PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

A rising tide will lift all boats in the longer run. I mean, I've seen plenty of hilly neighborhoods in San Francisco which are quite desirable. Not to mention some of the hilltop areas have their own amenities (e.g., the Brownsville Corridor) which should be appealing in terms of reinvestment.

As an aside, very little of San Francisco is anywhere remotely as up and down as most of the Pittsburgh. San Francisco has a lot of long slopes, but Pittsburgh is full of ravines, which have a very different atomizing effect.

But anyway, rising citywide tides don't always lift all neighborhoods. For example, I would bet once we get 2020 Census data, the City will be up in population since 2010, but some neighborhoods will be up a lot, and others will still be down again. Maybe that still counts as "shorter run", but I think there is likely to be a lingering problem driven by things like the availablity of walkable rapid transit, relative isolation, and so on.

Most of the negatives on this list are equally true for the Strip District, which is white hot right now for development.

The Strip, like the South Side, is a flat riverfront area with no intervening high speed roadways. I do think that makes it more naturally attractive for development than Uptown. That said, I think Uptown is going to come along, and at least by now I think it has more of a landbanking problem than anything else.

I think the railroad tracks provide a psychological barrier which will be hard to cross.

I don't know--the new houses in Homewood along Finance street, on the "wrong" side of the tracks, are selling quickly for like $145K. I think there may only be two left.

The funny thing about psychological barriers is that being psychological, they can disappear rapidly.

[Found5dollar]

September 9th Plannign comission presentation is up.
http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/dcp/schedule51/presentation-51-611.pdf

new stuff:

*3333 Forbes ave, AKA Allegheny County Heath Department, AKA"Sky Vue". 14 stories tall, big development. Desigh is Meh, but atleast they try to break up the box some. Street level retail is a major plus.

*Demolition of structures at 3337 and 3339 Forbes to make a staging area for the construction of "Sky Vue." The lots will be redeveloped later, but if there is not plan by August 2016 they will turn the area into a grass park.

*717 Grant, Drury Inn and Suites. Redevelop and addition to the Former Federal Reserve building. None of the building will be demolished, but the plaza and parkign deck will turn into a new garage.

*EastSide III Bike Shelter. At the corner across from Target. The design has been dumbed down some and it is now more of a pavilion than a building.

*PNC Park is installing telephone equipment...?

*1420 Centre, Washington Plaza in the Lower Hill. Exterior and landscaping upgrades.

Thats it.

[BrianTH]

Sky Vue is BIG. Can't say I love the base, but the scale is really impressive--it looks very Downtown DC to me:





We should be building at that scale all over the Lower Hill site too. Speaking of which, not a big deal, but the Washington Plaza renovations look nice.

[BrianTH]

I like how the Drury project handled the garage, but that proposed blade sign is driving me nuts. That is such a beautiful Art Deco building and the blade sign seems totally wrong for it:



The car elevators and auto lifts in the garage are cool, but I wouldn't want a lower-level, north-side room--your window looks out onto a narrow alley and then the garage. There are some interior rooms that also look onto a narrow "light court":

[Don't Be That Guy]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I don't know--the new houses in Homewood along Finance street, on the "wrong" side of the tracks, are selling quickly for like $145K. I think there may only be two left.

The funny thing about psychological barriers is that being psychological, they can disappear rapidly.

The psychological barriers can disappear. However, the houses on Finance Street probably cost more than $200,000 apiece to build so selling them for $145,000 is an easy task as there are a number of people either in or from Homewood that have the means to buy those homes. The real demand is for anything with three bedrooms and two baths either new construction or fully renovated in the East End. It's surprising that you aren't seeing teardowns of of smaller rows and new construction in Upper Lawrenceville, Morningside, Greenfield and other neighborhoods as that product under $300,000 is almost nonexistent in desirable parts of the city.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Don't Be That Guy

The psychological barriers can disappear. However, the houses on Finance Street probably cost more than $200,000 apiece to build so selling them for $145,000 is an easy task as there are a number of people either in or from Homewood that have the means to buy those homes.

All that could be true--I believe the builder was Building United of Southwestern Pennsylvania, a non-profit with church support. I don't know anything about the buyers, of course.

But I think the effect is still going to be the same. If that area around Faison keeps filling up with new six-figure homes (and they keep getting nicer and more expensive in each phase), then at some point I think people will be talking about how there are better parts of Homewood and worse parts, and this will be in the better part, and the psychological barrier of the railroad/Busway will have been fatally eroded.

Of course there will also be locals who will simply refuse to believe there is anything good in Homewood until their last breath. But they typically believe that about East Liberty too, or sometimes the City in general, and the bottom line is they are not really relevant since they were never in the target market for urban redevelopment anyway.

