtown, where in addition to the $103 million Gardens at Market Square it is redeveloping the former Saks department store with Mc-Knight Realty Partners “and has plans for two more large-scale projects within a few miles of Downtown,” Lucas Piatt said. “Our investments in the city will have topped $500 million by the time we are complete.”

...

[BrianTH]

and has plans for two more large-scale projects within a few miles of Downtown

Anyone know what that means?

[Wave]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Anyone know what that means?

Not to wildly speculate, but this is a very intriguing quote for two reasons.

First, I am not aware of any development they are doing within a few miles of downtown that are not actually in downtown. So that could mean Oakland, the North Shore, the South Shore or South Side, the Strip, and even perhaps East Liberty ( though may be more than a few miles). It could also mean the close-in portion of the parkway west corridor.

Secondly, saying the projects are "large scale" is not that meaningful for most developers, but for a firm like Millcraft to say that these projects are large scale is a big deal considering large scale for them is something like the Gardens at Market Sq. or Southpoint, both projects well north of $100MM or Piatt Place which was an $80MM project.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

And now there is a bunch of steel piling up on the site, and it appears they may well be putting up the first beams (it is hard to tell because it appears to be starting mostly off the lower right corner of the image). But I did just see the crane appear to swing a vertical beam into place.

A bunch of vertical beams are already up. Fun watching some more interesting activity finally after watching them mess around with the foundation for months.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Some interesting crane activity at The Gardens as well:

http://oxblue.com/open/TheGardens

I'd argue that there has been not very interesting activity at The Gardens site so far. Maybe in a few months things will be steaming along.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by GeneW

A bunch of vertical beams are already up. Fun watching some more interesting activity finally after watching them mess around with the foundation for months.

Cool. I rescind my statement.

[Found5dollar]

New Planning commission presentation is up.

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/schedule51/presentation-51-596.pdf

New stuff:

*Flood Plain overlay district proposal.
* Parking permits on the Southside.

That's it.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Cool. I rescind my statement.

That's at Bakery Square II, not The Gardens.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by GeneW

That's at Bakery Square II, not The Gardens.

Yep, and I more or less withdraw my prior statement. I saw The Gardens crane was moving around and thought it might be doing something interesting, but in retrospect I can't see anything unusually significant.

[BrianTH]

Architectural firm Indovina is renovating a cool old building in the Strip to serve as its new HQ, and the project will also include 14 loft apartments. It is located at the corner of Penn and 32nd, so is really closer to Doughboy Square than the heart of the Strip.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...to-renovate-brass-building-into-new.html

[photoLith]

Sweet, me and some friends went up that sketchy fire escape a couple weeks ago, one of the steps fell out and I almost died so that was fun, but the view from the top of that building is pretty sweet. Glad its being restored, its a beauty.

[BrianTH]

A combination of local groups is proposing a "destination urban farm" on the former site of the Saint Clair Village projects:

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2014/06/26/plan-announced-for-hilltop-urban-farm
http://www.sopghreporter.com/story/2014/...r-to-farming-st-clair-village/14665.html



Location:

https://goo.gl/maps/jSGGd



More discussion here:

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/u...hilltop-zombie-towns/Content?oid=1688865

Urban farms have cropped up (pun intended) all over the region, and can be a nice amenity, but this would be on a much larger scale than usual at about 107 acres. So ordinarily I would have some reservations, except this is really an out-of-the-way location. In fact, it is specifically on two promontories overlooking Beck's Run, and as such is basically a dead-end in the urbanized portion of the City:



So basically--I'm cool with this.

[Evergrey]

I'm cool with it too... good out-of-the-way, not-going-to-be-used-for-anything-else location.