PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

The URA is in fact going forward with the ice rink plan for the Hunt Armory:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...015/12/ice-rink-okd-for-hunt-armory.html

Some annoying anti-apartment NIMBYism in that article, but I do think it was mostly the positive support that carried the day. There are still some concerns about the finances and apparently they attached some related conditions (e.g, requiring them to up their bid to the appraised value and commit to not needing public subsidies), but hopefully it works out.

Edit: PG and Trib articles:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2...-to-become-ice-rink/stories/201512100170
http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/9599693-74/ura-rink-building

Edit #2: I can't recall if this was posted before, but here is the actual proposal (PDF):

http://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/district8/Kratsa_-_Cadan_Presentation.pdf

Pretty interesting. As I noted in a comment on the PG article, I am now imagining this being a popular spot for birthday parties--it is a real pain for parents in the area to always be heading way out to the likes of Bounce U in Warrendale, Fun Slides in Ross Twp, Sky Zone in Leetsdale, or so on to find a venue for a really active birthday party.

Oh, and I believe the "party rooms" in the plan explain the mystery of those boxes filled with men in suits and ladies in cocktail dresses, although I think they overshot the likely age of the party-goes by 30+ years:

[BrianTH]

The SEA is trying to get state help for the Crosstown deck-park:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...own-Boulevard-plans/stories/201512100150

Projects like this in cities like Dallas have gotten funding from a wide variety of sources, so I think it is good they are trying everything they can. And hopefully the new transportation bill will give them a shot at the federal funding they will likely need to make up the bulk of the budget.

[Wiz Khalifa]

Originally Posted by speagles84

I've thought for a long time that there should be a bridge connecting becks run road and Hazelwood avenue. It would be great for connecting Almono and Hazelwood to the Southside (the hot metal bridge is a disaster ).

Connectivity is a major issue in this city, no matter what form of transportation you use (ex West Busway and East Bus way not extending into downtown, the T only serving one area of the city, busy roads that just end at a T instead of attempting to form a rough grid etc)

I'm not saying it's any agency in particulars fault, we have tough topography to build an efficient system. I just think we could do better planning to rectify the mistakes we see present today.

I agree, the Hot Metal bridge is already bad during rush and it will only get worse as new development continues to fill into the SSW the PTC/Almono and Oakland. There is no possibility for expansion either. The only options to alleviate this that I can think of would be to either build another bridge to Hazelwood or... Gondolas.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Wiz Khalifa

There is no possibility for expansion either. The only options to alleviate this that I can think of would be to either build another bridge to Hazelwood or... Gondolas.

They would be SO much less expensive than new bridges . . . .

By the way, not saying it is a total dealbreaker, but the Beck's Run area is problematic for a bridge on the southern side due to the two railroad lines squeezing through, with the one farther from the river being elevated. Anything is doable with enough money, but I suspect that dealing with all that could increase the cost of the project significantly.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Gilamonster

Seems like a pretty reasonable view of the future with the exception of the Parking Authority going under. The city will not let the revenue they bring in disappear and will find some way to make it up such as a drivers commuter tax or they will just start taxing car ownership.

In my mind, the danger is not the loss of revenue. Expenses would also be dropping, after all, and the land the garages are on could be sold for a pretty penny. The danger is the Parking Authority may have oustanding bonds related to the construction of garages it will no longer be able to pay off, leading them to either default or need a bailout. Similar things will be likely to happen to parking authorities all over the country of course - in some ways it mirrors what happened to private mass transit services in the 1960s.

Originally Posted by JVC

that is a brilliant, forward-thinking observation

in the future, when people hear the word "park", they will think of public green spaces, not garages or meters

There still will be lots in the future. But they won't look like parking lots of today.

First they will be somewhere semi-remote from a CBD, with good road access but outside of any desirable pedestrian areas. In terms of Pittsburgh today, you could imagine them being in Chateau or Schweitzer Lock (but arguably somewhere else by then, if those areas become desirable and redeveloped.

Secondly, automated parking lots would need little to no circulation space. For example, since no one needs to open doors there they could be spaced inches apart. If one car gave a signal it had to leave, all the other cars in the way could move to give it room as well, so you wouldn't really need travel lanes. This means you could pack cars in ridiculously tight by current standards, which might triple the amount of cars you could pack in a given lot.

