PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Interesting, albeit long, read about the contentious Planning Commission hearing for the Penn Plaza site--which did in fact get its rezoning approved in the end:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...reement-comes-under-heavy-criticism.html

My two cents: I think there are legitimate concerns about the loss of the park, but there is too much good that can be done by redeveloping this site to make keeping the park as-is a good idea. Instead, they should be talking about a plan for a new park, which could be a big improvement as a public amenity if well done.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Well they'd hire professional graphic artists but you people would probably charge them some money. And I've heard they really like to keep all of the money.

"you people" ... like I'm still a designer these days

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

"you people" ... like I'm still a designer these days

O rly? J/K. I'm aware.

[Evergrey]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...st-end-commuter-train-plan-derailed.html

Peduto: East End commuter train plan derailed

Oct 30, 2015, 2:46pm EDT

Plans to extend commuter rail across Pittsburgh by the Allegheny Valley Railroad are dead, Mayor Bill Peduto said at a news conference in Hazelwood.

Peduto said the plan to extend commuter service from Lawrenceville through Oakland and down to the new 178-acre Almono site under development was no longer under consideration by Allegheny Valley Railroad. He said it was in large measure because the railroad is seeing so much demand for freight rail business that adding commuter lines to the daily run of trains does not fit the company’s model and isn’t safe.

He added the commuter rail is not able to compete.

Peduto has long advocated the commuter rail line, which he expected to help fuel major development throughout the city’s East End as well as to Almono.

...

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...urgh-LTV-coke-works/stories/201510300272

Long-awaited Hazelwood redevelopment breaks ground on old LTV site

October 30, 2015 1:04 PM

By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Local officials broke ground today on a $27 million "signature boulevard" to be built through the former LTV Coke Works in Hazelwood — the first tangible piece of a redevelopment designed to transform the struggling neighborhood.

The street will run a mile and a half from one end of the 178-acre site to Second Avenue.

Today's groundbreaking should send a signal to developers that the long-awaited redevelopment, more than a decade in the making, is becoming a reality, said Don Smith, president of the Regional Industrial Development Corp., which manages the site for Almono LP, the consortium of foundations that owns it.

In remarks this morning at the site, local, state and federal politicians from the region heralded the proposed office, residential and industrial redevelopment not only for its ability to remake the last of the city's brownfields but to lift up a neighborhood that has fallen on hard times since the coke works closed decades ago.

"This will be a demonstration of how you build community for all," Mayor Bill Peduto said.

Mr. Peduto said it is critical that what happens at the Almono site carries over into the neighborhood above the railroad tracks.

"We don't want to redline it," he said.

He sees opportunity for small start-up businesses on Hazelwood and Second avenues, housing renovation projects in the neighborhood, and an affordable housing component on the Almono site itself.

"I predict Hazelwood is going to go the way of Lawrenceville. It's going to be a very hot market," he said.

...

[JVC]

Almono

(note the floating buildings across the river)

[BrianTH]

Too bad about the AVR commuter rail. It wouldn't have served a lot of riders, but AVR's plan could have been a template for more such projects. However, maybe increased freight would doom all those too.

[Austinlee]

Awesome photo that even made the City Paper. Colorful shot from Troy Hill looking over the 16th St Bridge at the new Homewood Suites in The Strip which has a nice massing to it, imo.

I don't know how to embed Instagram photos onto SSP because I rarely use Instagram but here is the link.

https://instagram.com/p/9CX1Jzjr_-/?taken-by=mtkincaid1628
Credit: @mtkincaid1628

[BrianTH]

I love "microcosm of Pittsburgh" photos like that.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I love "microcosm of Pittsburgh" photos like that.

Yeah. I love seeing the true heart of the city in terms of urban fabric.

[speagles84]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Too bad about the AVR commuter rail. It wouldn't have served a lot of riders, but AVR's plan could have been a template for more such projects. However, maybe increased freight would doom all those too.

I'm quite disappointed as well.

I think that due to it only being 1 track, even with successful ridership, it would have quickly become overcrowded.

