PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[JVC]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Andy Sheehan looks at the luxury apartment boom

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016/01/1...brings-professional-class-to-pittsburgh/

from the segment: "they sit on their laptops and communicate with their friends"

what the hell does "sit on their laptops" mean? who talks like that?

so their tenants are staring at their laptops and while they "communicate" with their friends?
the guy who spoke that sentence has the communication skills of a fifth grader

it's no wonder people are pissed about being priced out of the market
because the people pricing them out are complete imbeciles and the buildings they are building are ugly
and look like something out of the former soviet union

[BrianTH]

A Mt Lebanon brewpub is moving its brewery into the South Side (I assume expanding volumes too):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...ker-brewing-co-working-to-establish.html

There are lots of these places these days!

[BrianTH]

The URA is negotiating with two light industrial developers regarding the former Broadhead Manor site in Fairywood (which was basically destroyed by flooding during Hurricane Ivan):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...tiations-for-industrial-projects-in.html

That is right next to the industrial park with Amazon, Modcloth, etc. That is a nice little jobs cluster in the making.

[PITairport]

"Sources: 'Major tech company' signed for new Oakland building"
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...-tech-company-signed-for-newoakland.html

[Urbana]

Originally Posted by PITairport

"Sources: 'Major tech company' signed for new Oakland building"
http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...-tech-company-signed-for-newoakland.html

Is it the Schenley place building or some new proposal?

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by Urbana

Is it the Schenley place building or some new proposal?

I'm not sure; all I know is the headline I linked. I'm sure there will be more on this story before long.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Urbana

Is it the Schenley place building or some new proposal?

Schenley Place

[JVC]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Schenley Place

nice building - boring location

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The URA is negotiating with two light industrial developers regarding the former Broadhead Manor site in Fairywood (which was basically destroyed by flooding during Hurricane Ivan):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...tiations-for-industrial-projects-in.html

That is right next to the industrial park with Amazon, Modcloth, etc. That is a nice little jobs cluster in the making.

Fairywood is quickly becoming the new Silicon Valley or Boston. Facebook moving to Schenley Place in Oakland is a blow to the Fairywood tech cluster which I like to call Silicon Crick.

[BrianTH]

Silicon Run?

Although that sounds like a mediocre late-80s scifi/action flick . . . .

[BrianTH]

Article lamenting the loss of the architecture in Penn Plaza:

http://triblive.com/aande/architecture/9780445-74/buildings-penn-east#axzz3xSVradQF

I am actually pretty sympathetic to the argument we should be careful about wiping out "mid-century" architecture while it is in the death zone between contemporary and historic. Tasso Katselas's twists on brutalism (see the article) in particular generally don't appeal to me at all (it kinda works for a jail, but that is about it for me), but I am willing to hold aside my personal reaction and assume future folks could find these more interesting buildings.

But this here is the problem with Penn Plaza:

They are set in a large sweep of green space that encompasses the Enright Parklet, a city playground at the center of the development. Broad green lawns and about two dozen big, mature shade trees characterize the landscape. There's little in the city that matches this.

Little in the City matches that because that is terrible planning for an urban environment. And in fact that is why the Civic Arena had to go too--the buildings may have their merits when viewed in isolation, but the way they use urban land is awful.

And with that in mind, I think this argument leads to the opposite of the author's conclusion:

The Penn Plaza complex has always been a landmark given its prominent position at the corner of Penn and Negley avenues. This is the dividing line between East Liberty, Garfield and Friendship, and, if you're coming from the direction of Downtown, one of the main entrances to East Liberty. It's a corner that deserves landmark architecture.

But it also deserves good planning, and that means Penn Plaza should go.

