PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[photoLith]

I hope a bunch of preservationists show up. Of course they have it on a Wednesday when everyones at work.

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I took a couple pics while I was in Uptown on Friday. It's so nice to see these two large infill buildings going up at the same time.

One last shot from the 3rd story of a townhouse on Miltenberger St.

Uptown has been more intiguing to me lately. The views of the city look great.

[Austinlee]

The show "Your Pittsburgh" on KDKA (On from 7:30-8pm) which was really interesting by the way, had a story tonight about the "First suburb in the US" which is now essentially in Ross Twp near McKnight Road. It is called Evergreen Hamlet and had 5 houses and a small school built around 1850-1851 by an attorney who worked in the city but wanted to live outside the dirty city. This was 20+ years before the invention of the telephone, like 60 years before automobiles. It was more than "pre-war", not only was it pre-WWI and WWII, it was 10 years pre-civil war!
I thought it was interesting to see how long the desire to live in the suburbs has been around.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Found5dollar

Austinlee, could you tell what was going on with the furst floor of the large infill building? Is that glass area retail or a large lobby? I like the density of the building but it could do so much more to activate the street.

According to this article, these two new 3 story building will have 23 apartments in one building and 24 apartments in the other. They are mostly 1 bedroom apartments and I saw no mention of any retail on the 1st floors so I assume lobby.

They are called the Uptown Lofts and are being built by Action Housing who developed the Mackey Lofts 1 block away last summer which features 43 units of workforce housing.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...s-energy-efficiency/stories/201401130043

"One-quarter of the real estate in Uptown is parking lots," she said. "We'd love to see more verticals. We're hoping [Action Housing's] project sets the stage for future investment."

Mackey Lofts:




The Fifth Avenue School was converted into 65 lofts in 2012.


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fifth-Avenue-School-Lofts/208955792458565


Soo many projects going on in Uptown. Over 300 new apartments opening in just the last couple years. Here is a map of some projects:

http://triblive.com/home/2147011-74/upto...ofts-neighborhood-offenses#axzz3OeziEX91

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Johnland

Uptown has been more intiguing to me lately. The views of the city look great.

The huge decrease in crime in the last 7 years might be why.

Uptown Jan-May offenses, 2007-2012

Homicide: 1 in 2007, 1 in 2008, 0 in 2009, 0 in 2010, 1 in 2011, 0 in 2012

Rape: 1 in 2007, 0 in 2008, 2 in 2009, 0 in 2010, 2 in 2011, 0 in 2012

Robbery: 27 in 2007, 25 in 2008, 18 in 2009, 15 in 2010, 11 in 2011, 9 in 2012

Agg. assault: 18 in 2007, 27 in 2008, 14 in 2009, 16 in 2010, 15 in 2011, 1 in 2012

Burglary: 21 in 2007, 14 in 2008, 15 in 2009, 15 in 2010, 10 in 2011, 4 in 2012

Theft: 124 in 2007, 106 in 2008, 83 in 2009, 62 in 2010, 64 in 2011, 36 in 2012

MV theft: 10 in 2007, 10 in 2008, 14 in 2009, 9 in 2010, 11 in 2011, 10 in 2012

Arson: 0 in 2007, 0 in 2008, 1 in 2009, 0 in 2010, 0 in 2011, 1 in 2012

Total crimes: 202 in 2007, 183 in 2008, 147 in 2009, 117 in 2010, 114 in 2011, 71 in 2012



Read more: http://triblive.com/home/2147011-74/upto...ofts-neighborhood-offenses#ixzz3Of3QVuxu
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I thought it was interesting to see how long the desire to live in the suburbs has been around.

I'm pretty sure there have been "country homes" of some sort as long as there have been cities.

Which is fine. It's the ratio that got so out of whack in the post-WWII United States (between the crime bubble, white flight, and a whole bunch of crappy policies).

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by photoLith

I hope a bunch of preservationists show up. Of course they have it on a Wednesday when everyones at work.

I doubt there will be much opposition. I've never seen such overwhelmingly blind support for a development proposal in Pittsburgh.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I took a couple pics while I was in Uptown on Friday. It's so nice to see these two large infill buildings going up at the same time.









This red brick building on the left is only a few years old. I could tell from the concrete block and other materials:



I just like these buildings; Uptown has great bones:





One last shot from the 3rd story of a townhouse on Miltenberger St.

Amazing. A few more infill developments of this scale would do wonders for Uptown. I didnt realize the impact these developments would have on this area.

[Steel City Scotty]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'm pretty sure there have been "country homes" of some sort as long as there have been cities.

It's funny that you say that because I am currently reading the book, Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City by Stefan Lorant, and I'm at the part about the early days of industry.

The author writes...

The expansion of industry in the Triangle precipitated a flight to the suburbs, and the fashionable center of gravity shifted from Penn Avenue near the Point to Allegheny City, Herron Hill and parts of the East End. In 1868, a visitor saw "villages...springing up as far as 20 miles away to which the business men repair, when, in consequence of having inhaled smoke all day, they feel able to bear the common country atmosphere through the night."

