PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by dfiler

Weren't there roughly 700 people displaced from the Penn Plaza apartments alone? As leases ran out, renewals weren't offered. Then around 500 people got eviction notices to clear the remaining units. Many could not afford similar housing in the area. The mayor ended up getting involved and the evictions were delayed. I'm not sure how that worked out.

That is part of a deal involving a new affordable housing plans for the Mellon's Orchard site. I agree in this case the timing seems off, but there is also a bunch of affordable housing going up in Larimer right now.

Over the course of a decade, it seems like a few thousand priced-out residents would be a fairly conservative estimate.

I believe the available Census and ACS data doesn't show any sign of such a large effect. Again, I think all the new affordable housing is likely limiting the effect.

Edit: OK, I checked ACS data, table S1901, "Income in the Past 12 Months (In 2009 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)", for Census Tracts 1113 and 1115:



2014 was the latest available, 2009 the earliest. I calculated the estimated total number of households with less than $25,000.

Results: 2009 for 1113 I got 525, down to 440 in 2014. 2009 for 1115 I got 1108, down to 895 in 2014.

These are just estimates based on surveys which have some error, and in fact I am not sure those changes are outside the margin of error. But taking them at face value, there has been some reduction in the number of lower-income households, but not in the thousands (there really can't be too many thousands, it turns out--there are not that many lower-income households in East Liberty). Instead, that adds up to 298. Again, that is not necessarily all forced displacements--some households likely would have moved out anyway over time. But it is not nothing either.

[BrianTH]

By the way, although I agree Pittsburgh doesn't have a looming affordable housing problem overall, I am worried down the road about Pittsburgh lacking affordable housing near high-quality public transit or within walking/biking distance of major employment centers.

So I am glad to see they are making a real effort to build out new affordable housing in East Liberty/Larimer, because of the Busway and the growing employment opportunities in that area. Similarly, I am fine with the affordable housing requirement for the Lower Hill. And so on.

And all that is consistent with economic development too, as many other cities have shown (e.g., DC often requires an affordable housing component to new developments, and that hasn't slowed those down).

[eschaton]

New Planning Commission presentation!

Only a few new things.

1. The facade renovation for the Standard Life building. It looks to be an improvement, but doesn't blow my hair back.

2. Pressley Ridge School (in Perry South) had to submit their "Master Plan" to the City. I completely forgot that the area was zoned EMI and they were required to do so. They don't have much planned today, but their 10-year plan has several new structures. It looks like they are slowly acquiring all of the remaining houses on their "superblock" for a larger campus as well.

3. First Niagara is building a new full-service bank on Baum Boulevard. It seems utterly unimpressive, but it's a step up from the current site. The new bank will be five times the square footage of the old drive-up ATM, and will have zero setback from Baum.

And...that's it!

[Private Dick]

Cannot wait to roll up and get my cash!


Sigh... what a terrible use of that prime corner at Baum & Euclid. Kind of surprised that a bank would not get A LOT more value out of this property.


Then roll down Baum for those good meats!


At least the building fronts the street and the parking lot is behind.

[Minivan Werner]

^lmao

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

But of course, the City Paper puts out a story about East Liberty gentrification and forcing the poor out, with a local filmmaker standing here (technically in Shadyside, no less!):

The expression on that dude's face.. lolz

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Sigh... what a terrible use of that prime corner at Baum & Euclid. Kind of surprised that a bank would not get A LOT more value out of this property.

Perhaps this is why First Niagara is not long for this world. This idiot bank put itself on the auction block late last year when they realized their situation became untenable after years of strategic blunders. KeyCorp acquired First Niagara, which is pending regulatory approval. This 1970s turd of a bank branch will get Key signage almost immediately after the building's completion. (Love the prominence of the bike rack in the rendering lol!)

[BrianTH]

RIDC has gotten another state loan for infrastructure work at the Hazelwood LTV site:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...nty-companies-get-5m-in-state-loans.html

And the Macy's at Century III is closing (not a shock given all we have discussed):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2016/01/06/macys-to-close-at-century-iii-mall.html

[eschaton]

The thing about single-story commercial junk like the Arby's and the First Niagara branch is they are disposable. I fully expect these new uses to not last longer than a decade in either location.

Now, if they were putting in townhouses there, or a low-rise condo building, then I would be pretty upset, because those will basically last in perpetuity.

[themaguffin]

...also not a shock - a total of 40 Macy's stores will close. They wasted no time into the new year to start the process...

[JVC]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The thing about single-story commercial junk like the Arby's and the First Niagara branch is they are disposable. I fully expect these new uses to not last longer than a decade in either location.

examine that statement for a minute - arby's and first niagra are billion dollar corporations that don't make a move without the big economic picture in mind

now ask yourself this - are they making expensive, lasting investments with these properties or are they making cheap, disposable investments?

based on how they are choosing to proceed those projects do not exactly signal a huge vote of confidence in the prosperity of the area

just like FDR created the new deal to get people back to work and raise their spirits, the city and the foundations need to start developing public projects
now that local private development has peaked

Great Depression program still benefiting Americans today
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/west/2...ing-Americans-today/stories/201207060217

"In 1941, WPA workers built the visitors' center, a fountain and stone entrance walls at Riverview Park on the North Side, a project spearheaded by Griswold. Out-of-work Pittsburghers also made drainage repairs, paved roads and improved entrances in Riverview Park, Ms. Rademacher said."

