PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[DBR96A]

Originally Posted by Don't Be That Guy

There aren't even sidewalks on McKnight Road. It takes a lot more to enable TOD than running light rail. Any expansion of light rail needs to be into dense neighborhoods that can support it or along existing right-of-way (East Busway).

I was just shocked by the rents. $1,300 and $1,700 a month with the closest amenity being a mall.

Sidewalks can be built. And last I checked, Castle Shannon is pretty auto-centric, but that's not preventing them from considering transit-oriented development.

[themaguffin]

Castle Shannon is a lot denser than Ross Township....

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

The North Shore could essentially be an extension of downown, with progressively taller buildings pyramiding out from the river. Maybe the demand isn't there, or developers don't want to take the risk. But 3 stories just doesn't cut it for me. It's dwarfed by the Del Monte building, and that's just sad.

There's still plenty of room for some taller development in that area, though. But developers seem deathly afraid of anything taller than 12 stories outside of the triangle.

Amen brother.

[DBR96A]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

Castle Shannon is a lot denser than Ross Township....

Castle Shannon is a scale model of Penn Hills.

What exactly do people want Ross Township to do, stay exactly as it is so people can keep bitching about its built environment?

[themaguffin]

Castle Shannon is a smaller, mostly older burb than Penn Hills. Nobody here is suggesting that Ross etc don't attempt to improve.

[Captain Crash]

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...-Downtown-s-renewal/stories/201407140081

This week is "Celebrate Downtown" week in Pittsburgh-- notably, they're offering tours of the US Steel Building's rooftop. Could this be a step in the right direction toward some capacity of High Point Park?

[photoLith]

Photos I took yesterday of stuff going on while riding my bike around town.

DSC_6575 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Gardens Hotel site prep

DSC_6571 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_6569 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Newly restored Thompsons Building at Market Square

DSC_6557 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Building on the right is getting a facade restoration on Liberty Avenue

DSC_6553 by photolitherland, on Flickr
New mid rise hotel in Strip District

DSC_6552 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Unfortunately they are tearing this building down right across from the Produce Terminal, never heard anything about until demolition has basically started, sneaky bastards probably did that to not get preservationists involved.

DSC_6550 by photolitherland, on Flickr
I dont know whats going on behind the Produce Terminal, theyve been moving dirt around and tearing ground up for months now.

DSC_6548 by photolitherland, on Flickr
New Condos on the right and I believe the vacant lot across the street will soon become a mid rise loft building in the strip.

DSC_6546 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Soon to be restored building along Penn Ave in The Strip.

DSC_6542 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Newly completed apartments in Lville on Butler.

DSC_6541 by photolitherland, on Flickr
New building in Lower Lville on Mulberry.

DSC_6537 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Newly restored houses on Charlotte St in Lville

DSC_6531 by photolitherland, on Flickr
House being restored on Cedar Avenue in Deutschtown

DSC_6516 by photolitherland, on Flickr
New development on Suisman St in Deutchtown

DSC_6522 by photolitherland, on Flickr
New houses in the Mexican War Streets on Jacksonia St.

DSC_6520 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Building being restored on Jacksonia St. across from Randyland

DSC_6594 by photolitherland, on Flickr
And finally a skyline shot of downtown from Greenfield last night.

[Austinlee]

^ I didn't know about 90% of those projects you just showed.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by photoLith

I dont know whats going on behind the Produce Terminal, theyve been moving dirt around and tearing ground up for months now.

Putting in utility lines for whatever development they ultimately feel like bothering with.

Originally Posted by photoLith

DSC_6541 by photolitherland, on Flickr
New building in Lower Lville on Mulberry.

It's sad they demolished a house for this.

Originally Posted by photoLith

DSC_6537 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Newly restored houses on Charlotte St in Lville

This one was even worse. It had intact wood windows and they dumped them in the garbage and put in vinyl dreck which isn't even the right shape for the Italianate openings.

I'm not 100% opposed to the new mansard on the building next door though. If you're going to boost the roof of these old rowhouses, you might as well do it the right way.

[bmust71]

You can see the crown coming together at the PNC tower.

[DKNewYork]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Photos I took yesterday of stuff going on while riding my bike around town.

DSC_6569 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Newly restored Thompsons Building at Market Square

The plan for an event space on the upper floors of the Thompson Building---above the grocery store---has been abandoned in favor of four market-rate apartments. They should be availble for occupancy late this year.

I am not a fan of the snowflake sculpture on the street lamp.

[Steel City Scotty]

Thanks for posting the pictures.

I was on the grounds of the Frick Art & Historical Center for the first time back in late December and toured the greenhouse, art museum and the car and carriage museum, which I found particularly interesting.

I would've liked to tour the Frick Mansion ("Clayton"), but the tours were booked up for the next several hours.

The visitors center that Found5Dollar took a picture of has come a long way since then.

