PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Tired of constantly hearing about "affordable housing" in East Liberty as it relates to new development there. When I hear this bandied about, it seems to be coming from a place that assuredly states that there is no affordable housing to go along with the other projects in E Liberty.

This could not be further from the truth. Pittsburgh is actually doing a pretty admirable job here compared to what most other cities do in newly-desirable areas.

No affordable housing, huh?

Do the very recent East Liberty Place North AND South apartment developments not ring a bell?

How about the sprawling recent and currently U/C Fairfield development by McCormick/Baron?

How about all the new affordable townhouses recently completed and U/C in Larimer?

How about all of the new construction (Fairfield expansion) of affordable housing along East Liberty Blvd. from Larimer into East Liberty?

True, there is some arguably affordable new construction happening. But that isn't the best metric for how changes are affecting the people of East Liberty. It only looks at one input and not the complete end result.

It is important to realize how many people are being forced to relocate to other neighborhoods because they can no longer afford to live there. When that happens by the thousands, we can expect to "constantly hear" about affordable housing. It is a big deal for many, many people. Frankly, your annoyance about the topic being brought up is trivial and petty in comparison.

Elderly people can be especially hard hit. They may have lived in the same place for decades and don't have the knowledge or help needed to restart their lives in a different part of the city.

With that said, it is reasonable for people to debate what the best path forward is. It certainly is a complicated subject.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by dfiler

It is important to realize how many people are being forced to relocate to other neighborhoods because they can no longer afford to live there. When that happens by the thousands, we can expect to "constantly hear" about affordable housing.

Yeah, but is that actually happening by the thousands in East Liberty?

One thing to keep in mind is there is always some neighborhood churn--individual people are constantly moving in or out. So you can't just attribute all out-migration to gentrification, you have to try to control for the out-migration that would have happened anyway.

That's very hard, so another way to look at this is just to collect demographic data and see if you can detect a net displacement trend. And in East Liberty, it is notable that so far the demographic data shows very little sign of such a net displacement trend:

http://www.eastliberty.org/sites/default...%20Paper_Addressing%20Gentrification.pdf

To be clear, I am in no way minimizing the importance of the issue or suggesting a laissez-faire approach. Just the opposite--there has been a lot of work done in East Liberty to try to minimize displacement, and we should keep that up. But I haven't yet seen any evidence of a lot of forced displacement going on in East Liberty.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by dfiler

True, there is some arguably affordable new construction happening. But that isn't the best metric for how changes are affecting the people of East Liberty. It only looks at one input and not the complete end result.

It is important to realize how many people are being forced to relocate to other neighborhoods because they can no longer afford to live there. When that happens by the thousands, we can expect to "constantly hear" about affordable housing. It is a big deal for many, many people. Frankly, your annoyance about the topic being brought up is trivial and petty in comparison.

Elderly people can be especially hard hit. They may have lived in the same place for decades and don't have the knowledge or help needed to restart their lives in a different part of the city.

With that said, it is reasonable for people to debate what the best path forward is. It certainly is a complicated subject.

the situation in east liberty is starting to look like a repeat of the 70's urban renewal debacle - you can't just all of a sudden decide you're going to completely remake a neighborhood, it has to happen gradually with a balance of private and public development, otherwise it causes as many problems as it solves

the livermore is a good example - it opened to great fanfare but for some reason decided to change its concept and is now seemingly hated by reviewers on yelp

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-livermore-pittsburgh?sort_by=date_desc

the place was too pricey to begin with, probably because the owners were banking on east liberty turning into a upscale area overnight

not trying to pick on livermore which has a fantastic location and good food but its sudden downfall in the ratings might be symbolic of a general disappointment in the overall revitalization process

plus painting over murals, selling public parks to private developers, and forcing elderly low-income residents to move isn't helping matters

the city needs to make a move here and do something to include the public and longtime residents in the development of the area
as things stand now it seems for every positive news item for east liberty there's a negative one and the two simply cancel each other out

[WillyC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

PIT ended up solidly above average (among medium airports) in the latest JD Power customer satisfaction survey:

http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2015-north-america-airport-satisfaction-study

I've been flying a bit more recently, and a couple things stand out to me about PIT.

