PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Austinlee]

Is this foreshadowing in Pittsburgh's favor?!?

H.J. Heinz Co. CEO Bernardo Hees is telling employees at Kraft Foods Group Inc. to prepare for change.
"We all understand that change is never easy and brings with it a lot of uncertainty and questions," Hees said in a video made available to Kraft Foods Group Inc. employees Monday.
Hees, who will serve as CEO of the newly created Kraft Heinz Co. when the deal closes, said he spent the previous week at the Kraft headquarters in Northfield, Ill., meeting with the company's leadership getting to know the business and people

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...raft-employees-change-is-never-easy.html

[themaguffin]

That doesn't sound like a good idea to me. BUT it was a great burn against US Steel!

I like that idea. It ain't shiny and new, but it's all to itself really.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

I like that idea. It ain't shiny and new, but it's all to itself really.

And doesn't it more or less have the look they want?



US Steel apparently can't afford something really nice, so this seems like a good fit.

Edit: Looks like the office floors are each about 33,186 SF:

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/Looplink/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=18840266&STID=CB0003&LL=true

So, 7 floors (3-9) gets you to about 232,302 SF. I believe US Steel plans to occupy 250,000 or so SF in its new HQ, so the space is a pretty close match as well.

[Evergrey]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...reen-light-for-schenley-high-school.html

PMC gets green light for Schenley High School apartment plan

Apr 7, 2015, 4:24pm EDT

PMC Property Group has hashed out a final plan with community approval to convert Schenley High School into an 180-unit apartment building.

In nonbinding vote, the Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted with two abstentions to recommend PMC’s site plan for the redevelopment project, enabling the project to push forward with final permitting allowing full demolition and construction.

“They really wanted to make sure everyone was on board,” said Dusty Elias Kirk, a lawyer representing PMC.

The site approval comes after Strada Architects, the designer for the project, was sent back to the drawing board to revise a previous plan to build on top of the school and add 10 more units, a proposal that was opposed on grounds of historic review, among other issues and concerns that lead to other revisions.

Sean Beasley, an architect for Strada, said the formerly 175-unit plan was reconfigured to 180 without the roof addition by adding more apartments in the building’s third floor.

...

[BrianTH]

Seems like a win to me. A little better historic preservation, and actually more units, implying there may also be some smaller (and hopefully proportionately more affordable) units.

Again, it is funny to me how when it is just normal for-profit developers involved, it doesn't seem to be such a big problem reaching reasonable compromises on historic preservation and design issues. But if it is a local non-profit or sports team, suddenly it all becomes impossible and we just have to let them do what they want.

[BrianTH]

PNC is donating the Lantern Building to the Cultural Trust:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...urgh-Cultural-Trust/stories/201504080099

I thought PNC did a reasonably nice job cleaning it up, but their programming--meh. So hopefully the Cultural Trust can do something better with the space.

[BrianTH]

The URA is about to approve the first phase of housing in Larimer associated with their $30M Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) grant:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...mer-housing-project/stories/201504080115

In the first phase, developer McCormack Baron Salazar will build the 85 units on 6.6 acres. The development will consist of 18 structures, both townhouses and larger apartment buildings. Of the 85 units, 17 will be one-bedroom, 47 two-bedroom, 17 three-bedroom, and four four-bedroom. Fifty-six of the units will be affordable to households earning at or below 60 percent of the area median income. The other 29 will be offered at market rate. . . .

Tom Cummings, the URA’s director of housing, said some of the units in the first phase will be built fronting on East Liberty Boulevard and Larimer Avenue, creating a gateway into Larimer. Others will complete the block where the Liberty Park high-rise once stood.

Trib version:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/8125626-74/million-development-rents#axzz3WiQHjvM0

Note that although this is the first CNI-related phase, there is already a 40-unit infill project in progress in Larimer:

http://kbkenterprises.net/projects/larimer/

Edit: Handy map showing relationship of the two housing projects:

[TBone7281]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Although there are a large number of sites mapped, if you tour through them it becomes obvious that just a few sites are responsible for most of the emissions--I picked out US Steel Clairton, US Steel Irvin, and NRG Cheswick (NRG Cheswick alone is HUGE--I guess that is what you get with coal-fired power plants).

