PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[themaguffin]

Has anyone else noticed that new development projects tend to be mirrored in these two cities?

I don't know about in general, but I brought up Cleveland a few pages back because their development was similar in size (units) and also a significant project.

[SWPA]

Count me as another who is warming up to the idea of an ice rink in the Hunt Armory. At first I was skeptical, but as more and more neighbors have chimed in about its uniqueness and how many kids are on hockey teams, it made more sense. I think it will be a big urban amenity for a lot of families and just another reason to stay in the city. The East Liberty Transit Center is just a couple blocks away, so access is good from other parts of town, too.

[Minivan Werner]

What was the last indoor ice rink in the city limits? I think there was one on the South Side that fell into disrepair and collapsed relatively recently?

[BrianTH]

Not the most exciting photo tour ever, but here is a walk-around of the Lower Hill site, focusing on the roads they are building. First looking up from Washington Place:

Edit: Whoa, new image hosting site and these ended up way too big. I'll try to fix that.

Edit #2: OK, that should be better.



Then looking over from Bedford. Note the big ditch (presumably future parking) created on the uphill side of the new road's ramp:



Then looking down from Crawford--again, that first part of the Wylie extension is pretty steep:



Finally looking over from Centre:

[AFW523]

To continue with the excitement - tomorrow they will begin pouring the grade course cement on the street where the wire mesh is set. Exciting stuff.

Also - the ditch is not any future parking, it is just Zottola's lay down area for operations. It'll all come offline as the project moves along.

[Gilamonster]

Goodbye Saks:

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Also - the ditch is not any future parking, it is just Zottola's lay down area for operations. It'll all come offline as the project moves along.

Won't they locate the underground parking in the BIG plan in that space? Why would they fill it in?

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Gilamonster

Goodbye Saks:

Good riddance ugly Saks!

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Then looking down from Crawford--again, that first part of the Wylie extension is pretty steep:

BIG has said that I think it's a 14% grade which they said, and I quote "is too steep for a woman to push a baby carriage up" which is why they are zig zagging the pedestrian paths through their proposed development at I think around a 4-5% grade. Seems reasonable to me.

[BrianTH]

The North Shore parking-garage-then-apartments plan is moving forward:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9499137-74/authority-garage-parking#axzz3sSqCgCvR

Construction of a $15 million parking garage near the North Shore's Heinz Field will start at the beginning of the Pirates' upcoming season and continue through the end of the Steelers' 2016 campaign, officials said Tuesday. When that work is done, a project to build an apartment building with at least 250 units near PNC Park is expected to begin, officials said.

Of course that represents yet another one-year extension to Continental on the apartments. I love this excuse:

“It made sense to us (to grant the extension). This way we won't have two construction projects going on over there at the same time,” said Mary Conturo, the authority's executive director.

Heaven forbid construction on the North Shore move at anything but a glacial pace.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The North Shore parking-garage-then-apartments plan is moving forward:

http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9499137-74/authority-garage-parking#axzz3sSqCgCvR



Of course that represents yet another one-year extension to Continental on the apartments. I love this excuse:



Heaven forbid construction on the North Shore move at anything but a glacial pace.

I'm completely for this garage the and the eventual expansion of the Gen Robinson garage. It only makes sense. Get those parking spots built and then build out every last available Northshore parking lot, IMO. The city will start to seem so much more cohesive when some of these parking tundra's are filled up.

And I agree on Continental. What is up with them? They are the masters of multi year delays for what seem like a very profitable area to build.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by Gilamonster

Goodbye Saks:

Why are they demo'ing it?

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

Why are they demo'ing it?

L-shaped condo tower and parking garage.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I'm completely for this garage the and the eventual expansion of the Gen Robinson garage. It only makes sense. Get those parking spots built and then build out every last available Northshore parking lot, IMO. The city will start to seem so much more cohesive when some of these parking tundra's are filled up.

Yeah, I am actually quite pleased this new garage is going in a spot that had originally been left as a surface lot in the master plan:



Of course that is about the only thing in this whole process that has been a positive surprise, and speaking of which . . .

And I agree on Continental. What is up with them? They are the masters of multi year delays for what seem like a very profitable area to build.

I don't really know, but it is a truly messed up situation. The politics are such that the development schedule is never enforced. Ordinarily I would say Continental might be landbanking (or I guess more properly, development rights banking), thinking they can do more lucrative projects if they hold out a bit longer. But when they finally do projects, they suck anyway.

Maybe Continental is just a cheap, shoddy, lazy developer. But I also suspect the team owners are still trying to manipulate the development pace and results to best suit their financial interests in the teams and stadiums.

[AFW523]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Won't they locate the underground parking in the BIG plan in that space? Why would they fill it in?

Yeah sorry - misunderstanding. That area will probably end up parking (although BIG's plans, while mentioning underground parking, didn't really allude to form or fashion), but Zottola's work currently has nothing to do with those plans. They are just building the grid to the SEA's bid specs. In fact there are a few inconsistencies with the BIG presentation and the SEA work that's already gone out to bid.

And chiming in on the North Shore suck - it's just a bad mixture of an entitled sports franchise (all are), teaming up with a developer that has absolutely no incentive to think long term (or even live up to their own original expectations), operating in a city that is consistently short sighted. My only solace is that in 20 years when the city inverts on itself, that they are building small enough structures out of shoddy materials, that they will easily be pushed over and the site work will already be done for them.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Yeah sorry - misunderstanding. That area will probably end up parking (although BIG's plans, while mentioning underground parking, didn't really allude to form or fashion), but Zottola's work currently has nothing to do with those plans.

In retrospect that misunderstanding was my fault--I was referring back to a prior post of mine in which I speculated that would become underground parking when that section was developed, but my latest post was unclear. Anyway, I think we are on the same page now.

My only solace is that in 20 years when the city inverts on itself, that they are building small enough structures out of shoddy materials, that they will easily be pushed over and the site work will already be done for them.

That is indeed one small silver lining.

[BrianTH]

Nice article on the new art bike racks Downtown:

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/city-design/11-artist-designed-bike-racks/

[gg1]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Nice article on the new art bike racks Downtown:

http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/week-12-fantasy-football-trade-values/

Didn't know you were into football?


http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transpo...Downtown-pittsburgh/stories/201511240143

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by gg1

Didn't know you were into football?

Hah--work league, which traditionally goes very poorly for me.

Anyway, link fixed.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Yeah sorry - misunderstanding. That area will probably end up parking (although BIG's plans, while mentioning underground parking, didn't really allude to form or fashion), but Zottola's work currently has nothing to do with those plans. They are just building the grid to the SEA's bid specs. In fact there are a few inconsistencies with the BIG presentation and the SEA work that's already gone out to bid.

The one thing that doesn't seem right to me about the BIG plan is the price tag. For the size and number of buildings they have proposed I don't think it could be built for anywhere near $500 million (I know they say $500+). To me it looks like a billion dollars or more. I'm wondering if the Danish firm doesn't know how expensive construction companies in the US are?

Originally Posted by AFW523

And chiming in on the North Shore suck - it's just a bad mixture of an entitled sports franchise (all are), teaming up with a developer that has absolutely no incentive to think long term (or even live up to their own original expectations), operating in a city that is consistently short sighted. My only solace is that in 20 years when the city inverts on itself, that they are building small enough structures out of shoddy materials, that they will easily be pushed over and the site work will already be done for them.

I personally don't think within 20 years time you will see stuff being built now demo'ed for better quality construction much. More like developers will focus on whatever empty lots and land remain or renovate nicer, older buildings. Even junk construction tends to last at least 50 years like certain mid-century shit buildings from the 50s-70s.