[Evergrey]

Penn Plaza is the most depressing, hideous, dehumanizing architecture in Pittsburgh. .. and is a great example of being at once high-density yet totally destructive of the surrounding urban environment... a toxic formula that contributed greatly to the decline and dysfunction of America's urban centers. Good riddance to yet another mid-century abomination. It's the height of delusion and self-parody that some architectural critics are lamenting the loss of these soulless monstrosities, citing the precedent of pre-modern urban fabric that was bulldozed decades ago in favor of these very examples of dystopian architecture.

[BrianTH]

The closest I have seen to a reasonable argument on this issue is that the planning follies of that era are a crucially important part of the history of the relevant areas, so we are in fact losing history if we undo all that. How will anyone truly understand the history of East Liberty if someday all vestiges of these great failures are gone?

The problem is you can't just leave these areas f'ed up as a way of documenting how badly they were f'ed up, because using them properly is important in the present and the future too. At most, I could see preserving a few minor examples in non-crucial areas. But Penn Plaza is way too big and in way too important of a location to serve such a purpose.

[Private D]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Silicon Crick.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Silicon Run?

I really like. Can we have both in Pittsburgh?

[Private D]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Penn Plaza is the most depressing, hideous, dehumanizing architecture in Pittsburgh. .. and is a great example of being at once high-density yet totally destructive of the surrounding urban environment... a toxic formula that contributed greatly to the decline and dysfunction of America's urban centers. Good riddance to yet another mid-century abomination. It's the height of delusion and self-parody that some architectural critics are lamenting the loss of these soulless monstrosities, citing the precedent of pre-modern urban fabric that was bulldozed decades ago in favor of these very examples of dystopian architecture.

Yo Joe!

[Private D]

Any guesses on if, when, and where the next tower will rise in downtown Pittsburgh?

Kinda sad not to see a crane downtown any more.

One other item... my final verdict on new PNC Tower... — ugly and unfinished looking from some angles, interesting-looking when viewed from Market Sq/looking east. And, are they going to finish the crown or leave that top as is?:

[Private D]

Sorry, one more... anyone have any info on that Baumhaus proposal on Baum?

The large hole in the ground with zero activity does not inspire confidence, particularly since the same group (Vitmore, Terradime, Mongell) that built that awful nursing home/housing project-looking thing on Forbes is behind it.

What was proposed:


Reality:

[BrianTH]

I find the color of PNC Tower off-putting. It is more charcoal and less blue than I was imagining. I do love it from certain angles, though--my favorites are from along Wood a couple blocks or more away.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Any guesses on if, when, and where the next tower will rise in downtown Pittsburgh?

Kinda sad not to see a crane downtown any more.

One other item... my final verdict on new PNC Tower... — ugly and unfinished looking from some angles, interesting-looking when viewed from Market Sq/looking east. And, are they going to finish the crown or leave that top as is?:

The top crown seems unfinished from nearly angle in the sense that it's not lit up or has any attention drawn to it despite being the cap on an otherwise gorgeously designed building.

So, 10 stories taller and maybe some LED — up top such as The Gulf Tower would have really polished that one. So some disappointment there.

[Private D]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I find the color of PNC Tower off-putting. It is more charcoal and less blue than I was imagining. I do love it from certain angles, though--my favorites are from along Wood a couple blocks or more away.

I also thought it would appear a bit more bluish. Yes, along Wood it does look great, and I'm happy with it overall. The crown does look unfinished to me though. I thought that they were going to wrap it with the facade glass for a more continuous and sleek look. The black louvered-looking top is almost too mechanical for me (though I understand its function as the solar chimney).

But it will grow on me.

Originally Posted by Austinlee

The top crown seems unfinished from nearly angle in the sense that it's not lit up or has any attention drawn to it despite being the cap on an otherwise gorgeously designed building.

So, 10 stories taller and maybe some LED — up top such as The Gulf Tower would have really polished that one. So some disappointment there.

The view of the tower mass and the crown from the wast/southeast is pretty awful. It looks so squat, with too many different textures and shapes all over it. I do think some understated curving white LED lighting on the top could look really cool though.