PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II - Page 731

Austinlee · #**14601** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 1:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBone7281

The proposed huge LED screen that was to be part of the Kossman building renovation has been rejected. Some NIMBY quotes, etc. Basically, it was rejected on the grounds that it would probably end up being a big 🞵🞵🞵 advertisement screen.

http://www.wtae.com/news/Proposed-huge-L...-Pittsburgh-Planning-Commission/36081168

Yeah, the rendering looked cool but it wouldn't be so cool once it showed non stop ads for the lottery and McDonalds and 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

TBone7281 · #**14602** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 2:19 PM**

Strip Updates

Oxford's Three Crossings is coming along. The second building is almost topped out, the first building is getting brickwork, and they have started construction on the small building (I assume the lobby) that joins the two structures together. We'll see how it turns out, but the brick they are using is really pretty funky, IMO.

10/15/15

10/19/15

10/27/15

TBone7281 · #**14603** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 2:22 PM**

The second Oxford office building on Smallman is also progressing. This past week they have started putting up steel.

10/19/15

10/22/15

10/27/15

From Railroad Street, looking through the parking lot of the first office building (on the right). 2500 Smallman in the background.

TBone7281 · #**14604** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 2:27 PM**

Oxford's next step is to demo the current Easter Seals building on Railroad Street so they can build another office building., which they appear to be prepping for. There is no longer anyone occupying the building.

The new Hulton Bridge is now open. It's a lot more efficient (or it will be once all lanes are open), but it sure is a lot less appealing to look at.

TBone7281 · #**14605** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 2:30 PM**

And finally, Smallman Place (2419 Smallman).

haimon · #**14606** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 3:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

I like that idea. There's a lot of restaurant/retail potential along the river particularly in the block between Market & Wood, but it's not very friendly to really any kind of traffic, vehicular or pedestrian. Bike lane + green strip would be fantastic.

totally agree as well!! That entire strip is essentially prime space that is severely underutilized. Even something similar to what they have near Pier 92 in NYC would do wonders.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Ja...259a9bace8db7:0x6d4046c54d916cf3!6m1!1e1

Evergrey · #**14607** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 3:24 PM**

Interesting article by Melissa McCart for Saveur on how Pittsburgh is developing the 'next great Chinatown'.

http://www.saveur.com/how-pittsburgh-is-growing-americas-next-chinatown-chinese-restaurants

Quote:

AMERICA'S NEXT GREAT CHINATOWN TAKES ROOT IN PITTSBURGH

A booming population of international students is driving demand for excellent regional Chinese cuisine

BY MELISSA MCCART POSTED OCTOBER 21, 2015

Wei Zhu made sure he delivered the duck to the table himself because it’s such a special dish.

The 49-year-old chef-owner of Chengdu Gourmet in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood placed the platter in the center of a lazy Susan already crowded with dishes, from glossy stir-fried cabbage, matchstick-cut vinegared potatoes, Sichuan cucumbers, and sad jello noodles—so named because they’re hot enough to make you cry.

Leaning toward the table’s center, Zhu used scissors to cut through the crispy skin, revealing the eight treasures inside that lend the dish the name eight-treasure duck. Sticky rice mingles with shrimp and scallops, several types of mushrooms, and vegetables diced like confetti.

Pittsburgh sits at the gateway to the Midwest and the crux of the Appalachian mountains, with more bridges than Venice, a vibrant arts community, and a growing restaurant scene. But the city has not been known for its national diversity, with a 2012 census survey showing that only 4 percent of residents were born abroad.

That's changing now as schools like University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Duquesne University, and Point Park University are attracting more international students from Asia—especially China. Five years ago, Pittsburgh universities each counted under 1,000 Chinese students in their undergraduate and graduate programs combined; today more than 5,000 Chinese students, and several thousand more residents, call Pittsburgh home—a number that's expected to keep growing.

The surge in diversity has sparked changes in restaurant kitchens around the city, with Chinese-American and pan-Asian restaurants recruiting Chinese chefs with the help of overseas government agencies, cooking schools, and placement services in New York in order to get cooks with the cultural literacy and specialized skills to serve more regional Chinese cuisine.

...

BrianTH · #**14608** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 4:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBone7281

The proposed huge LED screen that was to be part of the Kossman building renovation has been rejected. Some NIMBY quotes, etc. Basically, it was rejected on the grounds that it would probably end up being a big 🞵🞵🞵 advertisement screen.

I don't blame them, and it looks like the mesh is under review still too, and I don't blame them for that either.

BrianTH · #**14609** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 4:31 PM**

Well, damn, now I am hungry.

Anyway, hopefully all that will continue to be a self-reinforcing cycle that helps Pittsburgh remain an attractive destination within the growing Asian immigration wave to the United States.

Evergrey · #**14610** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 4:39 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Well, damn, now I am hungry.