We can see Cheswick's stacks from the second floor of our house... it's about 10 miles by car, but maybe 3 as the crow flies. They are kind of a cool backdrop. Glad we aren't directly downwind though.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

PNC is donating the Lantern Building to the Cultural Trust:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...urgh-Cultural-Trust/stories/201504080099

I thought PNC did a reasonably nice job cleaning it up, but their programming--meh. So hopefully the Cultural Trust can do something better with the space.

My understanding is PNC never wanted the building. They originally intended to clear it out to have better access to the loading dock for their adjacent tower. But once it became clear that the owner of Liberty News wouldn't sell his building for any price, they were kinda screwed, and so refurbished the building into its present state.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The URA is about to approve the first phase of housing in Larimer associated with their $30M Choice Neighborhoods Implementation (CNI) grant:

Interesting. It was obvious over the last few weeks that demolition of Omega Place was imminent. I was just thinking how out-of-scale it would look if East Liberty Boulevard across the way remained unoccupied, so it's nice to see a building will be going in at the corner. It's a bit of a shame though to see a parking lot will front on East Liberty Boulevard (although with the grade change, you probably won't see it very much) and that another unoccupied storefront is going to be demolished on Larimer Avenue for this round of infill. I understand there isn't much commerce in the neighborhood now, but it would be nice if they ensured there was some commercial infrastructure left 10-20 years from now.

One unclear element right now to me is how East Liberty Gardens fits in. IIRC the new Larimer projects are explicitly being built in part to house residents from the (still existing) East Liberty Gardens. This must mean that ELDI is planning on mothballing and razing (or selling to someone who'll do the razing) the structures.

[Evergrey]

zombie chic

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...-wows-cityplanning-with-distinctive.html

Vitmore team wows city planning with distinctive 103-unit apartment project slated for Baum

Apr 8, 2015, 11:43am EDT



There’s never been much reason to expect the equivalent of a rave review from the Pittsburgh Planning Commission, given the agency’s task of vetting the design and impact of new development projects in the city.

But the developers of the new 103-unit Vitmore apartment project on Baum Bouleveard make have come the closest of any project presented during the Peduto administration for a new multifamily project that looks different from all the others designed and built during the current boom.

Pittsburgh Planning Commissioner Fred Brown described the Vitmore as one of first projects he’s been presented with to exceed all his expectations, whether it was for storm water management, parking, design or anything else for a development expected to achieve a LEED Gold rating.

“Any organization that is willing to exceed the main standards is one I look forward to working with,” said Brown.

The seven-story project features what architect Andrew Kotchen of New York-based Workshop APD called “urban windows,” breaks or indentations in the surface patterns of the facade, a design feature he said was added with the intent to “break down the scale of the mass” of structure’s box frame.

Among its features, the project is also expected to include a green roof and a solar trellis that will require a zoning variance since it bumps up the building height beyond the allowed 85 feet. The Vitmore also meets all parking requirements for both cars and bikes in a location close to the shops and restaurants of East Liberty, Bloomfield and Shadyside.

...

[BrianTH]

That Vitmore project is definitely one of those most exciting designs to be released recently.

There are a couple of brief updates in this article on Strada's work restoring historic buildings Downtown as hotels:

www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/StradaHotels032315.aspx

The marble banking hall and wood-paneled board room of Pittsburgh’s Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank Building will become a focal point of the new 200-room Drury Inn & Suites. A clean palette of contemporary materials will complement the existing Art Deco finishes and detailing of the 1930s-era structure. A rooftop deck and pool are planned for the eighth floor -- tucked under the mansard roof. Strada is the architect for the project and is also providing interior design services along with the Drury Hotels’ in-house design staff. Construction on the hotel is scheduled to begin in May, with an anticipated opening in 2016. . . .

