PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II - Page 839

photoLith · #**16761** Posted **Aug 17, 2016, 3:41 PM**

What's the high rise going up next to Skyvue? It's like 8 stories tall. Thought it might be part of Skyvue but I don't think it is.

qwho · #**16762** Posted **Aug 17, 2016, 6:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

What's the high rise going up next to Skyvue? It's like 8 stories tall. Thought it might be part of Skyvue but I don't think it is.

See post 13885

It's a Marriott Residence Inn

Austinlee · #**16763** Posted **Aug 17, 2016, 8:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AFW523

Agreed 100%. It is infrastructure that is tailor made for this area. It's relatively inexpensive, it works with the topographical challenges, it's incredibly utilitarian, it's scale-able, and its funky in a "we are just kind of over here doing our own thing" kind of way. It would be an instant success. But quite frankly it's something that a policy-maker with a spine has to champion, and sort of be the person to tell their constituency "this is what's good for you...we are going to do it".

On an unrelated note...

SkyVue has a pretty cool video up on their page

Does a good job of illustrating the footprint and impact it has on the area, if the construction site didn't quite already give that impression.

I love that video.

Private D · #**16764** Posted **Aug 17, 2016, 9:24 PM**

Think we'll ever actually see the scale of the buildings proposed by BIG on the lower hill?

PITairport · #**16765** Posted **Aug 17, 2016, 11:25 PM**

Shell bought an additional 110 acres over the past week:

http://www.timesonline.com/news/shellcra...2f22800-64b4-11e6-bceb-eb04dd29b85e.html

Austinlee · #**16766** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 4:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Think we'll ever actually see the scale of the buildings proposed by BIG on the lower hill?

Yeah, was that proposal of theirs chosen as a winner or was that just one proposal that is merely a possibility?

eschaton · #**16767** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 12:54 PM**

My my count between SkyVue and the other two mega-apartment buildings planned for Oakland, we're looking at something like 1,900 beds added within the next two years or so. What effect do people think this will have on Pittsburgh. Will the "Pitt/CMU diaspora" across the East End finally begin to fall back closer to campus?

Don't Be That Guy · #**16768** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 2:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschaton

My my count between SkyVue and the other two mega-apartment buildings planned for Oakland, we're looking at something like 1,900 beds added within the next two years or so. What effect do people think this will have on Pittsburgh. Will the "Pitt/CMU diaspora" across the East End finally begin to fall back closer to campus?

Hopefully the new units will put some downward pressure on the rent of existing apartments in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, or at least incentivize landlords to improve the units to justify the rents they are asking.

Urbana · #**16769** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 2:50 PM**

.

eschaton · #**16770** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 3:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urbana

Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2...rrives-in-pittsburgh-this-month-is06r7on

I would have never guessed this was so close to coming to fruition. I have always been very optimistic about this technology and am really quite excited that Pittsburgh is going to see it's commercial launch. Hopefully this can blossom into a broader industry for the region.

Keep in mind this is only a test, and there will be humans sitting in the driver's seat as emergency backups.

This won't really be revolutionary until the system is perfected well enough to not need a human driver, and state laws are changed to allow fully automated vehicles on the roads.

eschaton · #**16771** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 3:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don't Be That Guy

Hopefully the new units will put some downward pressure on the rent of existing apartments in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, or at least incentivize landlords to improve the units to justify the rents they are asking.

My dream is that more of the subdivided houses will be converted back to SFH status. Lots of people would like to buy, for example, in a neighborhood like Bloomfield, but given it's so dominated by rental housing chopped into two units, it's pretty difficult to land a house there compared to say Lawrenceville.

My understanding from landlords of the economics of these things is that only two-unit rentals will ever be converted back - three unit and above make too much money for landlords. So we'll likely be stuck with some of the horrendously remuddled homes in say Friendship from now till eternity.