On the negative side, contemporary airports have gone to soaring terminals with lots of light, and PIT by contrast seems cramped and dark. Unfortunately, new floor treatments and such can only help a little (although the central core retail area specifically did benefit a lot from the refresh and new floor). So you'd basically need a whole new airport to truly fix this--and we are still paying for this one.

On the positive side, PIT remains an extremely easy airport to get around. The one-stop shuttle with the four terminals radiating out from a central core remains a very convenient approach, and the alternative security point has really helped.

Bottom line is I think we will have to live with "not the nicest but quite convenient for travelers" for a long time to come, which ultimately is proving sufficient as indicated by this survey.

I actually enjoy (mostly) flying in and out of PIT.

The improvements coming from the expected gas revenue are already having a positive effect. The new floor has made walking through much more pleasant than the constant tat tat tat tat the rollers used to make.

I do wonder if it would be crazy expensive to tear the roof off the terminals one by one and replace with new skyroofs? That would get rid of the darkness issue that I agree on.

On a side note, I will say that the biggest knock I have on the place is that I often have to wait a long time to deplane when I come in on that last flight from CLT, which I often do. I don't understand when you know what time the plane is landing that it takes 15 minutes for someone to walk to the gate and hook up to us so we can get off!

[greg42]

Originally Posted by WillyC

On a side note, I will say that the biggest knock I have on the place is that I often have to wait a long time to deplane when I come in on that last flight from CLT, which I often do. I don't understand when you know what time the plane is landing that it takes 15 minutes for someone to walk to the gate and hook up to us so we can get off!

Blame it on that crappy airline you continue to fly even after they abandoned the place. ;-)

No, seriously, ground handling crew for stuff like that are typically employees or contractors of the individual airlines not the airport. At PIT it's more likely to be contractors I would think, and potentially all airlines could use the same contractor although I don't know if that is the case. If it's constantly taking extra time just to be able to deplane when the flight is on time (note, on time NOT early, because late or early would both throw off the timing for such things) then clearly they have staffed/scheduled poorly or another flight just before is consistently late and affecting yours.

[daviderik]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Agreed. Not only did that $5 million renovation create a much more inviting public square but it also has paid dividends with surrounding development such as new restaurants and upgrades to other businesses on the square, the renovation of the Market Square apartments and not least of all a new $108 million dollar mixed use building overlooking the square. Also the mixed use PNC 3 tower luxury condos and Fairmont hotel rooms have a gorgeous view of the square.

We have seen a similar dynamic with Mellon Square as well. A $10 million dollar renovation to the self proclaimed "mid century masterpiece" of Mellon Square (Although I used that park almost every day on my lunch break of few years ago I personally would've liked to have seen a complete modern overall of the park) has arguably spurred a couple hundred million in surrounding re-investment such as the beautiful mixed use renovation of the Oliver Bldg, the addition of the very popular Hotel Monaco with the equally popular Commoner & rooftop Biergarten restaurant, the soon to be sold and renovated Citizens Bank tower (or whatever it is called nowadays), The tear down of the horrible Saks building into a mid rise condo tower, New street level shops on Smithfield below the park, and a plan to convert Smithfield St into a "complete street" with bike lanes, bus lanes and pedestrian consideration. This is not even counting the renovations of the ex-Alcoa tower, updates to the Omni William Penn and the short lived Lord & Taylor historic renovation of the wonderfully ornate Mellon Bank which I believe now is a call center for PNC Bank. (That building is a bit of a tragedy: It started out as a glorious masonry high end bank, then was converted to an insulting 2 story department story THEN downgraded to a cubicle farm for PNC! Perhaps next it can be used as a methadone clinic)

Another aspect of the Square becoming a more dynamic block will be the addition of food trucks. A new revised law watering down restrictions ie length of stay and location prohibitions made it almost impossible for food vendors. Lunch hour should be very crowded..

[SEFTA]

What are the plans for the replacement of the Greenfield Bridge?

[gg1]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

What are the plans for the replacement of the Greenfield Bridge?

Spring 2017.


http://greenfieldbridge.otmapgh.org

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by SEFTA

What are the plans for the replacement of the Greenfield Bridge?

