PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II - Page 598

TBone7281 · #**11941** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 5:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

They should swap out the US Steel tower for the NEW US Steel HQ.

They could use it for the board squares...

BrianTH · #**11942** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

They should swap out the US Steel tower for the NEW US Steel HQ.

Not even pawn-worthy. How the mighty have fallen.

However, making the new PNC Tower one of the knights would be cool.

BrianTH · #**11943** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBone7281

They could use it for the board squares...

Hah!

You could alternate that and the Point Park Playhouse.

BrianTH · #**11944** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Someone really needs to develop that lot, it makes that part of downtown kinda 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

Absolutely. However, I wouldn't mind waiting a bit if it meant getting something really spectacular. Maybe not a new tallest, but at least something on the scale of the Oxford Centre or perhaps even BNY Mellon.

BrianTH · #**11945** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBone7281

2500 Smallman coming along on the left. The offices at 3 Crossings on the right. They've been pouring the concrete floors of the office pretty much all week.

So you inspired me to take a walk through that area.

I hadn't really fully grasped what a large site The Yards was going into until I saw it in person. But I guess it is going to have a lot of green space along the river, which I am OK with.

Also a very big site--the former Ayoob location near St. Stanislaus. You could do a whole complex there.

Edit:

I'm not sure I had seen this particular rendering before of Three Crossings:

Still not a fan of the design of the office buildings and I could do without that surface lot along Railroad, but all-in-all I think that is a pretty nice project for that part of the Strip.

AaronPGH · #**11946** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:31 PM**

Starting to think that Three Crossings is the hideous project that we should be focusing attention on. Those buildings look 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 awful.

BrianTH · #**11947** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:37 PM**

I honestly don't get why the office buildings are so hideous.

themaguffin · #**11948** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 6:52 PM**

Looks like county (and metro) estimates will be here soon:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/...estimates-to-be-embargoed-300051664.html

BrianTH · #**11949** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 7:18 PM**

ELDI has released the second in a planned series of papers on crime reduction in East Liberty, based on the reports of a consultant they hired:

http://www.eastliberty.org/sites/default...on-%20Crime%20Reduction%20Strategy_0.pdf

This paper suggests the reduction in crime they observed from 2008 to 2012 can be explained by a combination of three theories: "hot-spot" targeting (going after the addresses where a hugely disproportionate amount of crime occurs); "place-based management" (specifically going after those spots not just with police action, but also investment and management--in this case, ELDI ended up just buying a bunch of properties, fixing them up, and installing better management); and "collective efficacy" (basically getting the community more involved in the hope of encouraging informal social measures).

As always it is a bit difficult to be sure what caused a specific crime reduction in a specific place, but it is hard to argue with the results:

And I am persuaded, at least, that ELDI's efforts likely were at least a strong contributing factor.

Just as impressive, perhaps, is the following:

Quote:

It is especially noteworthy that these developments occurred in an environment where the median income stagnated and actually declined in real terms and where there was minimal change in the racial composition of the neighborhood.

To be blunt about it, there are an awful lot of people out there who will suggest some variation on the theme that the only way to significantly reduce crime rates in neighborhoods like this is to displace all the poorer black residents. If you actually get to know these neighborhoods a bit, however, it quickly becomes apparent that the vast majority of poorer black residents are if anything victims, not criminals, of the crime in these neighborhoods, and are just as interested in trying to do something about local crime as anyone, if not more so.

So it doesn't surprise me at all that if you can really efficiently target just the small percentage of people who are truly causing a crime problem, you can otherwise keep the composition of the neighborhood largely the same. But again, there are lots of people out there who will tell you that isn't possible--and yet East Liberty is in the process of proving them wrong.

BrianTH · #**11950** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 7:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by themaguffin

Looks like county (and metro) estimates will be here soon

We should figure out how to get someone here credentialed for access to this sort of stuff during the media embargo.

BrianTH · #**11951** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 7:39 PM**

Market Street Grocery has scheduled an opening for April 22:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...open-in-a-few-weeks/stories/201503180217

I'm curious to at least check it out.

eschaton · #**11952** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 7:42 PM**

I do wonder why the last speck of high crime in "residential East Liberty" appears to be at Vintage Senior Services.

BrianTH · #**11953** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 7:43 PM**

Um--when did 350 Fifth, Oxford's proposed skyscraper for the Frank & Seder location, grow to 29 stories from 20?

http://www.oxforddevelopment.com/our-portfolio/350-fifth-avenue/

Quote:

350 Fifth is a new 29-story multi-tenant office building in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh built by Oxford Development Company, which has managed the development and construction of more than $9 billion of real estate, including 5.4 million square-feet of LEED-certified construction. Designed for two signature tenants in one distinctive building, 350 Fifth features an outdoor plaza for each of the two headquarters and wide-open floor plans that allow for utilization of more than 92%, making it the most efficient high-rise in Pittsburgh. . . .