Pittsburgh's Distrikt Hotel will breathe life into the quirky old Salvation Army Building. The building’s original chapel will be used as a lobby, lounge and mezzanine bar available to all, and the original gym will become a restaurant. The circa-1924 building brings more than limestone block and stained-glass windows to the project. The 180-room Distrikt Pittsburgh is putting historic elements to work, including ornate vaulted beams and original woodwork. Strada is both the architect and interior designer for the hotel, which plans to open in the summer of 2016.

Those could be some nice "bookends" for Grant Street in 2016. I'm particularly interested in the Distrikt Hotel's bar and restaurant plans. That corner of Downtown could definitely use some better (nicer and more interesting) bar and restaurant options.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It's a bit of a shame though to see a parking lot will front on East Liberty Boulevard (although with the grade change, you probably won't see it very much)

I agree, although I believe the most recent versions of the plan include at least a couple more buildings along East Liberty on the other side of that parking lot:



Overall this is a somewhat more open/lower-density plan than I would prefer, but as always this is a sensitive topic when it comes to these mixed-income projects replacing traditional public housing, and I can live with these compromises in this location.

and that another unoccupied storefront is going to be demolished on Larimer Avenue for this round of infill. I understand there isn't much commerce in the neighborhood now, but it would be nice if they ensured there was some commercial infrastructure left 10-20 years from now.

I agree with that too, although I believe the full "Larimer Plan" envisions some commercial areas with mixed-use buildings along Frankstown, Broad, and Larimer Avenue. And in fact that one building at the northeast corner of East Liberty and Larimer, which I believe is going just across Auburn from the building you referenced, is supposed to be mixed use, although I am not entirely sure what that will mean.

One unclear element right now to me is how East Liberty Gardens fits in. IIRC the new Larimer projects are explicitly being built in part to house residents from the (still existing) East Liberty Gardens. This must mean that ELDI is planning on mothballing and razing (or selling to someone who'll do the razing) the structures.

If I understand properly where those are located, they are scheduled to be replaced in Phase II (by the terminology on this map, Phase IA is in progress, and Phase IB is what is about to be approved):



Incidentally, that is one of the places where more of the mixed-use is supposed to go--along Broad across from Target:



As a final note, it looks like they plan to extend Station Street through to Broad. I think that is an inherently good thing, and if they ever did put a new bridge across the Busway/RR in that area (say as part of redeveloping the Village of Eastside strip mall), it could tie into that Station Street extension.

[BrianTH]

Wilkinsburg artists are holding a free one-day arts festival to showcase their work. This is very bottom-up in the sense there are no big corporate sponsors or other large organizations involved, just a bunch of artists who found each other hanging in the same places and decided to do something cool:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/neighborho...-day-1-town-wilkinsburgs-dream-city-art/

http://www.dreamcityworks.org/sites/

To give this a development hook--as explained in the article, these artists naturally gravitated to Wilkinsburg because they could find cheap studio space. Historically that is a common story, but it is becoming increasingly rare in more expensive cities, and it represents yet another opportunity for Pittsburgh to market itself to potential real-estate-price refugees.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Wilkinsburg artists are holding a free one-day arts festival to showcase their work. This is very bottom-up in the sense there are no big corporate sponsors or other large organizations involved, just a bunch of artists who found each other hanging in the same places and decided to do something cool:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/neighborho...-day-1-town-wilkinsburgs-dream-city-art/

http://www.dreamcityworks.org/sites/

To give this a development hook--as explained in the article, these artists naturally gravitated to Wilkinsburg because they could find cheap studio space. Historically that is a common story, but it is becoming increasingly rare in more expensive cities, and it represents yet another opportunity for Pittsburgh to market itself to potential real-estate-price refugees.

This should be pretty cool. I cant wait to attend. Never would have imagined that Wilkinsburg could become the next Garfield.