New bridge is supposed to look like this:

http://www.billpeduto.com/wp-content/uploads/greenfieldbridge.pdf



In the PDF there is also a picture of the bridge before the last one, which is kinda cool.

I have heard they are also keeping the decorative posts on the ends--and from what I could tell they were not in fact demolished.

Edit: Here we go:

http://phlf.org/2013/02/01/beechwood-boulevard-greenfield-bridge-to-be-replaced/

The Beechwood Boulevard Bridge, also called the Greenfield Bridge, was designed in 1921-23 by Charles M. Reppert, chief engineer, and Stanley L. Roush, architect. It was altered in 1980, and much of the decoration on the once-ornate bridge, including a grand series of sculpted lamp standards and urns, was removed.

The City plans to keep and restore the entrance pylons and remaining parapets and urns alongside the abutments. Furthermore, the City is going to replicate the original parapets and urns across the new structure. To the people crossing the bridge on Beechwood Boulevard and Greenfield Road, the replacement bridge will look more historically accurate than the current structure (after its 1980 rehabilitation).

Edit #2: Some materials relevant to the original decorations. Here is a sketch of the light fixtures:



Source:

http://gcapgh.org/2015/04/wanted-a-piece-of-history/

Old construction photo showing decorative elements:



Prior to the 1980 renovation:



Urn sitting in a garden near Station Square:

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

New bridge is supposed to look like this:

In the PDF there is also a picture of the bridge before the last one, which is kinda cool.

I have heard they are also keeping the decorative posts on the ends--and from what I could tell they were not in fact demolished.

Edit: Here we go:

Edit #2: Some materials relevant to the original decorations. Here is a sketch of the light fixtures:

Source:

http://gcapgh.org/2015/04/wanted-a-piece-of-history/

Old construction photo showing decorative elements:

Prior to the 1980 renovation:



Urn sitting in a garden near Station Square:

these are the things that make a city great - bridges, parks, stadiums, convention centers

hotels and apartment and office buildings are cool but they're no match for a well designed public asset

[BrianTH]

Article about growing interest in riverfront housing:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/pit...living-goes-upscale/stories/201601030014

One thing that comes through clearly is that a lot of the appeal is getting out and using riverfront trails, the rivers themselves, and so on. So it is important to keep this sort of thing going:

Two developers — Oxford Development and the Buncher Co. — are planning to build rental housing units along the Allegheny River in the Strip District and in Lawrenceville. Ms. Li said the RiverLife organization is working with both companies to make sure their developments incorporate amenities such as parks, bicycle racks, public seating and cafes.

Meanwhile, a somewhat familiar (ahem) proposal for a new park in East Liberty has attracted positive attention:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/9708863-74/east-liberty-square#axzz3wH5zG6DQ

I'm still not convinced this is the ideal location for such a new park, but in general I agree it is something East Liberty should be considering. In the article and the comments there is also some carping about parking--that, of course, is what structured parking is for and we should definitely not be insisting on keeping surface parking lots in East Liberty.

As an aside--this is not the first time that some of our more "speculative" discussions about possible projects have later shown up in some form in a more serious planning context, and I do think we should continue to have such discussions. We're not such a big city yet that ideas can't circulate in ultimately meaningful ways.

Edit: Oh, and there was this in the article regarding the controversial plan to incorporate Enright Parklet into the Penn Plaza redevelopment:

"A sale of the parklet probably won't be necessary, Acklin said. “We think Enright Parklet will remain in place and be enhanced as part of the redevelopment of Penn Plaza,” he said.

Is that news? Or just a new spin on the old plan?

[BrianTH]

By the way, random quick anecdote--a recent evening our fourth-grade son was having a friend for a sleepover, and we decided to do dinner at Patron (which was quite good). I was highly amused to hear them talking about East Liberty: my son was insisting to his friend it was part of "Downtown", and his friend (who apparently had a better grasp of Pittsburgh geography) was pointing out Downtown was really pretty far away. But my son's argument was based on how it looks, and at this point it really is looking very downtowny (as even more of an aside, in the name of searching for parking, I had driven around just a bit to check out how things were looking).

