PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[photoLith]

My question for this BIG project is where in the world will they get tenants from?

[Urbana]

Originally Posted by photoLith

My question for this BIG project is where in the world will they get tenants from?

The residential is less of a concern than the office. People will definitely want to live there - although perhaps at the expense of the other neighborhoods. It is also worth noting that a large number of the units will be "affordable."

As for the office, who knows. There are no companies planning any dramatic expansions or moves right now and the renderings show three sizable office buildings - one pushing 500 feet and another hovering around 300. I hope the developers know something we don't, but I doubt it. My hopes are not high.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Urbana

As for the office, who knows. There are no companies planning any dramatic expansions or moves right now and the renderings show three sizable office buildings - one pushing 500 feet and another hovering around 300. I hope the developers know something we don't, but I doubt it. My hopes are not high.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transpo...-beach-myrtle-beach/stories/201511190123

Allegiant plans more nonstop flights for Pittsburgh

Airline expanding service to Myrtle Beach, Palm Beach, New Orleans

November 19, 2015 5:47 AM

By Mark Belko / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It won’t arrive in time for Mardi Gras but Allegiant Air is giving Pittsburgh-area travelers reason to celebrate: A new nonstop flight to New Orleans.

Allegiant will start twice-weekly service to the Crescent City from Pittsburgh International Airport on Feb. 19. The airline, which is expanding rapidly in Pittsburgh, also is adding a new seasonal flight to Palm Beach, Fla., and expanding its seasonal service to Myrtle Beach.

Since touching down in Pittsburgh last February with flights to three Florida cities, the Las Vegas-based airline has added four others, counting the two new ones to be formally announced today.

It also will make Pittsburgh a base of operations next month, a distinction that will bring with it up to 40 jobs and a permanently-based 156-seat Airbus 319 aircraft.

With the new flights, Allegiant will become the airport’s fourth largest carrier in terms of destinations behind Southwest, American and Delta.

“Pittsburgh travelers have been pretty enthusiastic about us. We really saw an opening for ultra low-cost service, which Pittsburgh hasn’t previously had. The response that we’ve seen has been overwhelmingly positive,” Allegiant spokesman Justin Ralenkotter said.

Pittsburgh has been without a nonstop flight to New Orleans for 10 years. For at least the last two years, the airport has been offering incentives such as landing fee waivers and increased marketing support to carriers willing to commit to nonstop flights to desired destinations.

...

[gg1]

Anyone every fly Allegiant? I was thinking about it for an upcoming trip, but opted to go with a major carrier even though I have a layover, which I hate. Still Allegiant gets horrible reviews and if they cancel a flight you would be sunk, because it isn't like they would be able to get you where you want to go via a different route. I also like the idea of Spirit and free parking at Latrobe, but it didn't work out for this trip either. Spirit also doesn't get good reviews, but maybe reviews have gotten too unreliable these days.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

My question for this BIG project is where in the world will they get tenants from?

For residential, the answer is what we have discussed at various points before--between solid and diverse job growth, low cost of living, and changing locational preferences, the core area is seeing relatively strong net in-migration of young adults, who disproportionately prefer newer apartments. And this creates a positive feedback cycle as more related amenities and employers then also locate in the core area. So, that particular market segment will continue to be able to absorb quite a few new units a year indefinitely.

For office, we probably need to be prepared to be patient for some of the bigger towers. But for some of the smaller buildings, Three Crossings, Bakery Square, and so on are showing there is a market for new Class A.

[Evergrey]

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/11/18/pittsburgh-housing-market-one-of-nations-hottest/

Pittsburgh Housing Market One Of Nation’s Hottest

November 18, 2015 6:35 PM By Andy Sheehan

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – When marketing executive Jaime Cooper moved back to Pittsburgh, he decided to buy a new townhouse in Lawrenceville.

“It’s a very historic part of Pittsburgh coupled with the young people moving in and all the restaurants going in up on Butler Street. It’s just an area that kind of fit,” Cooper said.

Throughout the country, young people are moving back to the cities in droves and the City of Pittsburgh has one of the hottest housing markets in the nation.

No neighborhood is hotter than Lawrenceville.

In fact, according the real estate research group RealSTATs, the average sale price of a house in Lawrenceville jumped from $34,124 in the year 2000 to $160,013 last year — an increase of 369 percent.

Cooper plunked down close to $400,000 for his.

...

[Brentsters]

How does this master plan relate to the sale of the penguins? If they are sold, are we going back to the drawing board for a third master plan?

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by photoLith

My question for this BIG project is where in the world will they get tenants from?

There's definitely a need for more and better office space in Pittsburgh. I was involved a search for new offices for 50 - 100 people a few years ago and there was very little in the city to choose from. Most of the options were pretty antiquated and not really suited for a modern open office.

For example, I also worked in Gateway 2 for a while a few years ago and the spaces were very cramped and dark and the electrical and networking infrastructure was laughable.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by GeneW

There's definitely a need for more and better office space in Pittsburgh. I was involved a search for new offices for 50 - 100 people a few years ago and there was very little in the city to choose from. Most of the options were pretty antiquated and not really suited for a modern open office.

For example, I also worked in Gateway 2 for a while a few years ago and the spaces were very cramped and dark and the electrical and networking infrastructure was laughable.

The problem seems to be companies are clamoring for new office space in Pittsburgh... yet nobody is interested in paying the premium for new office space since everyone's still in post-recession hyper-efficiency mode... hence major office proposals never get off the ground despite market dynamics that indicate unfulfilled demand.

