PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[themaguffin]

A new page is a great way to move on from the two post trolling at the end of page 714.

Let's return to the Pittsburgh development thread...

[ShooFlyPie]

You guys better watch when a bland troll who hits the local news forums with the lowest of intellects is on your board. Mom's basement must be getting even more lonesome so he is now attempting skyscraperpage.

https://disqus.com/by/disqus_Km6YxKCsxT/

Anyways, I like to have these family 70s/90s throwback places with tacky decorations to take my spawn to for 40 bucks. I was the only person saddened with the close of Gullifty's. New hip decor with a foodie vibe is alright, but I am more of a big empty restaurant stuck in the 70s kind of place. I still have Big Jim's I guess. Pretty soon I will have to move to the burbs with Mr. Avis.

[photoLith]

Dr Avis is a hard right alternate reality whack job.

[ks2006]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, it was only when I saw recent pictures that I realized how the stonework on the "Indigo Square" side of the modern part actually looks:





I actually think that is pretty cool, and useful to help support the Indigo Square concept.


Call it cosmetic, but it is a pretty cool-looking hotel overall.

Look at the lighting in the stairwells - it is just brutal. Looks like a stairwell in a desolate parking garage. They could really improve the look of this thing, IMHO, just by replacing those flouresecents with something like wall sconces.

[Dr. Avis]

Originally Posted by ShooFlyPie

You guys better watch when a bland troll who hits the local news forums with the lowest of intellects is on your board. Mom's basement must be getting even more lonesome so he is now attempting skyscraperpage.

https://disqus.com/by/disqus_Km6YxKCsxT/

Anyways, I like to have these family 70s/90s throwback places with tacky decorations to take my spawn to for 40 bucks. I was the only person saddened with the close of Gullifty's. New hip decor with a foodie vibe is alright, but I am more of a big empty restaurant stuck in the 70s kind of place. I still have Big Jim's I guess. Pretty soon I will have to move to the burbs with Mr. Avis.

It's Miss fyi. I also pretty much stated the same thing you did. People love to see all of the historical items in these great restaurants to take them back in time to the good old days. Friday's and Max & Erma's are hugely successful for good reasons.

[themaguffin]

"Not current?" What a joke. Who cares if it's your current trolling profile or not?
At the end of the day, it's still trolling.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by ShooFlyPie

You guys better watch when a bland troll who hits the local news forums with the lowest of intellects is on your board. Mom's basement must be getting even more lonesome so he is now attempting skyscraperpage.

https://disqus.com/by/disqus_Km6YxKCsxT/

Anyways, I like to have these family 70s/90s throwback places with tacky decorations to take my spawn to for 40 bucks. I was the only person saddened with the close of Gullifty's. New hip decor with a foodie vibe is alright, but I am more of a big empty restaurant stuck in the 70s kind of place. I still have Big Jim's I guess. Pretty soon I will have to move to the burbs with Mr. Avis.

I enjoyed Gulliftys and the Spaghetti Warehouse as well. Both were fine for young families and I really enjoyed the food.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

So I walked around the base of PNC Tower. It is definitely a very cool corporate skyscraper, and fun to look up at.

That said, the street level treatment pretty much sucks. Typical lifeless, pointless corporate plaza feel out front, and Forbes is just atrocious. Water on the bridge, but I definitely miss the old buildings.

I walked around the base this afternoon. It is a nice addition to downtown. I like the base as well. That is until I walked around to Forbes Ave. I wish they would have preserved the original facades. That would have been amazing. I forgot that the Forbes side is across from the new Point Park theater. That could have been one amazing preservation project. It's still an amazing building though.

[eschaton]

I wouldn't take anything a troll says seriously. The entire purpose of trolling is to take an extreme viewpoint to cause arguments. Trolls often do not genuinely believe what they espouse. I wouldn't be surprised if this Dr. Avis is in reality someone who is moderate/apolitical, and just loves riling up "retards."

Hence, engagement is pointless. Do not feed the trolls.

[eschaton]

New Planning Commission presentation. Pretty boring this time.

1. FamilyLinks moving to new administrative offices in East Liberty (the old mansion attached to Vintage Senior Services by Home Depot). It looks like they will be doing pretty extensive refurbishing, but leaving the existing building otherwise in place, which is good, because it is clearly of historic merit.