[daviderik]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That Vitmore project is definitely one of those most exciting designs to be released recently.

There are a couple of brief updates in this article on Strada's work restoring historic buildings Downtown as hotels:

www.popcitymedia.com/devnews/StradaHotels032315.aspx



Those could be some nice "bookends" for Grant Street in 2016. I'm particularly interested in the Distrikt Hotel's bar and restaurant plans. That corner of Downtown could definitely use some better (nicer and more interesting) bar and restaurant options.

I had thought the construction on the old Federal Reserve's conversion into the Drury started last November. And open this year. Now it says it will start in may and open sometime in 2016? I hate the wait.

[BrianTH]

Random but somewhat related factoid to our discussion above about job growth areas--Pittsburgh is the #7 metro area in the nation for bartenders per capita:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/16/most-bartenders-cities_n_6880378.html

Las Vegas is #1 by a long distance, and New Orleans is a pretty solid #2, but then Pittsburgh is right there in the mix for the next tier. Note, incidentally, that #3 and #4 are Buffalo and Cleveland. So bar culture is a thing around here.

Of course not a huge thing in the greater scheme, maybe, but I think it supports the view that any sort of localized economic and population growth is likely to support robust bar, and bar employment, growth as well. As long as real estate prices don't get too crazy, at least.

[BrianTH]

This is also an interesting piece that explains a lot about what is happening in Pittsburgh, among other places:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-millennials-are-less-urban-than-you-think/

The nutshell summary--there is not a general shift of millenials into urban areas. However, there is a shift of college-educated millenials into urban areas, and there is particularly a shift of college-educated millenials into the highest-density urban areas.

All this goes together with things like the rapidly increasing educational profile of the youngest cohorts in the City, and the boom in upper-scale apartments even as overall population levels remain pretty flat. As we have frequently discussed, overall population figures hide an enormous amount of underlying churn, and in recent years the exact nature of who is leaving and who is coming into urban areas, particularly the densest urban areas, is leading to rapid changes in the composition of the population.

And in this particular case, Pittsburgh is, if anything, actually out ahead of the pack a bit. Again, to briefly summarize a complex topic, between various factors like the universities/hospitals, the general nature of employment opportunities in the City, relatively moderate housing prices even in well-located and stable inner neighborhoods, and, perhaps most importantly, the sort of "missing generation" effect caused by the Steel Bust, the City's younger cohorts have leapt to the top of national charts in terms of educational attainment, whereas its oldest cohorts remain below average. And that means the net effect of cohort replacement is relatively rapid as well.

[Captain Crash]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I wonder if there would be space for a student theater too . . . whatever happened to the movie theater?

Last week the Marriott City Center mentioned that on their Facebook page. They say the "Chatham Cinema" was "bricked up" in 1985. The old drawing they included seems to show its entrance under an awning right at the corner of Fifth and Washington. I know you're taking a sarcastic jab at Point Park, but I'm sincerely curious about that spot. Considering it's on a prominent corner directly across from the arena, I wonder if they could open it back up to some sort of commercial use again.

Here's how it appears now: https://goo.gl/maps/r5DGK

Marriott's Facebook pictures: https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...b7d79e13bde33a31721192a95466&oe=55B11B7F

https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...5359c03d6f16e3f035cf9875d72e&oe=55B22AE4

(I hope those links work!)

[AaronPGH]

Woah! I had no idea that was there. If they aren't going to totally knock that garage complex down and start over, something should be done with it. That corner is becoming more prime as things redevelop, and it would bring some street action to that side of the intersection.

[BrianTH]

Opening pre-sales of condos in Smallman Place, the development planned for next to Wigle in the Strip, were extremely strong, which should not only allow for financing to be completed but may even move up the construction schedule:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...ace-sells-20-condosshortly.html?page=all

Apparently this was in part because they still had a list of people who missed out on Otto Milk. As discussed in the article, condos remain a niche relative to apartments, but this is still indicative of continuing strong potential demand for housing in these prime locations.