I'm sure that any medium-sized city like Pittsburgh would probably maintain at least one parking garage, for wealthy people who wanted the convenience of getting their personal car to pick them up at the drop of a hat. And street spaces might linger for quite awhile, as once the metering system is set up they're pretty much free to operate. But I would think this might be the limit for traditional parking in a CBD.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

However, we could at least start with the remaining surface lots and large parking structures that either have no other uses or just minor retail components. That alone would free up a lot of development space Downtown, for example.

Yeah. I expect in the near future CBDs and walkable commercial areas in general are going to blossom like never before, because remote parking essentially eliminate traditional parking constraints on development.

Car ownership is also going to go way down due to rideshare companies like Uber. The projections of the auto insurance industry is a 40% reduction in car ownership within a generation. This will be focused in urban areas of course - people who owned a car mostly for random shopping/socialization trips will go down to zero cars, and two-car families will go down to one car. None of this reduces the number of cars on the road of course, but it's going to significantly reduce the number of cars which are ever parked. A well-managed rideshare system should have its cars moving as close to 24 hours a day as possible.

[JVC]

hopefully self-driving cars will be smart enough to explain what Schweitzer Lock is

maybe someone can explain what is going on here - on the surface not exactly positive signs for the local economy
even cleveland's charts don't look this bad
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/search?st=cleveland+average

[Austinlee]

Interesting to see the current status of projects listed on page 1 of the Pittsburgh Rundown 1 thread from 2006 -2011.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=100544

In order:

3PNC - Completed
Fifth Avenue Redevelopment (Old Gimbel's', Heinz Healey, etc) - Completed
Market Square res conversion (Millcraft) - Completed
As of then unnamed highrise overlooking Market Square (Now Tower Two-Sixty at the Gardens) - Almost completed
Piatt Place - Completed
August Wilson Center - Completed
The Hardware Lofts conversion - 12th & Penn Avenue - Didn't happen
100 Seventh Street - Completed
151 First Side - Completed
The Carlysle conversion - Completed
The Commonwealth conversion - Fourth Avenue - Didn't happen
The Granite Building conversion - Didn't happen
941 Penn Avenue - Condos - Completed
806 Penn Avenue condo conversion - Completed
New hockey arena with surrounding development plans - Arena completed with lower hill master plan getting closer to construction start.
The Chelsea Condos - N. Oakland - Original plan scrapped, different developer building almost the same size and shape building called The Empire to start construction soon.
Squirrel Hill Mixed Use Development (Poli's corner) - Didn't happen
The Baum-Liberty Development - Didn't happen as a master plan although several new buildings have gone up with other lots still undeveloped.
The Beacon Apartments - Squirrel Hill - Completed
The Glass Lofts - Completed
The Vista Condos - Mt Washington - Completed
The Vici - Mount Washington - Plan scrapped for a soon to be built church auxillary building.
American Eagle Outfitters Headquarters - Completed
The Bill Gates Center for Computer Sciences - Completed
Majestic Star Casino (Rivers Casino) - Completed
Children’s Hospital & research tower - Completed
Point Park University Dance studio - Completed
Duquesne University Power center expansion - Completed
Hotel/condo building SS Works - Original rendering was not built but other apartment and office buildings were built instead.
Bridgeside Point II - Completed
Hampton Inn - Strip - Completed
North Shore Live - Amphitheater, entertainment venues - Not built as a master plan but Stage AE & a 3 story office building have been erected.
Hyatt Place hotel Northshore - Completed
Residence Inn Northshore - Completed
Northore office building (next to Equitable) - Never built
Eastside I & II - Completed
Indigo hotel - Completed
Bakery Square first phase - Completed
Highland building conversion - East Liberty - Completed
Liberty Park Development - East Liberty - Some buildings built along Penn so far
Greyhound intermodal station downtown - Completed
Subway extension to the Northshore with several new stations - Completed
Convention center hotel - Never built
Market House Lofts - Shadyside (Above Giant Eagle) - Completed
Lofts on Baum - Never built
Acute Care Medical Facility Bayard St - Just finishing construction right now



That's an 83% chance of success once renderings were released and we added it to the development thread. Not too bad.