Building Highlights

29-story, 521,000 GSF office building
15,000 SF of first floor retail
$190 – 200 million Estimated Total Development Cost

Edit:

Older website (no longer linked directly from the main Oxford page it appears, but you can still link through indirectly):

http://350fifthpittsburgh.com/about/

Quote:

350 Fifth is a new 20-story multi-tenant office building in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh.

And older brochure:

http://www.oxforddevelopment.com/wp-content/uploads/350-Fifth-Avenue.pdf

Quote:

BUILDING HIGHLIGHTS
Twenty (20) Story - 466,520 RSF Office
Building, with 23,505 SF per Floor . . .

16,793 SF of Retail and Restaurant space

If my math is right, it looks like they may have both added some square footage and also slimmed down the design a bit. I sure hope all that is true!

JVC · #**11954** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 8:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'm not sure I had seen this particular rendering before of Three Crossings:

Still not a fan of the design of the office buildings and I could do without that surface lot along Railroad, but all-in-all I think that is a pretty nice project for that part of the Strip.

architecture in pittsburgh is dead - it's difficult to comprehend how the quality of design in this city has sunk so low so fast

JVC · #**11955** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 8:09 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

We should figure out how to get someone here credentialed for access to this sort of stuff during the media embargo.

when you say "We should figure out how to get someone here credentialed for access to this sort of stuff during the media embargo" does that mean the forum would benefit from having a member who has access to local statistics?

BrianTH · #**11956** Posted **Mar 18, 2015, 8:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschaton

I do wonder why the last speck of high crime in "residential East Liberty" appears to be at Vintage Senior Services.

I hope that isn't a bunch of muggings of elderly people, which would 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

Edit:

Here is a bigger heat map they included in the first paper in the series:

As the text points out, the Shadyside portion of the map serves as a sort of control, including because there are often higher crime rates in commercial districts within neighborhoods.

I don't know if that fully answers the question, but that area is really more commercial than residential.

Edit #2:

By the way, this set of heat maps also shows that crime rates in Garfield really aren't that bad, and in fact have gone down as well. Moreover, it is the parts of East Liberty near Garfield that have seen the biggest crime rate reductions.

So that is another reason to think maybe it is not such a bad bet to believe that Garfield is ripe for residential investment.

TBone7281 · #**11957** Posted **Mar 19, 2015, 12:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

So you inspired me to take a walk through that area.

I hadn't really fully grasped what a large site The Yards was going into until I saw it in person.

For reference to others who aren't as aware, the buildings currently under construction in this rendering are the bottom left and top right (the entire block).

The residential area they are putting in along the river is a pretty big site. They have some block up for a bunch of the structures, but with the fencing and the lack of elevation in the surrounding area there isn't a great way to get a decent picture.

eschaton · #**11958** Posted **Mar 19, 2015, 12:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, this set of heat maps also shows that crime rates in Garfield really aren't that bad, and in fact have gone down as well. Moreover, it is the parts of East Liberty near Garfield that have seen the biggest crime rate reductions.

So that is another reason to think maybe it is not such a bad bet to believe that Garfield is ripe for residential investment.

The segments of Garfield nearest East Liberty are now being marketed as East Liberty. This is particularly true for Margaretta Street, which is technically in Garfield (albeit unconnected to the Garfield road grid). A house sold there for $325,000 late last year, and another two are now on the market for similar values. Rippey Place, and the lower part of Columbo Street have likewise seemingly been annexed by East Liberty - at least in realtor speak. I expect this part of N Fairmount will see interest eventually too.

That said, I do think the "Garfield ripe for residential investment" comment is a bit ironic, because I think residential "investment" has in many ways set the neighborhood back. Bloomfield-Garfield corporation has basically made it a policy to fill in vacant lots with infill rental housing as cheaply as possible. This has really cut down on the number of vacant lots on and near Broad/Dearborn west of N Atlantic, but at a heavy cost, given the infill housing doesn't fit the neighborhood vernacular and is almost invariably ugly as hell. The infill houses sit far back on their plots, and take up what used to be lots which took up 2-3 historic houses, and are manifestly worse than any of the "mixed income" infill done in places like the Hill District or Manchester in the last 20 years.

Austinlee · #**11959** Posted **Mar 19, 2015, 1:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBone7281

They could use it for the board squares...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Hah!

You could alternate that and the Point Park Playhouse.

The new US Steel HQ & Point Park Playhouse will be a checkers set.

Austinlee · #**11960** Posted **Mar 19, 2015, 1:18 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Still not a fan of the design of the office buildings and I could do without that surface lot along Railroad, but all-in-all I think that is a pretty nice project for that part of the Strip.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Starting to think that Three Crossings is the hideous project that we should be focusing attention on. Those buildings look 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 awful.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I honestly don't get why the office buildings are so hideous.

I know; They are hideous. It's disheartening to see such prime real estate get such mediocre design.
I also hate the trend of suburban style cookie cutter hotels being built all over the city in GOOD locations: Southside Works; North Shore; Oakland. They are all so incredibly bland! They are the opposite of good architecture.

- Bland hotels
- Bland office blocks
- Bland apartments

It is an era of uninspired Henry Ford assembly line style, value engineered regurgitated architecture and it's not just happening in Pittsburgh. It seems like every city in the country is getting shat upon with this garbage.