AFW523 · #**16772** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 6:18 PM**

This article about the importance of neighborhoods in recruitment

dovetails nicely with

City Discussions thread from across the hall that (for the most part) does a great job illustrating the importance of neighborhood clusters beyond the CBD. Shout out to the regulars here that got involved and stayed above some of the pot-stirring madness. Also interesting to have somehow officially transformed as the keynote city people prop up when arguing over rustbelt validation.

Captain Crash · #**16773** Posted **Aug 18, 2016, 9:53 PM**

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archiv...seum-in-pittsburgh#.V7YpZeOC0JM.facebook

Quote:

Wigle Whiskey starting crowdfund to create a new whiskey museum in Pittsburgh
The company that brought back whiskey pride to the birthplace of the Whiskey Rebellion is taking another step toward spreading the traditions of Pennsylvania distilling. Wigle Whiskey is seeking to start an interactive whiskey museum here in Pittsburgh, adding to their mission of reigniting interest in the rye whiskey heritage of Western Pennsylvania.

...

The Whiskey of America Museum, or WAM!, will include exhibits on whiskey’s history in America, cultural displays detailing the spirit’s rise in popularity, do-it-yourself cocktail stations, and interactive exhibits that engage visitors in the science behind distilling. Grelli says that the Pittsburgh community will be an integral part of the process, and local artists, scientists and makers will contribute to the museum. Chris Moehle, of the Robotics Hub, a Carnegie Mellon University-General Electric collaboration, says the group has plans to create and showcase a robot for the museum that will automate the malting process of making whiskey.

“It’s going to be like a kids museum for adults, with alcohol,” says Grelli.

A bottle shop and tasting room will accompany the museum and will feature local spirits, beer, ciders and wine for sale. The museum site will also serve as the trailhead for the new Rye Whiskey Trail, which will stretch from Pittsburgh to George Washington's historic estate Mount Vernon, just south of Washington, D.C., following the Great Allegheny Passage and C & O Canal Towpath bike paths.

Many regional and national groups have already signed on to help create the museum, which Grelli emphasizes isn’t a Wigle museum, but a whiskey museum. A 16-member committee has formed and includes representatives from the Smithsonian Institute of American History, Heinz History Center, George Washington's Mount Vernon, Allegheny County Economic Development and Pittsburgh City Councilor Dan Gilman.

Wigle is contributing $250,000 to the project and is hoping to raise an additional $35,000 via a Kickstarter campaign. Pledges to WAM!’s crowdfunding campaign come with prizes like t-shirts, party invites and even engraved mini oak barrels. Grelli says the museum will start as a pop-up at a to-be-determined location in Downtown this November. Then they hope to find a permanent location somewhere in Pittsburgh that could open sometime in 2018.

Cool project they've been working on for awhile. A little birdie tells me they are pushing to put the permanent location in the Strip District, shooting for the Produce Terminal.

BrianTH · #**16774** Posted **Aug 19, 2016, 2:11 PM**

Obviously full commercialization of completely driverless cars is probably still some years away, but the fact Uber is even going so far as to test this technology with actual customers on board is a pretty significant milestone.

And it is definitely cool this is happening in Pittsburgh. It made international news, and it is nice support for Pittsburgh's new branding as a technology city.

And I occasionally use Uber to get home from Downtown. I might just find myself doing that a bit more in the future, hoping to win the lottery and get one of these as my ride.

AFW523 · #**16775** Posted **Aug 19, 2016, 6:18 PM**

The Tom Ayoob Site is Going to be Office/Retail

Good - nice to see that entire area getting a diversification, which is how it should be. And while it's not exciting, I do think his temperate expectations for the retail (dry cleaning / drug stores) are actually what the neighborhood will need if it's going to continue it's trajectory. Hoping the design is commensurate with that corner and something that really acts as a linchpin to pull together that intersection of Smallman. It feels completely disjointed currently with the church, an empty lot and a seven block vacant terminal parcel.