PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[eschaton]

New planning commission presentation.

Highlights.

1. The Lesson's are fixing the facades on some of their storefronts in East Liberty. At first I was excited because I thought this was on Broad, but it's the group on N Highland right down from Union Pig & Chicken.

2. Minor facade changes to the Sonoma Grill in the Cultural District downtown.

3. Information about the Hotel Indigo at the Pittsburgh Technology Center. Including floor plans and renderings. Looks very blah, which I would have expected, but I guess it's better than average for a hotel design.

4. Renderings of the Residence Inn which is going in next to SkyVue in Oakland. I like it a lot less than the new Hotel Indigo, but it's going to be easy to miss next to the massive new apartment building.

5. Rezoning the terminal building from SP-8 to UI. I'm not sure why this is needed, someone else perhaps could elucidate.

Everything else is old business. I find it amusing the guy in Polish Hill who wants a pool has to go before the planning commission though.

[Wave]

Curious what you consider the other apartment district in the city (I assume parts of Downtown). There are several neighborhoods that can be considered loosely under this category, though none as obvious as N. Oakland.

Shadyside and Sq. Hill both have low or low-medium density apartments clusters.

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'll elaborate the points I made before.

The neighborhood vernacular has shifted to being apartments - indeed, the neighborhood is one only two real apartment districts in the city, and has unquestionably developed the highest population density of any census tract.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Wave

Curious what you consider the other apartment district in the city (I assume parts of Downtown). There are several neighborhoods that can be considered loosely under this category, though none as obvious as N. Oakland.

Shadyside and Sq. Hill both have low or low-medium density apartments clusters.

I would consider the other apartment district to be Squirrel Hill South, west of Murray particularly between Beacon and Phillips. Nowhere else in Pittsburgh looks like this.

I suppose the area just to the south, bounded by Murray, Forward, Shady, and Morrowfield, also qualifies, although it is much smaller. It's only one long block away though. IMHO there is nothing in Shadyside which quite qualifies though, because dedicated apartment buildings are mixed pretty evenly (albeit heavily) with single-family homes (intact and subdivided) through most of the neighborhood east of S Aiken.

[Wave]

If you are defining an apartment district as made up almost entirely of multi story, original apartment blocks, then I think you are dead-on accurate with N. Oakland and that portion(s) of Sq. Hill south. Shadyside does have that long, virtually unbroken series of apartment & other multi family buildings along fifth ave starting on the border of Oakland at, say, Morewood, but reaching all of the way to Shady Ave almost to Penn Ave. Though it certainly does not have a dense "apartment district" feel to it, and many of those structures are somewhat setback from the street and all 1940's era or newer (except for a few converted former residences)

Originally Posted by eschaton

I would consider the other apartment district to be Squirrel Hill South, west of Murray particularly between Beacon and Phillips. Nowhere else in Pittsburgh looks like this.

I suppose the area just to the south, bounded by Murray, Forward, Shady, and Morrowfield, also qualifies, although it is much smaller. It's only one long block away though. IMHO there is nothing in Shadyside which quite qualifies though, because dedicated apartment buildings are mixed pretty evenly (albeit heavily) with single-family homes (intact and subdivided) through most of the neighborhood east of S Aiken.

[Steel City Scotty]

I drove by the intersection of Forward Avenue and Murray Avenue earlier this week, where, back in mid-May, a fire led to the demolition of an empty building and the Poli building next door. Plans to build Jewish housing at the site of the former restaurant have been in place for awhile, and there are hopes of redeveloping the corner location as well.

Does anyone else think it's strange that this much debris can still be seen more than two months after the fire and subsequent demolition? I feel like it would have been cleaned up, leaving the corner completely empty, as part of the process.

[Wave]

There are crews actively working on the site currently. I think the cleanup is in progress.

Originally Posted by Steel City Scotty

I drove by the intersection of Forward Avenue and Murray Avenue earlier this week, where, back in mid-May, a fire led to the demolition of an empty building and the Poli building next door. Plans to build Jewish housing at the site of the former restaurant have been in place for awhile, and there are hopes of redeveloping the corner location as well.

Does anyone else think it's strange that this much debris can still be seen more than two months after the fire and subsequent demolition? I feel like it would have been cleaned up, leaving the corner completely empty, as part of the process.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by Steel City Scotty

I drove by the intersection of Forward Avenue and Murray Avenue earlier this week, where, back in mid-May, a fire led to the demolition of an empty building and the Poli building next door. Plans to build Jewish housing at the site of the former restaurant have been in place for awhile, and there are hopes of redeveloping the corner location as well.

Does anyone else think it's strange that this much debris can still be seen more than two months after the fire and subseqhttp://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/06/28/Squirrel-Hill-residents-await-cleanup-of-fire-debris-at-Poli-s-site/stories/201506260276uent demolition? I feel like it would have been cleaned up, leaving the corner completely empty, as part of the process.

I remember reading this:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...bris-at-Poli-s-site/stories/201506260276

If you have any knowledge of Alderson-Forward and/or Equity, the fact that they are involved is all you really needs to know about it:

"Since 2000, the parcel has been owned by Alderson-Forward Properties LLC, whose managing member is Edward Krifcher. Mr. Krifcher was out of town: His office directed calls to Equity Real Estate Services, which manages the Squirrel Hill property."

"The Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition “has lost its patience,” said board president Raymond Baum. Alderson-Forward “have been sitting on this property for years. It’s a blighting influence. The fire just proves that it’s dangerous to have empty buildings there.”

“Ray doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about,” Mr. Speer said. “These property owners are doing everything they can.” The coalition, he said, could buy the property so Mr Baum could “do whatever he wants with it.”