[BrianTH]

The Standard Life building has been bought with plans to upgrade it:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...ng-sold-for-over-5M/stories/201501140059

Designed by Alden & Harlow and known for its turn-of-the-century Romanesque revival architecture, the building anchored one end of Fourth Avenue in what was then known as Pittsburgh’s Wall Street because of the many financial institutions in the area.

Built in 1902 for offices, the upper floors of the structure were converted to student housing in 2005 and then turned into apartments by the Penn Hills Place and Penn Hills Arms partnership. Mr. Beynon said Pele is planning major upgrades to the apartments in hopes of attracting professionals who work in Downtown. The building, with 41 units, is 97 percent occupied, with rents ranging from $800 to $1,200 a month. With the improvements, the rents will increase, Mr. Beynon said.

That sequence of changes is very indicative of how things have been trending Downtown, as is the fact they are going to be investing in a building with 97-percent occupancy because they think they can do even better on rent.

[BrianTH]

This is cool!

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/7555678-74/sculpture-bridge-manchester

An ornate iron sculpture that used to adorn the south end of the former Manchester Bridge will be installed on the North Shore. . . . The Stadium Authority OK'd the Steelers' plans Tuesday to install the 13-by-37-foot sculpture near Stage AE, at North Shore Drive and Art Rooney Avenue. The Steelers will cover the project's $1 million cost, said Mark Hart, the team's director of planning and development.

The sculpture features statues of frontiersman Christopher Gist and Seneca leader Guyasuta kneeling on either side of the city's coat of arms. It will be placed on a stone base with a background of rust-colored Cor-ten steel, project manger Heidi Edwards said. . . . The city placed the sculpture above the southern portal of the Manchester Bridge two years after the span opened in 1915. . . . When the bridge was demolished in 1970, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation acquired the sculpture, along with another one over the north portal that featured a coal miner and a millworker.

. . . They almost came out of hiding in 2008, but the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority placed a moratorium on installing public art or memorials in North Shore Riverfront Park, which runs from the Carnegie Science Center to the Ninth Street Bridge. At the time, the park had three memorials, a public art sculpture and two memorials planned — including one honoring the late Fred Rogers, which opened in 2009 and includes a Manchester Bridge pier. . . .Rujumba said the sculpture from the bridge's north portal will remain in storage.

And pics:







Still in storage:

[Austinlee]

^Wow. I've seen pics of that bridge before but those reliefs or whatever they are called are killer. So awesome.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

^Wow. I've seen pics of that bridge before but those reliefs or whatever they are called are killer. So awesome.

I was wondering why those sculptures were stored behind Heinz Field. Ive noticed them since the NSC opened. The train trackes overlook the area where the sculptures were stored. The were near the Children's Museum at one time.

[Private Dick]

Glad to see that the sculpture will be displayed again.

Who knows how many great artifacts from Pittsburgh history have disappeared over the years... so many things like these sculptures end up being placed in storage somewhere for decades until they just somehow often wind up in city/county/school district worker possession, lost to the public. Pittsburgh Public Schools' impressive art collection has had some valuable pieces vanish from storage...

[BrianTH]

Wilkinsburg has received a state Main Streets designation:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...-gets-state-main-street-designation.html

That qualifies the commercial district for a number of state programs. With the Busway stops and great architectural legacy, there is a lot of potential for Wilkinsburg to become the next East Liberty, although it would help if the CDC can succeed in passing a referendum to allow liquor licenses.

[BrianTH]

The URA is planning to buy the Hunt Armory from the state so it can be put into the redevelopment process:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...ring-plan-to-buy-the-hunt-armory-in.html

Although I don't always agree with what the URA is doing (and certainly not what it has done), this seems like a good project for them.

Generally, it is a really interesting building (on the National Register and under consideration for local historic designation), and a pretty unique interior space (it was the largest auditorium in the City prior to the Civic Arena being built), all in a good location. So it will be interesting to see what can be done with it.

[BrianTH]

Nice article on the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail, a true masterpiece:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/granite-house-of-jurisprudence-1420852812

[Evergrey]

$10 million investment... and the result is a 'public space' that's off-limits for half the year... a depressing no-man's land... a block-sized void in the urban fabric.

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...-closed-until-April/stories/201501150261

Mellon Square Park to stay closed until April

January 15, 2015 12:57 AM

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Mellon Square Park Downtown will be closed until April 1 because of concerns about ice.

The city has decided not to use de-icer, which is harsh and damaging, on the restored terrazzo, said Jim Griffin, director of Citiparks. He said the original structure had a steam system to melt snow but was too expensive to replicate in the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s $10 million, three-year restoration project that was completed last May. Four million dollars was set aside to maintain the architecture’s form and function.

Conservancy spokesman Scott Roller wrote in an email that the closure was by mutual agreement; the conservancy has an agreement to oversee the park.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

$10 million investment... and the result is a 'public space' that's off-limits for half the year... a depressing no-man's land... a block-sized void in the urban fabric.

Exactly what I was thinking. It is very pretty. However, "look but don't touch" is not a great use of Downtown land.

And now I am thinking about the Playhouse project again . . .

[TBone7281]

3 Crossings still moving along.




Scaffolding in the alley behind 2500 Smallman.




2500 Smallman isn't totally gutted any more, there has been some steel put up relatively recently.