PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[AFW523]

Milhaus 40th and Butler Development Images

Paywalled, but with first images. Too early to tell - from what I've heard, the natives are restless and unimpressed. Anyone go to the meeting?

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Milhaus 40th and Butler Development Images

Paywalled, but with first images. Too early to tell - from what I've heard, the natives are restless and unimpressed. Anyone go to the meeting?

Boring as fuck.

[Wave]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Milhaus 40th and Butler Development Images

Paywalled, but with first images. Too early to tell - from what I've heard, the natives are restless and unimpressed. Anyone go to the meeting?

For me, this is one of the more anticipated small projects in the works. This will truly go a long way towards tying together the "arsenal" gap in Lawrenceville on Butler. While I am hopeful for good design, and clearly it makes sense to tie into the historic fabric of Butler Street, I am more interested in the massing, setback and orientation on this project at this stage. It's obviously too early to tell what exactly this project will look like and I am sure it will go through revisions.

[Muckk]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Those Hulton Bridge photos are great (as usual). I particularly like the second one, including the neat mix of silvers and grays and the broken reflection in the icy water.

Hear hear. Those pics are tits, photolith. Seriously, just drop by 31st St Studios, or whatever they call it now, and apply for a DP position on an upcoming production.

I mean it.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Wave

For me, this is one of the more anticipated small projects in the works. This will truly go a long way towards tying together the "arsenal" gap in Lawrenceville on Butler. While I am hopeful for good design, and clearly it makes sense to tie into the historic fabric of Butler Street, I am more interested in the massing, setback and orientation on this project at this stage. It's obviously too early to tell what exactly this project will look like and I am sure it will go through revisions.

Agreed completely. The Arsenal gap is awful. I am encouraged by the massing of this proposal.

[BrianTH]

I'm with Wave too. The massing and street level approach is fine for that area. The design isn't inspired but it doesn't look too bad either--it seems like with refinement it could fit in with buildings like the new AC Hotel planned near the convention center.

Hey Pittsburghers, I thought this was pretty cool

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/features/3...igrants-and-refugees-tell-their-stories/

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'm with Wave too. The massing and street level approach is fine for that area. The design isn't inspired but it doesn't look too bad either--it seems like with refinement it could fit in with buildings like the new AC Hotel planned near the convention center.

My understanding is the project will (for the first time in history) connect the stub of Foster Street between 38th and 39th to the section in Central Lawrenceville. Willow will also continue under the 40th Street bridge, presumably hooking up with 39th. This will probably mean more traffic on back streets (as Lawrenceville will now have cut-throughs similar to Sarah Street on the South Side) but it will also mean Butler will be less of a huge traffic snarl around there, which will be a big advantage.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Just got some photos of them blowing up the Hulton Bridge in Oakmont this morning.

DSC_6085 by photolitherland, on Flickr

DSC_6084 by photolitherland, on Flickr

Great pics! Did you use DLSR for an implosion?

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

My understanding is the project will (for the first time in history) connect the stub of Foster Street between 38th and 39th to the section in Central Lawrenceville. Willow will also continue under the 40th Street bridge, presumably hooking up with 39th. This will probably mean more traffic on back streets (as Lawrenceville will now have cut-throughs similar to Sarah Street on the South Side) but it will also mean Butler will be less of a huge traffic snarl around there, which will be a big advantage.

Interesting, and overall I would think that would be a good thing for traffic in the area.

Do you know if they are going to put any storefronts on those streets, or is it more just for parking and such?

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Great pics! Did you use DLSR for an implosion?

What do you mean?

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by eschaton

My understanding is the project will (for the first time in history) connect the stub of Foster Street between 38th and 39th to the section in Central Lawrenceville. Willow will also continue under the 40th Street bridge, presumably hooking up with 39th. This will probably mean more traffic on back streets (as Lawrenceville will now have cut-throughs similar to Sarah Street on the South Side) but it will also mean Butler will be less of a huge traffic snarl around there, which will be a big advantage.

I'm all for more street network connectivity. There's an incredible amount of choke points around Pittsburgh.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I'm all for more street network connectivity. There's an incredible amount of choke points around Pittsburgh.

Yeah, the ones dictated by topography are bad enough. No need to make it worse with "super blocks" and such.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Interesting, and overall I would think that would be a good thing for traffic in the area.

Do you know if they are going to put any storefronts on those streets, or is it more just for parking and such?