[BrianTH]

It seems to me that the Baum-Centre corridor, then turning onto Penn into Bakery Square, is rapidly developing into another "apartment district" of some sort. Of course it is mixed with other sorts of uses and there is still a lot of infill yet to be done, but the overall trend seems quite clear.

There is also the South Side Works area. Again, a mix of uses, but it is another place you are seeing a solid cluster of apartment buildings coming together.

And finally, there is the Strip--once again a mix of uses but the plans for apartment buildings are going to fill in, and I think eventually more of those warehouses and such will join the party.

And that isn't including the Hazelwood LTV or Lower Hill site . . .

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

It seems to me that the Baum-Centre corridor, then turning onto Penn into Bakery Square, is rapidly developing into another "apartment district" of some sort. Of course it is mixed with other sorts of uses and there is still a lot of infill yet to be done, but the overall trend seems quite clear.

There is also the South Side Works area. Again, a mix of uses, but it is another place you are seeing a solid cluster of apartment buildings coming together.

And finally, there is the Strip--once again a mix of uses but the plans for apartment buildings are going to fill in, and I think eventually more of those warehouses and such will join the party.

And that isn't including the Hazelwood LTV or Lower Hill site . . .

I see your point. And thinking about it even in North Oakland you do see a lot of non-residential uses mixed in. Obviously university buildings, along with some other nonprofit institutions (Oakland Catholic, Central Catholic, School for the Blind), churches, some standalone office buildings, etc.

What makes North Oakland an apartment district isn't so much that it's wall-to-wall apartments (like the segments of Squirrel Hill South I linked to). It's that there are few remaining houses, and the number continues to drop.

The same dynamics are happening in all of the areas you highlighted. The Strip and Baum-Centre in particular have been slowly losing some of the remaining housing stock as they get redeveloped, even though the general focus is on densifying non-residential parcels.

[TBone7281]

Annnnd a guy got out of his car and pushed a girl off her bike in Lawrenceville yesterday.

WTAE Report

I admit to being annoyed at cyclists who get in my way cruise down the middle of the street holding up traffic as much as the next guy, but holy shit.

[BrianTH]

Yeah, and a lot of these areas are former industrial/brownfield, so that helps too in terms of the potential for large apartment buildings (I guess before that they may have been more residential, but that redevelopment process happened a long time ago).

By the way, I think all three of the hotels are OK, given their respective contexts. I might wish a couple were a little taller, but they are acceptable in my view.

And I actually quite like the PAA hotel--I think it will fit in nicely without being TOO matchy.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Yeah, and a lot of these areas are former industrial/brownfield, so that helps too in terms of the potential for large apartment buildings (I guess before that they may have been more residential, but that redevelopment process happened a long time ago).

In the Strip I know that a few of the remaining alley rowhouses have been demoed in recent years. Most recently by the Midwife Center, which plans to eventually expand into the nearby side lots. I can think of a few other stands - mostly in alleys - I expect to be lost with redevelopment.

In the Baum-Centre corridor, they demolished this house in order to begin construction on the "zombie chic" apartment building. There are at least a dozen houses within the zoning envelope which could eventually be lost.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by eschaton

New planning commission presentation.

Highlights.

the quality and quantity of drawings and renderings for the new oakland hotel are extremely impressive

[WillyC]

Originally Posted by TBone7281

Annnnd a guy got out of his car and pushed a girl off her bike in Lawrenceville yesterday.

WTAE Report

I admit to being annoyed at cyclists who get in my way cruise down the middle of the street holding up traffic as much as the next guy, but holy shit.

Quite sad and definitely not a good look for the city. I'm sure this will get played up on biker forums.

I was furious with a guy in pjs and sandals cruising down the middle of S Millvale on his mountain bike yesterday, but jesus, I would never physically harm a person.

[JVC]

Hotel Indigo in East Liberty is in hot water with the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...iberty-Hotel-Indigo/stories/201507250069

so far the hotel indigo is off to a disastrous start and it hasn't even opened yet

this project is going to become the poster child for how the second attempt to revive east liberty went completely wrong

and don't forget about parkinson's other property across the street from the hotel

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/7948361-74/building-flooding-basement#axzz3guSamZaQ

"The vacant building where the flooding began is owned by Nigel Parkinson, a District of Columbia -based developer, according to property records. Parkinson could not be reached Wednesday.
Neighboring business owners said city officials told them Parkinson's building wasn't properly heated, causing its sprinkler piping system to freeze and then rupture with the thaw."

when the hotel indigo finally opens people are going to arrive at the entrance and wonder, why is there an abandoned building in the driveway?

[JVC]

speaking of hotel parking, although there's nothing particularly interesting architecturally about the new hyatt house in bloomfield, there is one aspect of the deisgn they did very well - parking

not only does the hotel have a parking lot integrated within the main parcel, it also has auxiliary gated lot across the street





as much as the bike riding agenda is currently being pushed down our throat the fact remains
people living in and traveling to this region use their cars a lot and want them to be nearby and safe

[a very long weekend]

wow, that area looks like shit - all parking lots. terrible use of space that makes it impossible for the neighborhood to improve. but the biking agenda is being crammed down your throat, right?

[JVC]

Originally Posted by a very long weekend

terrible use of space

does that refer to the hotel, the parking, or both?

[BrianTH]

Don't feed the you-know-whats.

[East Edge]

[QUOTE=JVC;7107215]Hotel Indigo in East Liberty is in hot water with the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...iberty-Hotel-Indigo/stories/201507250069

so far the hotel indigo is off to a disastrous start and it hasn't even opened yet

this project is going to become the poster child for how the second attempt to revive east liberty went completely wrong





Maybe i need to see this up close but this looks so institutional and plain awful! Reminds of some kind of post modern 90's crap. There is nothing about this hotel from the outside that i find interesting that would inspire me to want to stay there.