[psuhoops123]

After looking at BIG's master plan and other Arena proposals.. Does anyone look at Consol now and think meh? It's really nice inside but I a not a fan of yellow brick and silver exterior...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Brentsters

How does this master plan relate to the sale of the penguins? If they are sold, are we going back to the drawing board for a third master plan?

Unknown, but I would guess not because I think the buyers would either step into the Penguins' shoes or agree to divest the development rights to someone who wanted to do the same (potentially the public).

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by psuhoops123

After looking at BIG's master plan and other Arena proposals.. Does anyone look at Consol now and think meh? It's really nice inside but I a not a fan of yellow brick and silver exterior...

Did anyone ever look at the Consol and think anything but "meh"?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

The problem seems to be companies are clamoring for new office space in Pittsburgh... yet nobody is interested in paying the premium for new office space since everyone's still in post-recession hyper-efficiency mode... hence major office proposals never get off the ground despite market dynamics that indicate unfulfilled demand.

That seems right, although again small-to-medium office projects are finding tenants. It just seems like the rents required to finance an actual skyscraper are a bit too high for potential tenants at the moment.

Personally, this is part of why I am in no rush to develop the lower portion of the former Arena site, or other places large scale office towers could eventually go. I think good projects will be viable eventually, so I don't see the merit in trying to rush through subpar projects on prime land. And in the meantime, we can keep infilling the Strip, East Liberty, and so on.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by psuhoops123

After looking at BIG's master plan and other Arena proposals.. Does anyone look at Consol now and think meh? It's really nice inside but I a not a fan of yellow brick and silver exterior...

I agree the design is meh, but I like that it is tucked into a fairly small footprint in a pretty good spot to help anchor a future mixed-use district with a strong entertainment component. Arenas in general are a bad investment of public funds and downtown land, but at least this is a vast improvement on the Civic Arena and its sea of parking spots.

Edit: By the way, the part of that complex that really irks me is actually the hotel. That design makes Consol look groundbreaking in comparison, and it is a real space-waster with crappy street presence.

[eschaton]

I heard rumors about this, but this site seems to confirm it. The City is in the process of decommissioning Allegheny Dwellings, replacing it with mixed income (and presumably privately managed) infill elsewhere in the North Side.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it's something which needs to get done. On the other hand, the closures of Broadhead Manor, Saint Clair Village, and most of Arlington Heights had horrible knock-off effects in the West End and Southern Hilltop. Thus, it's hard for me to not see this as possibly hastening the decline of one or more of the outer North Side neighborhoods.

I've also heard rumors over the years from people in with development channels that closures of Bedford Dwellings and Northview Heights are in the works. These are twice as big as Allegheny Dwellings, and will potentially have even larger effects in the City. To bring things full circle, maybe the City is waiting to announce the Bedford Dwellings closure until there are new "mixed income" units in the Lower Hill. But I have a hard time believing the average resident of Bedford Dwellings will be in the 60%-80% of area income range, since last I checked the average household only made $11,000 annually.

[Captain Crash]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Is the big outdoor projection screen for Penguin games part of this updated plan?

Oddly enough this is the first rendition of the master plan that doesn't seem to show a spot set aside for that. Maybe BIG talked them out of it? This season was the first in a long time that they didn't actually do it-- they cited construction in the parking lot as the reason, but that seems odd as they have hosted it elsewhere before such as in the lower plaza. So perhaps the team grew weary of it and scrapped it.

My other theory is that they're going to stick it where the US Steel development is supposed to go. We know that plan is DOA but it was still awkwardly incorporated into the new master plan. It wouldn't surprise me if the Penguins help keep up the charade of it being in the works in the long term, but build a simple plaza capable of hosting their outdoor screen events as a short term solution that isn't really short term.

[qwho]

As per usual when a new building proposal is out, I use my extremely amateurish sketchup skills to mock it up and see it from different angles...

From looking at the renders it looks to me like it is about half the height of USX, which is about 820 ft tall. So I went with 410 ft for the tallest building of the bunch.

Model overview:



View from PNC Park, fills in a nice empty spot there:



Coming into town on pkwy east:



View from the strip:



From Crosstown blvd (wow)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I heard rumors about this, but this site seems to confirm it. The City is in the process of decommissioning Allegheny Dwellings, replacing it with mixed income (and presumably privately managed) infill elsewhere in the North Side.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it's something which needs to get done. On the other hand, the closures of Broadhead Manor, Saint Clair Village, and most of Arlington Heights had horrible knock-off effects in the West End and Southern Hilltop. Thus, it's hard for me to not see this as possibly hastening the decline of one or more of the outer North Side neighborhoods.

I've also heard rumors over the years from people in with development channels that closures of Bedford Dwellings and Northview Heights are in the works. These are twice as big as Allegheny Dwellings, and will potentially have even larger effects in the City. To bring things full circle, maybe the City is waiting to announce the Bedford Dwellings closure until there are new "mixed income" units in the Lower Hill. But I have a hard time believing the average resident of Bedford Dwellings will be in the 60%-80% of area income range, since last I checked the average household only made $11,000 annually.

Related to my point above, I found this map that GTech put together of "unimproved" vacant lots from last year.



Now, this is not inclusive of all potential sites where mixed-income infill could go on the North Side. But most of what's left is city-owned land which has steep slopes, and was probably never built upon.

The conclusion I draw is the most likely places for the replacement of Allegheny Dwellings are in California-Kirkbride or Perry Hilltop. Or perhaps far northern Manchester or that large plot of land in southern Brighton Heights (IIRC, where a hospital used to be). There just aren't enough places left elsewhere unless Trek wanted to do scattered-site development, which they clearly do not.

[BrianTH]

Very interesting, qwho, thanks!