It got dark during dinner, and it also looks quite nice at night. It was even impressive driving back out and seeing how they are lighting up the interior of the skybridge over Penn in Bakery Square.

So as far as conceiving of East Liberty as a new "downtown" for the East End . . . that is definitely working.

[Minivan Werner]

I'd like to see a public square in front of Target as well as on S. Beatty on the block bound by Tamello Way.

The loss of parking in both cases could be easily replaced (and then some) on nearby parking lots by building a 2-3 level structure.

Such as:



Maybe that's too much park/open space for a relatively small area?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

Maybe that's too much park/open space for a relatively small area?

I don't think so, personally. Something like 10% public park space is fine for urban areas, and if you are focusing on the area within the former Penn Circle, I'd be surprised if those two possible parks would add up to much more than 5%. In fact, as previously noted, I'd be fine with doing both of those plus also converting the area around the cathedral into a hardscaped plaza ala Market Square, and maybe another parklet up toward the northwest corner (even if Indigo Square also counts), say at or near the intersection of Beatty and Harvard.

By the way, parks can more or less pay for themselves by increasing the value of surrounding land. But the effect is pretty localized, meaning it drops off quickly the farther you get from the park. This implies it is actually a good strategy to scatter around a few somewhat smaller parks rather than concentrate park space in just a few big parks, since that way more land can be close to a park. But you do want some bigger parks anyway since they can support certain unique amenities. Bottom line is something like Highland Park nearby with a few smaller parks scattered through East Liberty is a pretty good idea.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, Macy's is continuing to crater due to falling same-store sales, and now may be a takeover target, with most of the value being in its real estate holdings:

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/11/macys-q3-2015-earnings.html
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/11/retail-expert-kniffen-macys-may-be-a-takeover-target.html

Just a reminder that the decline and sell-off of the Downtown Macy's building was not at all specific to Pittsburgh.

More on Macy's demise...

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/money/2016/01/03/macys-cut-any-hometown-stores/77375856/

...

Macy's is taking a hard look at its real estate and store portfolio as it seeks appease impatient shareholders concerned about sliding retail sales.

The Cincinnati region's seven Macy's stores won't escape scrutiny as the Downtown-based retailer decides what 40 stores it plans to shutter in early 2016. Macy's has nearly 800 stores nationwide and details could be revealed as early as this week on which ones will close. The company wants to eliminate weaker performing stores and make its operation more efficient.

And CEO Terry Lundgren told analysts in November the company expects to close more stores in the future.

"It's no surprise as they move more of their business online," said Jan Rogers Kniffen, a New York-based retail consultant. "They have too many stores."

Local real estate analysts told the Enquirer they believe Cincinnati-area stores will escape the knife this time. But in the next few years, one analyst expects the cuts to hit a wide range of U.S. metro areas including Southwest Ohio as the company responds to changes in consumer shopping habits.

Macy's is under intense pressure to boost results after promising, but failing to deliver, sales growth in 2015. During the last half of the year, the company's stock lost half its value.

...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

More on Macy's demise...

Looking back we may be glad we freed up the Downtown Pittsburgh property sooner rather than later.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, random quick anecdote--a recent evening our fourth-grade son was having a friend for a sleepover, and we decided to do dinner at Patron (which was quite good). I was highly amused to hear them talking about East Liberty: my son was insisting to his friend it was part of "Downtown", and his friend (who apparently had a better grasp of Pittsburgh geography) was pointing out Downtown was really pretty far away. But my son's argument was based on how it looks, and at this point it really is looking very downtowny (as even more of an aside, in the name of searching for parking, I had driven around just a bit to check out how things were looking).

It got dark during dinner, and it also looks quite nice at night. It was even impressive driving back out and seeing how they are lighting up the interior of the skybridge over Penn in Bakery Square.

So as far as conceiving of East Liberty as a new "downtown" for the East End . . . that is definitely working.

Yet more progress for the East End's "downtown":

French restaurant expected to replace Royal York Auction in East Liberty (article is behind paywall):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...rant-expected-to-replace-royal-york.html




...........


http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/eatdrink/e...ters-and-cold-champagne-at-muddy-waters/

Fresh oysters and cold champagne at the new Muddy Waters

Drew Cranisky January 4, 2016 Eat. Drink. Do.