Sorry, all I know about it is what I heard from one of my wife's coworkers. He is an architect, and also used to live in Lawrenceville, so I'm not sure if he heard about it from colleges in the field (my wife's firm isn't on this project) or through neighborhood friends still active in the local neighborhood groups.

[eschaton]

I noticed this morning while traveling on bus through Uptown that Walnut Capital has made significant progress on the "Flats on Fifth" building. It looks like all of the concrete work is done (including the elevator cores) and the first floor of framing above the ground level is erected. I would guess they'll easily make their Summer 2016 target.

The building, of course, looks like uninspired dreck, but I don't think I've seen anything they've done which isn't a rehab which has been nice. Maybe the Foundry in Lawrenceville will break the mold a bit more - it at least is attempting to be a bit more adventurous.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I noticed this morning while traveling on bus through Uptown that Walnut Capital has made significant progress on the "Flats on Fifth" building. It looks like all of the concrete work is done (including the elevator cores) and the first floor of framing above the ground level is erected. I would guess they'll easily make their Summer 2016 target.

The building, of course, looks like uninspired dreck, but I don't think I've seen anything they've done which isn't a rehab which has been nice. Maybe the Foundry in Lawrenceville will break the mold a bit more - it at least is attempting to be a bit more adventurous.

It's a sharp building right smack dab in the middle of a run down corridor. That's a good sign.

[BrianTH]

Review of where public housing money is going, including preventing a lot of Crawford Square apartments from going market-rate:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/9878450-74/housing-affordable-development

I'll be interested to find out more about this:

Kendall Pelling, director of land development for East Liberty Development, said the organization is partnering with Homewood-based Building United of Southwestern Pennsylvania on a $12 million project on vacant properties along Kelly and Bennett streets in Homewood. He said construction would likely begin in 2017.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Review of where public housing money is going, including preventing a lot of Crawford Square apartments from going market-rate:

http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/9878450-74/housing-affordable-development

I'll be interested to find out more about this:

Honestly the Housing Authority spending money to ensure that Crawford Square remains mixed income seems like a terrible idea to me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that the $6 million allocated for the transaction wouldn't be anywhere near enough to build 188 new low-income apartments, as that's around $32,000 per unit. So any other transaction would have resulted in less dedicated low-income units.

That said, if the Housing Authority had let Crawford Square go market rate, those 188 new units, plus whatever units that $6 million could build, would result in more units overall, which in turn should result in the biggest drop in rent prices in the city.

Of course, if the Housing Authority is narrowly concerned with just low-income housing, this is a rational decision. However, if it is more broadly concerned about affordable housing for everyone, it is not.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

That said, if the Housing Authority had let Crawford Square go market rate, those 188 new units, plus whatever units that $6 million could build, would result in more units overall, which in turn should result in the biggest drop in rent prices in the city.

I understand the basic logic of what you are saying, but it really depends on conditions in the market. 188 more market-rate units could have a negligible effect on market prices--this would likely be true if the market was currently undersupplied, such that modest amounts of additional supply will just tap into potential demand.

That said, I completely agree that the long-term battle for affordable housing is way more about providing enough supply, and that subsidized units can only chip around the edges of the problem. But addressing that issue really requires going into things like zoning, NIMBYism, and so on. This decision is probably not going to make much difference on its own.

[Don't Be That Guy]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Honestly the Housing Authority spending money to ensure that Crawford Square remains mixed income seems like a terrible idea to me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that the $6 million allocated for the transaction wouldn't be anywhere near enough to build 188 new low-income apartments, as that's around $32,000 per unit. So any other transaction would have resulted in less dedicated low-income units.

That said, if the Housing Authority had let Crawford Square go market rate, those 188 new units, plus whatever units that $6 million could build, would result in more units overall, which in turn should result in the biggest drop in rent prices in the city.

Of course, if the Housing Authority is narrowly concerned with just low-income housing, this is a rational decision. However, if it is more broadly concerned about affordable housing for everyone, it is not.

$6 million will build you about 24 or so affordable housing units. New affordable housing is extremely expensive.
Redacted commentary on the political reasons Crawford Roberts is not going market rate

The Middle Hill, among many other neighborhoods in the region, is falling apart, and no one has any idea how much actual affordable housing is out there. But for some reason the loudest advocates act like East Liberty, Lawrenceville and the Lower Hill are the only neighborhoods in the city.