PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...d-office-building-all-but-completed.html

I like this one. It's a very conservative design but for this part of Oakland I think they really chose well. I like the dual-tone color scheme as well.

This rendering was actually on Page 1 of the Pittsburgh Development 1 thread from around the time I joined this site. Glad to see the project FINALLY completed.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I like this one. It's a very conservative design but for this part of Oakland I think they really chose well. I like the dual-tone color scheme as well.

This rendering was actually on Page 1 of the Pittsburgh Development 1 thread from around the time I joined this site. Glad to see the project FINALLY completed.

Eh... it could use some corrugated metal.

[BrianTH]

Looks like a university building to me, which I suppose might be good marketing.

[JVC]

what's the status of the hotel planned for the PAA parking lot?

[JVC]

it's time to build a public parking garage inside penn circle
and make broad street two-way from highland to euclid

Sources: Duolingo, Restoration Hardware headed to East Liberty

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...o-restoration-hardware-east-liberty.html

"Sources familiar with the project said Anthony Dolan and his Alphabet City Development Co. has a letter of intent with language-learning app creator Duolingo to take half of the second floor office space at 5900 Penn Ave., a two-story building that was most recently occupied by Novum Pharmaceutical Research Services. For the first floor, Alphabet City has a tentative agreement to establish a new Restoration Hardware store, said the sources, who spoke anonymously to maintain their business relationships.

CORRECTION
A spokesman for Restoration Hardware indicates the company is considering this location for a potential Restoration Hardware outlet store and not for a traditional mainline Restoration Hardware store."

[Gilamonster]

That new office building in Oakland looks fine in pictures and far away but the precast concrete panels look terrible up close in my opinion. One can easily see the lines of demarcation on the 6x8 panels or whatever size they are. It just looks bad to me. It's the same with the new dorm that Pitt completed in the vicinity. I remember people on here saying it looks nice. Again...yes it does in pics, but has anyone seen that building up close? .. like on the sidewalk. I think the precast looks so sloppy and unrefined.

I actually came on here to criticize another building but had to mention that when I saw the previous posts.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned this one.......What about the siding or "cladding" on the new Gardens at Market Square or as it is now called Tower Two-Sixty. It looks like styrofoam or a giant version of some cheap plastic blocks that would be found in a 3 year old kids toy box! I like the cubes shape and the fact that it is mostly glass on the outside but that siding is a real downer to me.

[themaguffin]

The Oakland building is fine enough. Not everything has to turn heads.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The URA may already have a buyer for the Detective's Building in East Liberty:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...home-furnishings-retailer-targeting.html



Edit: PG article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...me-base-development/stories/201511110110

This is actually a really big deal. Schoolhouse Electric is hot shit in the interiors world, and this will be their second design studio/HQ. Pittsburgh and Portland, with one stand-a-lone store in NYC. The Ace Hotel effect is happening already and it hasn't opened yet.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

This is actually a really big deal. Schoolhouse Electric is hot shit in the interiors world, and this will be their second design studio/HQ. Pittsburgh and Portland, with one stand-a-lone store in NYC. The Ace Hotel effect is happening already and it hasn't opened yet.

the question is - where are all these new people working at schoolhouse electric and duolingo, staying at the ace and indigo hotels,
living at mellon orchard, dining at BRGR and shopping at restoration hardware, going to park their cars?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

This is actually a really big deal. Schoolhouse Electric is hot shit in the interiors world, and this will be their second design studio/HQ. Pittsburgh and Portland, with one stand-a-lone store in NYC. The Ace Hotel effect is happening already and it hasn't opened yet.

Agreed. And while Restoration Hardware is not quite as cutting edge hip, it would be another very solid brand.

[BrianTH]

Followup article. The URA did in fact vote to dissolve the SSW TIF early, and there is some more about the Schoolhouse project:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...-know-out-of-the-november-ura-board.html

Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Co. seeks to establish an operation that would help it expand to the East Coast and mid Atlantic States and discovered the property after it came here to work with its hometown-based Ace Hotel client. While the URA planned to demolish the building, Brian Faherty, owner of Schoolhouse, said he was drawn to the structure’s new formalist architecture style and plans to establish both a production facility and a retail store in building, as well as perhaps a coffee shop. He estimated he could have 30 to 40 employees here in the next 18 months, if Schoolhouse can reach a final deal to buy the property from the URA. “We’re hoping it’s feasible,” he said of the economics of buying the building, fixing it up and establishing an operation here. “That building needs quite a bit of work.”

That's not my favorite style of architecture, but I can see the appeal and it will be interesting to see if they can make it work.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/East+L...4ed9ad4d9f97b:0x9e8b0d32a3d8f951!6m1!1e1

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Followup article. The URA did in fact vote to dissolve the SSW TIF early, and there is some more about the Schoolhouse project:

That's not my favorite style of architecture, but I can see the appeal and it will be interesting to see if they can make it work.

what about the mellon orchard project? the detectives building and lot are supposed to be part of that plan

http://www.eastliberty.org/post/category/mellons-orchard

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/ura-files/MellonOrchardPlanning_RFP.pdf

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Followup article. The URA did in fact vote to dissolve the SSW TIF early, and there is some more about the Schoolhouse project:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...-know-out-of-the-november-ura-board.html



That's not my favorite style of architecture, but I can see the appeal and it will be interesting to see if they can make it work.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/East+L...4ed9ad4d9f97b:0x9e8b0d32a3d8f951!6m1!1e1

Wow... that is a turd of a building... I find that architectural style (never knew the name before) to be super-depressing and dehumanizing.

That section of East Lib sucks overall with that nasty McDonalds next door.