[TBone7281]

Originally Posted by photoLith

DSC_6550 by photolitherland, on Flickr
I dont know whats going on behind the Produce Terminal, theyve been moving dirt around and tearing ground up for months now.

Nothing super exciting... utility work, mostly large pipes. It's way behind schedule as it was supposed to be done in February. Their latest estimate is fall sometime. (I know this because they closed the River Trail from 11th to 22nd Street, which I used to walk pretty regularly.)

[Urbana]

Originally Posted by photoLith

DSC_6552 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Unfortunately they are tearing this building down right across from the Produce Terminal, never heard anything about until demolition has basically started, sneaky bastards probably did that to not get preservationists involved.

Thats a shame, my great grandfather accidentally blew up the banana ripening rooms that used to be there. It was an interesting little event in Pittsburgh/Strip District history - you can read about it here:

http://idnc.library.illinois.edu/cgi-bin/illinois?a=d&d=CHP19361226.2.118

[Steel City Scotty]

A nice little article about Photolith's hometown of Millvale, which I'm not overly familiar with, but apparently, it's just another example of a "town on the rise" after a state of decline in Allegheny County.

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/neighborhoods/millvale/

By the way - I discovered the Next Pittsburgh website a few months ago after someone (BrianTH?) posted a link to one of their stories. It's a good resource for people interested in development, and the site features several articles about neighborhoods in and around the city.

[Found5dollar]

Just what we need, more money thrown at more feasibility studies for the BRT Line from down town to Oakland. Just build the thing already.

http://triblive.com/news/editorspicks/6444790-74/transit-authority-bus#axzz37RYI0Mmb

Port Authority of Allegheny County to consider funding Bus Rapid Transit

Funding for rapid bus service between Downtown and Oakland will be discussed on Tuesday at a special Port Authority of Allegheny County board meeting, where members are likely to reopen the 2014-15 budget.

Meanwhile, Steve Bland, the transit agency's former CEO, appears to be on the verge of taking over Nashville's transit agency.

Port Authority board members passed a $388.5 million budget last month for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Board President Robert Hurley said at the time the agency would reopen the budget within two weeks to look for $3 million to study developing so-called Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT service....

routes have already been planned, studies have already been done, stations have already been laid out. just continue with what you are doing instead of starting all over again with more studies.

http://gettherepgh.org/

[Evergrey]

Nice to see Steve Bland has a new job lined up in Nashville.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/loc...ransit-exec-leads-pack-mta-job/12645381/

Ousted Pittsburgh transit exec leads pack for MTA job

Josh Brown, [email protected] and Michael Cass, [email protected] 6:51 p.m. CDT July 14, 2014



A transit executive who was ousted last year as CEO of Pittsburgh's public transportation agency appears to be the leading contender to head Nashville's Metropolitan Transit Authority.

Two weeks after interviewing with MTA's search committee, Stephen Bland was back in Nashville last week to meet with city and business leaders. So far, he is the only finalist for the job to return for follow-up interviews.

The vacancy at the transit authority, which is in the planning stages for a $174 million bus rapid transit line, was created March 31 when Paul Ballard resigned after 12 years as MTA's CEO to lead the Fort Worth Transportation Authority in Texas.

Bland, who has spent nearly three decades as a public transit official mostly in the Northeast, was among five finalists interviewed last month for the MTA job. Others included the transit authority's chief financial officer and interim CEO, Ed Oliphant.

Bland has worked as a consultant since February 2013, when the board that oversees the Port Authority of Allegheny County terminated his contract after seven years as head of the agency.

During the year preceding the board's action, the county's new top elected official replaced several members of the board with his own nominees, said Jack Brooks, who was chairman of the authority board at the time and was ousted when Bland was.

The nominations by County Executive Rich Fitzgerald served as a way to assert more control over the port authority, Brooks said, adding that Fitzgerald's desire to control the authority caused months of friction between the county executive and Bland.

"He felt that Steve should just roll over for him and do whatever he wants him to do," Brooks said. "Steve has too much integrity to take that from a politician."

...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Steel City Scotty

By the way - I discovered the Next Pittsburgh website a few months ago after someone (BrianTH?) posted a link to one of their stories. It's a good resource for people interested in development, and the site features several articles about neighborhoods in and around the city.

Certainly could have been me, and I agree it is a nice resource. I'm not sure how, but I got on their weekly email update, and it has helped fill the gap caused by the decline of Pop City (not sure what happened there).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Found5dollar

Just what we need, more money thrown at more feasibility studies for the BRT Line from down town to Oakland. Just build the thing already.

I'm pretty sure they are talking about the studies they still need to do before they can apply for federal construction funding.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Nice to see Steve Bland has a new job lined up in Nashville.

Bland did a great job for PAT, and it was a shame what Fitzgerald did. I wish him the best.