[Muckk]

Lectures and Talks
Architecture Lecture: Kai-Uwe Bergmann of BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
01/28/2015 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland

[BrianTH]

Inflammatory story on the Hunt Armory and the new East Liberty affordable housing fund:

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/h...ordable-housing-fund/Content?oid=1880785

To summarize, the Penn Plaza deal included a provision that publicly-funded projects within a certain zone around the East Liberty Transit Center would have to set aside a certain portion of their tax abatements into a new affordable housing zone. I think this is a great idea for the reason I gave before--affordable housing near high quality transit is something we should be keeping in mind as a housing goal.

Anyway, the Hunt Armory is in that zone, so which project gets picked has implications for how much goes into that zone, and this article is written in the tone of an "expose" of this fact.

But the thing is, of course which project gets picked has implications for the tax base in general, and that was discussed as a trade-off. It is a reasonable consideration, but sometimes it does make sense to support public amenities anyway, and in fact they can often pay for themselves and more in the long run by increasing the value of other nearby properties.

Moreover, the specific implications for the new housing fund were actually presented! It just appears no one decided to focus on that particular fact.

I'm not intending to go to war with the City Paper over this, but this is the sort of thing where we need to be a little more thoughtful and a little less sensationalist. The new affordable housing fund is a great thing in general, but not every project in the zone should be measured in terms of how much it would directly contribute to that fund, any more than the right measure is how much every project would directly contribute to the tax base in general.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The thing about single-story commercial junk like the Arby's and the First Niagara branch is they are disposable. I fully expect these new uses to not last longer than a decade in either location.

I hope you are right, and it is a reasonable hope (I saw similar sorts of things happen in DC, for example).

Still a bit frustrating, though, to see all these large scale projects going into that corridor, sometimes at the sacrifice of cool old buildings that are deemed no longer in scale for the area, while at the same time other land is being underutilized in this way. I agree it may all work out the same way in the long run, but for now it is pretty irksome.

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Inflammatory story on the Hunt Armory and the new East Liberty affordable housing fund:

all housing, all the time

the city has to appear to be addressing this issue but they have no control over asset prices - the fed and the banks run that show

housing prices were getting cheaper during the global financial crisis (caused by mortgage derivatives)
but the fed stepped in and forced them higher again

[JVC]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I hope you are right, and it is a reasonable hope (I saw similar sorts of things happen in DC, for example).

Still a bit frustrating, though, to see all these large scale projects going into that corridor, sometimes at the sacrifice of cool old buildings that are deemed no longer in scale for the area, while at the same time other land is being underutilized in this way. I agree it may all work out the same way in the long run, but for now it is pretty irksome.

hope that major corporations aren't willing to invest real money into lasting, quality buildings in the east end
and are content with building disposable structures that will "not last longer than a decade" - how is that something worth wishing for?

[Evergrey]

Another article behind a paywall... this property along Charlotte Street in Lower Lawrenceville is to become Eleventh Hour Brewing:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...reparing-to-launch-in-lawrenceville.html

Street View

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That is part of a deal involving a new affordable housing plans for the Mellon's Orchard site. I agree in this case the timing seems off, but there is also a bunch of affordable housing going up in Larimer right now.



I believe the available Census and ACS data doesn't show any sign of such a large effect. Again, I think all the new affordable housing is likely limiting the effect.

Edit: OK, I checked ACS data, table S1901, "Income in the Past 12 Months (In 2009 Inflation-Adjusted Dollars)", for Census Tracts 1113 and 1115:



2014 was the latest available, 2009 the earliest. I calculated the estimated total number of households with less than $25,000.

Results: 2009 for 1113 I got 525, down to 440 in 2014. 2009 for 1115 I got 1108, down to 895 in 2014.

These are just estimates based on surveys which have some error, and in fact I am not sure those changes are outside the margin of error. But taking them at face value, there has been some reduction in the number of lower-income households, but not in the thousands (there really can't be too many thousands, it turns out--there are not that many lower-income households in East Liberty). Instead, that adds up to 298. Again, that is not necessarily all forced displacements--some households likely would have moved out anyway over time. But it is not nothing either.

Thank you for gathering the data! It is quite interesting, and is also preferable to some other responses which seem angry about the topic being discussed at all.

So that does show the number of low income households as decreasing. It seems likely that the next couple income brackets are also decreasing, not just the lowest. Combine this with a likely higher percentage of income going to housing and it would seem to be of some significance.

Also it is important to note the "low income" housing being built is frequently still more expensive than what was in the neighborhood previously.

What I would like to see is the city government proactively assess these trends and publish reports on neighborhood transformations. This should be a permanent process, not just a reaction to recent publicity. It isn't enough to hold public meetings with a sympathetic ear. Nor is it good to just slap the "low income" moniker on the least expensive of new developments. In my opinion, this is a perfect role for the government, keep an eye on the state of the populace and make that information publicly available. As it stands now, it seems both sides are relying mostly on anecdotes appeals to general political ideologies.

[eschaton]

I thought you guys might be interested in this Fusion Table I put together of condemned property in Pittsburgh. No data besides the locations, which are marked on the map tab. Some of the addresses are undoubtedly bad, but I filtered out the obvious ones which were outside of city limits.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by dfiler

What I would like to see is the city government proactively assess these trends and publish reports on neighborhood transformations. This should be a permanent process, not just a reaction to recent publicity.

What I'd like to see is Fox Chapel proactively assess and publish reports about how their community might be able to offer housing/education opportunities for poor people displaced by redevelopment in places like East Liberty. This should also be a permanent process, not just a reaction to recent publicity.