Anyway, hopefully all that will continue to be a self-reinforcing cycle that helps Pittsburgh remain an attractive destination within the growing Asian immigration wave to the United States.

aka 'Asiaburgh'

http://nullspace2.blogspot.com/2012/06/asia-burgh-redux.html

eschaton · #**14611** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 4:47 PM**

If you look at the 2010 census, it's pretty obvious the Asian community in Pittsburgh has been concentrating wherever there are large clusters of apartments - on the fringes of Shadyside, along with in Squirrel Hill South.

This isn't surprising, given who the population is. I've done estimates before, and well over 60% of Asians in Pittsburgh are likely undergrads or graduate students at Pitt or CMU. The exact number is hard to say, because CMU only lists race for domestic students, not international students (who are listed by country or origin instead). When you add in the spouses and children of graduate students, the vast majority of the Asian population in Pittsburgh is university-affiliated. One of the key questions is, can a considerable number of them be coaxed into staying once they are done with schooling?

Anecdotally speaking, it does seem like the Asian population in greater East Liberty is rising. Not just Asian professionals either - I've seen a few families who I believe are part of the Bhutanese community in some of the remaining run-down rental houses. I wonder if due to better job prospects that community might start relocating from Carrick?

eschaton · #**14612** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 5:03 PM**

If Walnut's proposal to set up the Hunt Armory as apartments goes through, I wonder what they are going to do about parking minimums? I mean, I'm sure that they could rent in that location with no parking, but I don't think zoning would grant that variance.

The building was clearly constructed to be able to drive vehicles into. Would it be feasible to set up the first floor as largely a parking garage, and have the apartments only on the second floor?

Austinlee · #**14613** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 5:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschaton

If you look at the 2010 census, it's pretty obvious the Asian community in Pittsburgh has been concentrating wherever there are large clusters of apartments - on the fringes of Shadyside, along with in Squirrel Hill South.

This isn't surprising, given who the population is. I've done estimates before, and well over 60% of Asians in Pittsburgh are likely undergrads or graduate students at Pitt or CMU. The exact number is hard to say, because CMU only lists race for domestic students, not international students (who are listed by country or origin instead). When you add in the spouses and children of graduate students, the vast majority of the Asian population in Pittsburgh is university-affiliated. One of the key questions is, can a considerable number of them be coaxed into staying once they are done with schooling?

Anecdotally speaking, it does seem like the Asian population in greater East Liberty is rising. Not just Asian professionals either - I've seen a few families who I believe are part of the Bhutanese community in some of the remaining run-down rental houses. I wonder if due to better job prospects that community might start relocating from Carrick?

I have personally leased a couple of houses out to Burmese refugees in Carrick so I can confirm.

I am not asian btw, depsite my profile pic and misleading username, which is in fact my first two names. lol. I should change that at some point.

Austinlee · #**14614** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 5:18 PM**

Tbone: I honestly hope the 3 Crossings facades turn out better looking than the Hot Metal Flats over on the Southside. I personally think those turned out looking cheap.

Austinlee · #**14615** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 5:20 PM**

At some point I need to put together all the information - Photos and details and links for all of the UC projects for a new Pittsburgh development thread. I haven't really been right clicking and saving as much as I used to over the weeks and months of reading through this thread as new projects are announced. Can anyone help me start to list the largest construction projects by size and dollar amount that are definitely happening?

eschaton · #**14616** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 6:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I have personally leased a couple of houses out to Burmese refugees in Carrick so I can confirm.

Do you mean leased out to refugees coming from Carrick to East Liberty?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I am not asian btw, depsite my profile pic and misleading username, which is in fact my first two names. lol. I should change that at some point.

I was pretty sure you weren't I. M. Pei.

Evergrey · #**14617** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 7:32 PM**

Renderings of Walnut's PTC apartment complex:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...our-first-look-at-the-plans-for-the.html

Austinlee · #**14618** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 7:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Renderings of Walnut's PTC apartment complex:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...our-first-look-at-the-plans-for-the.html

To me, those drawings look better than Hot Metal Flats and what is going up in The Strip.

BrianTH · #**14619** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 9:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

To me, those drawings look better than Hot Metal Flats and what is going up in The Strip.

I like the warehouse-looking thing in between the two apartment blocks.

Jonboy1983 · #**14620** Posted **Oct 28, 2015, 11:37 PM**

I like the industrial look of the entire design as a whole. I think it's a good mix of industrial and contemporary architectural design concepts. As for that industrial looking structure in the middle, I believe that is some common use structure/community center; it looks that there's an outdoor pool right behind it.

As for the Asian population, it's not that surprising that they'd be concentrated in portions of Oakland, Squirrel Hill, and other parts of the burgeoning East End, given the reasons already stated. I also just hope that the region can retain this population rather than lose it to other parts of the country as it has in years past. Given how Google, Apple, and other corporations in the tech industry are setting up shop and/or expanding, I don't think too many of these folks are going to leave town.