PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[photoLith]

Whats the point in talking about and postulating about things that will never happen?

[Dr. Avis]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Whats the point in talking about and postulating about things that will never happen?

I completely agree.There's so much actual development happening in other townships at the moment. I was just at McCandless Crossing this evening and it is starting to look very nice there! They have really tired to go out of the box there with a few restaurants completely new to the area and the landscaping is starting to look great. It was an excellent use of space that is now a great benefit to all of Allegheny County. I am thrilled to have this new option close to home.

[Gilamonster]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Whats the point in talking about and postulating about things that will never happen?

You're asking this now? This happens on a regular basis on this forum particularly in regards to transportation.

[photoLith]

I know and it's kind of annoying. I come on here to find out about development, not read about a hypothetical gondola network etc that will never happen in a million years.

[hammersklavier]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Whats the point in talking about and postulating about things that will never happen?

Because it's a time-honored Northeastern tradition?

[BrianTH]

Those night photos are awesome.

You never know what might be possible in the future, particularly if the political climate for public investment in cities improves at the state and federal levels (which it will eventually--just don't ask me specifically when). And some of the things we discuss as possibilities really wouldn't be very expensive, nor are so far-fetched in general when you look at precedents. And finally, sometimes ideas we discuss do get around . . . Peduto tweeted about gondolas, for example. Did he do that because of one of our discussions? No way of knowing, but seeding the idea in local conversations could help even if Peduto specifically got it somewhere else.

Edit: So apparently the Market Square renovation cost about $5 million. A similar project in East Liberty should be in the same ballpark. That just isn't a lot of money in the greater scheme of things.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Those night photos are awesome.

You never know what might be possible in the future, particularly if the political climate for public investment in cities improves at the state and federal levels (which it will eventually--just don't ask me specifically when). And some of the things we discuss as possibilities really wouldn't be very expensive, nor are so far-fetched in general when you look at precedents. And finally, sometimes ideas we discuss do get around . . . Peduto tweeted about gondolas, for example. Did he do that because of one of our discussions? No way of knowing, but seeding the idea in local conversations could help even if Peduto specifically got it somewhere else.

Edit: So apparently the Market Square renovation cost about $5 million. A similar project in East Liberty should be in the same ballpark. That just isn't a lot of money in the greater scheme of things.

Agreed. I appreciate your forward-thinking ideas, BrianTH.

[JVC]

east liberty needs a public square with trees - a green space
the east end is filled with trees, except for the area known as penn circle







note also in the third photo that the virgil cantini fountain is essentially invisible - a totally wasted public asset

[dfiler]

The East Liberty transit center is about to completely transform the business district. I predict it will shift which properties are considered centrally or conveniently located. Besides just adding additional real estate and station for commuters, it also adds routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

It might also exacerbate the horribly designed intersection of Center and Penn Avenues. The transit center has a tiny but nice pedestrian area centered on that corner. It is how people will be routed in and out of the neighborhood. Unfortunately that intersection is also a death trap for pedestrians and cyclists. It was designed for maximum car throughput with little regard for anything else. Note the wide intersection with rounded corners. It's difficult to cross and encourages vehicles to travel at high speed. Drivers behave as if they're on a highway rather than driving through a dense urban area filled with people needing to cross the street.

Unfortunately it is a newly constructed intersection and that doesn't give me much hope of it being corrected. Squaring off the corners would slow traffic down to the speed limit and allow pedestrians to cross the street in a safe manner.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by dfiler

It might also exacerbate the horribly designed intersection of Center and Penn Avenues. The transit center has a tiny but nice pedestrian area centered on that corner. It is how people will be routed in and out of the neighborhood. Unfortunately that intersection is also a death trap for pedestrians and cyclists. It was designed for maximum car throughput with little regard for anything else. Note the wide intersection with rounded corners. It's difficult to cross and encourages vehicles to travel at high speed. Drivers behave as if they're on a highway rather than driving through a dense urban area filled with people needing to cross the street.

I cross this intersection on foot or bike a few times per week. It is truly awful - probably not as bad from a pedestrian standpoint as Penn/Negley, or Negley/East Liberty Boulevard (I've been nearly killed at both on a bike), but less excusable due to its comparably recent redesign.

To me the worst aspect of the intersection is the ridiculously long wait times at the crosswalks. I think this is due to a combination of light cycles which are too long, along with all directions but northbound on Centre getting a protected left.

Given this area is also a frequent traffic snarl (even though all construction which was blocking the roadways is done) I don't see any way this will be solved any time soon. When we do drive, unless we have to drive to East Liberty, we generally bypass Penn by going East Liberty Boulevard to Hamilton, and cut back onto Penn in Homewood as needed. But because Centre aligns with the "car sewer" of Negley Run Boulevard, this is going to be an intersection a lot of people will use as an onramp no matter what. Honestly I expect this is one of many traffic issues which will solve themselves in 10 years time when commercially available driverless cars start decreasing road traffic, but it's unlikely to be addressed until then.