2. Review application for the new Bar Louie on the North Shore.

3. Really minor repair work on the Pennsylvanian's concrete elevated walkway and railing.

4. Signage approval for the new Homewood Suites in the Strip.

5. Another crappy rendering of the "art bubbles" on the Hotel Indigo.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by eschaton

New Planning Commission presentation. Pretty boring this time.

1. FamilyLinks moving to new administrative offices in East Liberty (the old mansion attached to Vintage Senior Services by Home Depot). It looks like they will be doing pretty extensive refurbishing, but leaving the existing building otherwise in place, which is good, because it is clearly of historic merit.

2. Review application for the new Bar Louie on the North Shore.

3. Really minor repair work on the Pennsylvanian's concrete elevated walkway and railing.

4. Signage approval for the new Homewood Suites in the Strip.

5. Another crappy rendering of the "art bubbles" on the Hotel Indigo.

I'm amazed that there's another Bar Louie is going into the "Greater Downtown" area... who goes there?

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I'm amazed that there's another Bar Louie is going into the "Greater Downtown" area... who goes there?

Is that going into what was to be the Toby Keith Bar or will it be taking up another space?

[eschaton]

I found the MOU between the city and the owners of Penn Plaza. Some great details are in there - most notably that the developer agreed to re-establish South Saint Clair through the site. This was the absolute minimum I thought was needed to break up the megablock. Ideally we'd see Eva resuscitated as well.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Is that going into what was to be the Toby Keith Bar or will it be taking up another space?

It's a different space that was originally slated for a much more aggressively obnoxious concept called Dick's Last Resort.

http://www.dickslastresort.com/

Could you imagine Dick's Last Resort and Toby Keith right next to each other? Talk about a critical mass of brash American attitude!

Kudos to Continental Real Estate, the Steelers and Herky Pollock for their ambition in trying to transform Pittsburgh's North Shore into a world class dining and entertainment destination.

[BrianTH]

Healthy Ride, the new bike-sharing program, is off to a good start:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/9185988-74/bike-pittsburgh-program

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I found the MOU between the city and the owners of Penn Plaza. Some great details are in there - most notably that the developer agreed to re-establish South Saint Clair through the site. This was the absolute minimum I thought was needed to break up the megablock. Ideally we'd see Eva resuscitated as well.

Very interesting. Making Euclid two-way and eliminating the highspeed lanes between Penn and Euclid would be nice too. If they could then build out to the corner, then along with East Liberty Place North and South that would almost be a complete urban corner.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Very interesting. Making Euclid two-way and eliminating the highspeed lanes between Penn and Euclid would be nice too. If they could then build out to the corner, then along with East Liberty Place North and South that would almost be a complete urban corner.

It seems to be implied that's in the offering. Note that it says "the CITY agrees, if necessary, to participate in vacation of right-of-way in order to allow such reestablishment" at the corner of Penn and South Euclid. This could only mean IMHO de-ROWing the curved lane going from Penn to Euclid.

I hope at some point in the future N Saint Clair can also be finished by reconnecting it to Rural Street. As far as I can see the connection would only require minor changes to Garland Parklet (moving the basketball court a bit) and taking out some off-street parking owned by ugly mid-century townhouses. It doesn't seem like an unsolvable issue anyway.

[hammersklavier]

Say someone from Philly is checking in on this thread and has no idea what's where in PA's #2 city ... Perhaps a few more pictures would help?

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

It's a different space that was originally slated for a much more aggressively obnoxious concept called Dick's Last Resort.

http://www.dickslastresort.com/

Could you imagine Dick's Last Resort and Toby Keith right next to each other? Talk about a critical mass of brash American attitude!

Kudos to Continental Real Estate, the Steelers and Herky Pollock for their ambition in trying to transform Pittsburgh's North Shore into a world class dining and entertainment destination.

Dick's Last Resort and Toby Keith's bar fit the NFL fan demographic... unfortunately.

[photoLith]

Judging by Dicks Last Resorts website and after looking it up on YouTube I can definitely say I'll be avoiding it like the plague but it for sure will be popular with the non thinking masses who will be down there for games.