[Austinlee]

Photo credit: Dave DiCello Photography https://www.facebook.com/DaveDiCelloPhotography/?fref=photo

[Austinlee]

The Tower Two-Sixty at the Gardens Facebook page has some pretty good pictures that I will share here.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/Tower-Two-Sixty-at-The-Gardens-380898298600030/?fref=photo

[DBR96A]

Originally Posted by speagles84

I've thought for a long time that there should be a bridge connecting becks run road and Hazelwood avenue. It would be great for connecting Almono and Hazelwood to the Southside (the hot metal bridge is a disaster ).

Connectivity is a major issue in this city, no matter what form of transportation you use (ex West Busway and East Bus way not extending into downtown, the T only serving one area of the city, busy roads that just end at a T instead of attempting to form a rough grid etc)

I'm not saying it's any agency in particulars fault, we have tough topography to build an efficient system. I just think we could do better planning to rectify the mistakes we see present today.

One thing I'd like to see done is a four-lane widening and realignment of Bates Street between the Boulevard of the Allies and Second Avenue. The left northbound lane would be for traffic turning left onto the Boulevard of the Allies westbound, and the right northbound lane would be for traffic either continuing straight on Bates Street northbound or turning right onto the Boulevard of the Allies eastbound. The left southbound lane would be for traffic turning left onto the Parkway East eastbound, and the right southbound lane would be for traffic turning either way onto Second Avenue, or going straight across the Hot Metal Bridge.

The southern end of Bates Street would be realigned so traffic can go straight between Bates Street and the Hot Metal Bridge without having to make two turns. This would go a long way in alleviating the bottleneck at the Bates Street interchange. In conjunction with this, I'd like to see the interchange reconfigured as well. There's no need for the "A-B" exit setup westbound. Where the loop ("B") off-ramp is, just build a westbound on-ramp. An eastbound off-ramp would be a much trickier endeavor, though it would be nice since it'd provide more direct access from the Parkway East eastbound to the South Side.

[BrianTH]

I am not sure we will keep two cars at the end of the current cycle. We are already barely using the second car--the only real issue with Uber is car seats and we are pretty soon going to be going to boosters.

Self-driving cars will likely need much less in terms of shoulders, signals, and so on, even while operating at higher speeds. Ironically, this means you might want to give them some new dedicated infrastructure for getting in and out of CBDs and such, but it could all be worth it as you can start reclaiming parking and eventually the old streets for other uses.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

That's an 83% chance of success once renderings were released and we added it to the development thread. Not too bad.

Very interesting. I would have guessed less--like maybe 65%. I also feel like projects are moving faster these days (it seems like I first heard of Three Crossings like a month ago).

[BrianTH]

The Ace Hotel has opened--lots of pictures:

http://triblive.com/lifestyles/morelifestyles/9593967-74/hotel-ace-east#axzz3u7cMqZuu
http://www.post-gazette.com/life/dining/2015/12/12/The-New-East-Liberty/stories/201512110275

Details on the restaurant:

http://triblive.com/lifestyles/fooddrink/9585653-74/whitfield-hotel-ace#axzz3u7cMqZuu

[MattofSloppyVariety]

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4100794,...aw%3D37.97963%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

Anybody know what they are doing to this building in Hazelwood? I drove past here the other day and there are fences up around the building and lots of men in hard hats.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by MattofSloppyVariety

Anybody know what they are doing to this building in Hazelwood? I drove past here the other day and there are fences up around the building and lots of men in hard hats.

Could be this--I believe that is the Spahr Building:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/bus...Avenue-in-Hazelwood/stories/201310090087

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/dev...rphy-s-in-Hazelwood/stories/201411110076

[MattofSloppyVariety]

Thank you, I searched and searched yesterday and all I could find was about Almono.

[JVC]

anyone know what's going on with the livermore in east liberty?

apparently their website has been suspended

http://www.thelivermorepgh.com/

[BrianTH]

Interesting commentary about being ambitious when it comes to public transit projects:

http://buildingpittsburgh.com/2015/12/14/lets-raise-the-vision/

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by JVC

anyone know what's going on with the livermore in east liberty?

apparently their website has been suspended

http://www.thelivermorepgh.com/

It works for me.

[eschaton]

This is a little down in the weeds, but I noticed that the City Planning is finally posting not only the planning and zoning commission reports, but also those of the historic review and art commissions. The HRC reports have a lot of interesting information (at least to me) but I'm not about to go back and read through a years worth of archived reports or anything.