[BrianTH]

Adding the "woonerf" district and "Liberties Park" (with playground):



I agree, incidentally, about the ELTC/East Side developments shifting the center of gravity south (and a bit west), and I think further development at Penn Plaza, Mellon Orchard, and so on will further shift it west. That is all the more reason to think this area around the church and to its immediate west is ideal for the purposes of creating new public spaces.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Adding the "woonerf" district and "Liberties Park" (with playground):

good luck with getting the library and the ace hotel to let go of that parking lot

by the way has anyone figured out where the ace hotel guests are going to park their cars?

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Yeah, it isn't a bad space if you look at it in isolation, but the problem is with the way the street, bus shelter, and so on work, it gets lost in context:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4612711,...7WvYTcV__R7p_Rd9AHklA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Again, I think if you imagine that whole space right up to the buildings across Penn being converted into a Market Square-style plaza (and in fact I believe that space between the church steps and the facing buildings is over half the width of Market Square), you could have a very substantial public space, with plenty of room for events like farmer's markets, holiday markets, and so on.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Crude rendering of the East Liberty town center (needs a better name--how about "Hope Square," since the church is known as the Cathedral of Hope?) given a Market-Square-type treatment:



I also extended it toward the possible woonerf district below, in much the same way Market Square and PPG Place are connected (and if that was a companion green space, it would also need a name--how about "Liberties Park"?).

during the urban renewal debacle east liberty made a plaza in front of the church
and that experiment ended horribly so it would probably be a bad idea to repeat that mistake again

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by dfiler

The East Liberty transit center is about to completely transform the business district. I predict it will shift which properties are considered centrally or conveniently located. Besides just adding additional real estate and station for commuters, it also adds routes for pedestrians and cyclists.

I completely agree. It's an exciting time.

[TBone7281]

Been busy at work so I haven't wandered around as much as I had been. Still, have a few pics from the last couple weeks.

Second residential building at Three Crossings on Railroad.

9/17




9/22




9/29




10/5

[Austinlee]

^What can I say. I wish they were bigger and more importantly higher quality but at the same time I can't help but be excited that the Strip and thus the city center is going to be a lot more lively and vibrant. That is a wonderful prospect.

If you want to get depressed, check out west coast infill. This is just NON-DOWNTOWN projects for Seattle for example: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6459411&postcount=1

[TBone7281]

Second office is starting at Three Crossing (on Smallman). Lot is cleared and they started digging and pouring the foundation.

9/29




10/8

[TBone7281]

The new road (Waterfront Place) behind the Produce Terminal is pretty much done. It's quite the peaceful walk since it isn't open to traffic yet.


9/24




The road will eventually go all the way down to 11th by the convention center. That end is open all the way up until 16th Street. (I took this picture from under the bridge.) From 13th to 16th the Street is brand new and I could tell it hadn't been opened long based on the number of drivers who were excited to be cutting through there, only to turn around when they got to the barriers at 16th.

[eschaton]

New PPC PDF! A lot more stuff of interest than the last one.

The presentation begins with an appropriate subject given the current topic - Penn Plaza. It's mostly just the application to change the zoning, but it also includes a very preliminary land plan, which shows not only a continuation of St Clair, but Eva continuing for one more block within the development (although not extending to Euclid).

Then there's the planned redevelopment/reskinning of the old Kossman building downtown. You can't polish a turd, but it's still good to see continued investment in the building. It looks like it's being entirely "de-officed," with more floors being converted into parking, and a few floors of "corporate apartments" near the top of the building.

Walnut Capital has a lot of information about their planned two apartment buildings (totaling 368 units) at the Pittsburgh Technology Center. It looks impressive (it may even contain a restaurant, but honestly given the location it's hard for me to get excited about it.

Finally, there are plans to restore two more historic storefronts on Wood street. Although the list of needed repairs is pretty extensive, they honestly look to be in pretty good shape to me right now, so hopefully this will go quickly.

[Evergrey]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2015/10/09/heres-the-newest-boutique-hotel-planned.html

Here's the newest boutique hotel planned for Pittsburgh

Oct 9, 2015, 2:40pm EDT



Look for another new boutique hotel brand to make its Pittsburgh debut, this time in Lawrenceville.

With such boutique flags as Kimpton, Distrikt, Ace, Even and Hotel Indigo either open or in the works for downtown and much of the East End, now Wheeling, WV.-based Century Equities is proposing to convert the long-closed Washington Education Center on 40th Street into a new TRYP by Wyndham hotel, an urban-oriented boutique brand the company has been expanding internationally but so far only has three locations for in the Unite States.

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