[BrianTH]

Typically depressing article indicating why you should not let sports teams control your key development sites:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6700279-74/north-shore-development#axzz3CRYD5i7N

“As development plans continue, it is critical that we maintain and even make up ground on lost parking spaces, including tailgating areas. We believe this can be accomplished with smart planning and good cooperation among all the North Shore stakeholders,” Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten said, declining to say where tailgating spaces might be made.

Here's the thing. Anywhere close to the stadiums is also close to the North Shore Connector stations. And the goal should be zero surface parking lots near those stations. But that means no tailgating locations.

Which is a rational outcome. A handful of tailgate parties each year cannot compete in terms of land utilization value with multiple levels of offices used 250 days a year, or residences used 350 days a year, or so on. In fact the stadiums are bad enough, but the offset is supposed to be generating more local economic activity (which, as an aside, almost never works). People grilling up sausages and downing beers they brought into town with them does nothing at all to add to that offset.

But the teams will keep pushing to do what is best for them, not best for the City.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Sky Vue is BIG. Can't say I love the base, but the scale is really impressive--it looks very Downtown DC to me:





We should be building at that scale all over the Lower Hill site too. Speaking of which, not a big deal, but the Washington Plaza renovations look nice.

Yes, that's definitely DC massing. I would love to see Pgh bulk out like this. These are the types of developments that add substantial vibrancy to a city, often times more so than the universally loved landmark buildings.

[themaguffin]

Oakland can use more of such projects, so could the North Side.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Yes, that's definitely DC massing. I would love to see Pgh bulk out like this. These are the types of developments that add substantial vibrancy to a city, often times more so than the universally loved landmark buildings.

Yep. That level of residential/hotel density, if implemented repeatedly, will support whatever else you might want to see in a city. High quality rapid transit, great nightlife areas, office skyscrapers, world class parks, museums, and other public amenities . . . . The sky is the limit if that becomes standard.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

Oakland can use more of such projects, so could the North Side.

No kidding. That is what should be filling up the North Shore, not three story buildings.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Typically depressing article indicating why you should not let sports teams control your key development sites:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6700279-74/north-shore-development#axzz3CRYD5i7N



Here's the thing. Anywhere close to the stadiums is also close to the North Shore Connector stations. And the goal should be zero surface parking lots near those stations. But that means no tailgating locations.

Which is a rational outcome. A handful of tailgate parties each year cannot compete in terms of land utilization value with multiple levels of offices used 250 days a year, or residences used 350 days a year, or so on. In fact the stadiums are bad enough, but the offset is supposed to be generating more local economic activity (which, as an aside, almost never works). People grilling up sausages and downing beers they brought into town with them does nothing at all to add to that offset.

But the teams will keep pushing to do what is best for them, not best for the City.

Ugh. The whole tailgating culture here needs to die out. I hate that property that should be used for business or housing is being held hostage so that people can get drunk in parking lots a dozen times a year.

[Minivan Werner]

Sky Vue looks impressive. Hopefully there can be similar development on the block just to the west. Would really improve the entrance into Oakland.

[AaronPGH]

Agreed. Fantastic density w/ SkyVue. This angle is pretty horrid though, in particular. I don't understand what the architects are trying to accomplish with that awkward tetris wall crap. Hopefully the final product will look better than these bad renderings though.

[daviderik]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I like how the Drury project handled the garage, but that proposed blade sign is driving me nuts. That is such a beautiful Art Deco building and the blade sign seems totally wrong for it:



The car elevators and auto lifts in the garage are cool, but I wouldn't want a lower-level, north-side room--your window looks out onto a narrow alley and then the garage. There are some interior rooms that also look onto a narrow "light court":

I agree the parking garage is great. I don't mind the sign. (But that may even change). It's odd to have a hotel downtown without being able to pull up to the door. Or would the city allow Grant street to be used in this function? Also curious about what the lobby will look like. Never been inside that building. Assuming Lots of marble.

[photoLith]

Wow there's bike lanes all over downtown all of a sudden, it's awesome.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by daviderik

I don't mind the sign. (But that may even change).

I hope City Planning squashes it.

It's odd to have a hotel downtown without being able to pull up to the door. Or would the city allow Grant street to be used in this function?

First floor of the parking garage has what they are calling a porte cochere and temporary parking next to the main entrance:



There is also another entrance along William Penn:

[photoLith]

They've started restoration on the skinny building and bank building downtown and I'm walking around the strip right now and it looks like they are starting the restoration on the penn rose building as fencing is up all around it.

[Found5dollar]

At CMU today and they have started tearing up the parking lot in front of the University center for the new UC addition.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Wow there's bike lanes all over downtown all of a sudden, it's awesome.

Had an amazing moment yesterday where we were driving down Penn Ave keeping exact pace with a really cute bike girl in the new bike lanes. I yelled out the window "ISN'T THIS FUCKING AWESOME?!?!?".... she gave me the biggest smile possible and replied "I can't believe this". These lanes are going over with the city so well.