Does anyone know if this affects the AVCR from the Strip to New Kensington?

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by JVC

Almono

(note the floating buildings across the river)

I highly doubt even one third of that will ever happen...

[Urbana]

Originally Posted by photoLith

I highly doubt even one third of that will ever happen...

Almono is something that I see being built out and evolving over the course of maybe 30 or 40 years. There is just not enough demand for that much industrial space/residential right now. Regardless, that is a really great looking plan for a place that could one day be an important part of the city.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Urbana

Almono is something that I see being built out and evolving over the course of maybe 30 or 40 years. There is just not enough demand for that much industrial space/residential right now. Regardless, that is a really great looking plan for a place that could one day be an important part of the city.

My worry with Almono is there will be huge pressure to "get it built" which will lead to substandard choices. These include.

1. Having the office/commercial portion be too office-park and not hewing to proper urban design standards. Essentially the U.S. Steel building debacle on steroids.

2. Turning the residential portions into "mixed-income" housing. Don't get me wrong, there is a real need for affordable housing in the East End, and I hardly think it would make Hazelwood worse. But if Almono goes down the mixed-income route it basically precludes market-rate redevelopment of "old Hazelwood" from happening any time soon, which in turn means we're going to be left with a lot of vacant lots on Second Avenue for decades and decades to come.

[BrianTH]

I think the pace of development in the core area of Pittsburgh over the next 20 years or so may surprise a lot of people. But we'll see.

[photoLith]

Here's a photo I took last night from the Northside above The Mexican War Streets from someones balcony...

DSC_0860 by photolitherland, on Flickr

[guyFROMtheBURGH]

From that angle, it looks like one large CBD with no river separating the Northside from downtown.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by guyFROMtheBURGH

From that angle, it looks like one large CBD with no river separating the Northside from downtown.

Yeah, you have to know what to look for to even spot a bridge.

Very cool.

[BrianTH]

Sign of the times--there is suddenly a bidding war going for the closed Gladstone Middle School in Hazelwood:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...ter-of-usage-battle/stories/201510300138

A collaboration of the Center of Life youth development nonprofit, the Hazelwood Initiative, the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group and the Make it Right Foundation offered $250,000 during the summer. The biotechnology company Gaugamela Holdings upped the ante in late September.

Francis Pitt, the biotech firm’s chief executive officer, said the school and annex offer his company the best local opportunity to grow in a competitive world market and to provide jobs in a neighborhood that needs them. Gaugamela Holdings, based in Uptown, is an ornamental horticulture and algae biofuel technology startup. The firm proposes a biotech research and greenhouse complex and tech incubator, with day care and performance space for employees and the community. “This is the only option in the area that met our requirements,” Mr. Pitt said. “We want to be a 20-minute bike ride from Carnegie Mellon.”

. . .

Mr. Smith’s group proposes an expansion of Center of Life, an early childhood development center, mixed-income housing, headquarters for The Mission Continues veterans group and possibly a full-service health care center. . . . [A]ffordable housing in the old school would be a proactive move in case the Almono site sparks gentrifying investments elsewhere in the neighborhood. “We’re talking about energy efficient housing affordable to people who have either no income or low income,” Mr. Smith said. “These are people who can’t afford to buy or fix up abandoned houses in the community. People do need jobs, but if they don’t have a place to stay, the same narrative of people being priced out of communities will keep happening.”

These are both worthy possible uses, but of course without a lot of help, affordable housing and social service tenants are going to have trouble outbidding well-financed tech companies.

But I think we can expect a lot of this to come in the area defined by "a 20-minute bike ride from Carnegie Mellon".

The property:



http://www.frd.us.com/pghschools/gladstone.htm

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I think the pace of development in the core area of Pittsburgh over the next 20 years or so may surprise a lot of people. But we'll see.

saw this view of the city yesterday while watching the steelers game and thought - development has crawled to a dead snail's pace at the former civic arena site



let's hope for the sake of the city's national image that the former civic arena site is fully developed before one building is built at almono