[BrianTH]

I'm not a big fan of New Formalism in general, maybe because I am not a big fan of 1960s stuff in general, and it is a VERY 1960s style. But the buildings can sometimes look OK if they are well done. So I'd be interested to see this building cleaned up, well-lit, and so on before passing final judgment.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by JVC

the question is - where are all these new people working at schoolhouse electric and duolingo, staying at the ace and indigo hotels,
living at mellon orchard, dining at BRGR and shopping at restoration hardware, going to park their cars?

I am not opposed to a parking garage, or even two, provided development of them is linked to elimination of all other surface lots within Penn Circle.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That's not my favorite style of architecture, but I can see the appeal and it will be interesting to see if they can make it work.

At least the building fronts on the sidewalk, which means it should integrate pretty well with North Euclid becoming an urban street again. Maybe the zero setback will force the Mellon's Orchard project to have a more urban context, instead of the typical "soft urban" style we've seen in places like the Fairfield Apartments or New Pennley Place.

My bigger concern though is the placement of the building on its lot is awkward. There's a substantial setback from Broad, parking in the rear, and a lot to the north of the building wider than the building itself. As long as this surface parking remains undeveloped this is going to be sucky stretch of road from a pedestrian standpoint.

Originally Posted by Evergrey

That section of East Lib sucks overall with that nasty McDonalds next door.

Eventually I'm sure the McDonalds is going to go.

Does anyone know what the story is with the Medical Center East building? It looks like it's falling apart, but I do see people coming in and out of it sometimes.

[Urbana]

I am one to be more intrigued by this era of architecture than most. In my opinion, we need to be careful about tearing buildings like this down without serious consideration. This happens every generation. We look back on the architecture of several generations back with great admiration, but fail to see the beauty in the architecture of the more recent past. I am not saying this building is remarkable, but it has some really interesting form and materials in the upper floors. I also love the shape of the windows. Where I think it fails (as so many buildings of its era do) is where it meets the street. A proper renovation - cleaning the facade and improving the street presence would probably result in a really sleek building. Whether all that is feasible is a different story. It is totally possible that this building is not worth saving, but I think it deserves the dignity of a serious consideration of its architectural value before that happens.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by Urbana

I am one to be more intrigued by this era of architecture than most. In my opinion, we need to be careful about tearing buildings like this down without serious consideration. This happens every generation. We look back on the architecture of several generations back with great admiration, but fail to see the beauty in the architecture of the more recent past. I am not saying this building is remarkable, but it has some really interesting form and materials in the upper floors. I also love the shape of the windows. Where I think it fails (as so many buildings of its era do) is where it meets the street. A proper renovation - cleaning the facade and improving the street presence would probably result in a really sleek building. Whether all that is feasible is a different story. It is totally possible that this building is not worth saving, but I think it deserves the dignity of a serious consideration of its architectural value before that happens.

I think that it could be a reasonably handsome building with a little bit of Charlie Brown style love. A good cleaning and some interesting paint colors on those panels and some landscaping would soften some of the sci-fi dystopia vibe about it. It would benefit from having some buildings around it too and not just a sea of parking lots.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Urbana

I am one to be more intrigued by this era of architecture than most. In my opinion, we need to be careful about tearing buildings like this down without serious consideration. This happens every generation. We look back on the architecture of several generations back with great admiration, but fail to see the beauty in the architecture of the more recent past. I am not saying this building is remarkable, but it has some really interesting form and materials in the upper floors. I also love the shape of the windows. Where I think it fails (as so many buildings of its era do) is where it meets the street. A proper renovation - cleaning the facade and improving the street presence would probably result in a really sleek building. Whether all that is feasible is a different story. It is totally possible that this building is not worth saving, but I think it deserves the dignity of a serious consideration of its architectural value before that happens.

Totally agreed. And I'm especially excited about the building if it gets into the hands of a company like Schoolhouse. These types of renovation projects excite me even more than something like the Ace YMCA because they are not obvious choices. Even though Ace never does the obvious once they get inside, choosing that historic building from the beginning is obvious. We've done these things many times and done them well. A real design challenge is something like this building, or something like a design competition to salvage Penn Plaza (not going to happen, but I daydream about it vs. tearing it down).

Easiest: new construction
Harder, but we're good at it: old historic
Hardest: something everyone thinks is a turd

These guys are clearly right to do it:
http://www.schoolhouseelectric.com/

Here's their Portland shop:
https://www.google.com/search?q=schoolho...AWoVChMIjZfEu-2NyQIVyiYeCh2Y0Qsv#imgrc=_

[JVC]

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I am not opposed to a parking garage, or even two, provided development of them is linked to elimination of all other surface lots within Penn Circle.

Yeah, at the moment, I typically see plenty of spaces in the surface lots. I'd also note for some new developments, they really should be providing their own on-site parking. But certainly it might make sense to incorporate some public parking structures into some of these remaining big development areas to compensate for the coordinated loss of the surface lots.

My bigger concern though is the placement of the building on its lot is awkward. There's a substantial setback from Broad, parking in the rear, and a lot to the north of the building wider than the building itself. As long as this surface parking remains undeveloped this is going to be sucky stretch of road from a pedestrian standpoint.

So one of the articles suggested at least part of that parcel containing both the building and some of the surrounding parking lots would still be available for redevelopment. Unfortunately this style of building is designed to have ample space all around it, but I could live with it if the width of that space was limited to about the amount along Broad, and then it was hardscaped in a way to make it more inviting for pedestrians, perhaps like a plaza (except perhaps along the back which I could see becoming an alley).

Eventually I'm sure the McDonalds is going to go.

One would hope--of course it would be fine to incorporate an urban-format McDonalds into a mixed-used building on that lot.