As Jonathan Swift famously wrote, “He was a bold man that first ate an oyster.” It would follow then that it takes an even bolder man to open an entire restaurant dedicated to the slimy little buggers. But with the opening of East Liberty’s new Muddy Waters Oyster Bar, Chef Adam Kucenic has done just that.

Though the banks of the Allegheny stand in for the Mississippi Delta, Muddy Waters aims to capture the spirit of a classic New Orleans oyster bar. Located on South Highland Avenue in the former home of Casa Rasta, the bright and airy space is filled with clinking glasses, jazz music and of course, plenty of oysters. The bivalves, which are carefully sourced from both coasts, can be ordered chargrilled or in the classic Rockefeller preparation, or simply slurped down raw with a glass of champagne. And if your New Year’s resolution is to save some money, stop by during happy hour, when oysters on the half shell are just a buck each.

If oysters aren’t your thing, Chef Kucenic has filled the menu with plenty of less briny Cajun classics. Order up a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo or grab a muffaletta, the French Quarter sandwich that comes piled high with cured meats and pickled goodness. Saturday and Sunday brunch brings hearty Southern staples like chicken and biscuits and Bananas Foster French Toast. The bar is similarly Big Easy-inspired, serving up classic Sazeracs and Ramos Gin Fizzes alongside a selection of craft beer and lots of bubbly.

...

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Checking in again, the Hotel Indigo is still getting excellent reviews. In fact, it is now ranked #5 of 62 in Pittsburgh. Note that the way their algorithm works it takes a bit for a new hotel to climb quite that high:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g53449-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania-Hotels.html

Meanwhile, the new Homewood Suites is also getting excellent reviews:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-...gh_Downtown-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania.html

It is only #13 as of now, but like the Hotel Indigo it will likely climb if it keeps getting these sorts of reviews.

Finally, the new Holiday Inn on the North Shore hasn't been reviewed quite as well as the two above, but still pretty well overall, good for #22 so far with likely a little more room to climb:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-...North_Shore-Pittsburgh_Pennsylvania.html

Nice to see the new hotels doing well. Of course there is a lot more competition coming--but there is plenty of room really for the top of the rankings to fill out with more interesting properties.

Just an update. Hotel Indigo is still doing very well at #6. But as (sorta) predicted, the Homewood Suites has shot up to #4 (which pushed the Hotel Indigo down the one spot) with more reviews. Holiday Inn North Shore rose a spot to #21.

Nice work, new places!

[BrianTH]

We walked by the oyster place. It certainly looked nice.

That's great news about the (former) Royal York building. Random tie-in, but that is one of the buildings that is also located along Tamello Way:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4607312,...w%3D258.70795%26pitch%3D0!7i13312!8i6656

So, someday I could see there being an outdoor cafe component, if that area was turned into a park of some sort.

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Yeah, but is that actually happening by the thousands in East Liberty?

One thing to keep in mind is there is always some neighborhood churn--individual people are constantly moving in or out. So you can't just attribute all out-migration to gentrification, you have to try to control for the out-migration that would have happened anyway.

That's very hard, so another way to look at this is just to collect demographic data and see if you can detect a net displacement trend. And in East Liberty, it is notable that so far the demographic data shows very little sign of such a net displacement trend:

http://www.eastliberty.org/sites/default...%20Paper_Addressing%20Gentrification.pdf

To be clear, I am in no way minimizing the importance of the issue or suggesting a laissez-faire approach. Just the opposite--there has been a lot of work done in East Liberty to try to minimize displacement, and we should keep that up. But I haven't yet seen any evidence of a lot of forced displacement going on in East Liberty.

I think people are in the process of being displaced by the thousands. Home Depot displaced a ton of people. Some massive apartment towers were demolished to change the demographic. Now entire apartment complexes are being replaced with more upscale versions as well. Rents are certainly on the rise.

This isn't a criticism of all of that. Instead, it is an acknowledgement of what is going on. I'm interested in the topic but certainly don't know the proper balance of all the interests involved. My gut feeling is that the poor, as is commonly the case, are not well represented in the decision making process.