PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Private Dick]

I understand the desire to see some greater transformation of Smallman, but I don't think you need to change the function in order for it to be a sound, successful design.

Smallman Street is a street... and should continue being a street. I think the improvements work and it will serve as a dramatic and pleasant path that retains the industrial/warehouse character.

[BenM]

CMU takes another step towards making us humans obsolete.

Why It Matters That Human Poker Pros Are Getting Trounced By an AI

The “Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence” tournament began on January 11th at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh. It pits Libratus, an AI developed by computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, against four professional human players, Dong Kim, Jimmy Chou, Jason Les, and Daniel McAulay. The human players are competing for $200,000 in prize money, but serious bragging rights are at stake, too: they are among the best HUNL players in the world, but their opponent is formidable.

[BrianTH]

Bitz has apparently gotten approval for a smaller condo building in the Strip (behind paywall):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...s-approval-for-strip-district-condo.html

Bummer he couldn't do the highrise, but this isn't a bad addition:





I believe it is going here, where someone else started but never finished a project. And in fact I believe the building next door with the new railing is part of the project.

[BrianTH]

Also behind a paywall, the East Liberty Trader Joe's is apparently expanding:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2017/01/23/trader-joes-to-expand-store.html

It says into the neighboring storefront, so I assume that means here (the Studio Booth space).

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Also behind a paywall, the East Liberty Trader Joe's is apparently expanding:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2017/01/23/trader-joes-to-expand-store.html

It says into the neighboring storefront, so I assume that means here (the Studio Booth space).

I wonder if they're going to start selling alcohol now that PA has loosened the rules for supermarkets?

[AFW523]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Bitz has apparently gotten approval for a smaller condo building in the Strip (behind paywall):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...s-approval-for-strip-district-condo.html

Bummer he couldn't do the highrise, but this isn't a bad addition:





I believe it is going here, where someone else started but never finished a project. And in fact I believe the building next door with the new railing is part of the project.

Agreed on both. Great looking building and in a spot that is crying for something like this...but still doesn't make up for spiking the original project up the street. You are correct on location - if you zoom in on the picture on the PBT page, you can see the tag.

[eschaton]

The first Historic Review Commission presentation of the year is up.

There's a pretty in depth modification of two buildings by Bedford Square in South Side. They are attempting to restore one of the buildings, and essentially completely reconstruct the other "non-historic" building, adding a third floor to it as well. I'm not sure how the HRC will feel about that - my understanding is all you can typically do is replace like for like or fix up a building - you can't just declare a building too far gone to bother redoing in a historic style.

There's also a proposed window replacement at the historic Station Square building where Grand Concourse is located. It doesn't look like it will affect the look of the building much at all, but very little information is given.

Most interestingly, there's more information about "Moe's Landing." The design is still almost as ridiculous, but the white third story now looks to have turned dark gray. There's also information about the history of the existing "Moe's building" which is actually quite interesting.

There's also a few other things of interest, like a planned rehab of Crawford Hall by Pitt.

[BrianTH]

I continue to adore that crazy proposal for the Moe's spot. And certainly there is nothing left worth saving in the existing building.

[TBone7281]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Bitz has apparently gotten approval for a smaller condo building in the Strip (behind paywall):

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...s-approval-for-strip-district-condo.html

Bummer he couldn't do the highrise, but this isn't a bad addition:





I believe it is going here, where someone else started but never finished a project. And in fact I believe the building next door with the new railing is part of the project.

Damn, I've been meaning park my car in there for some pictures before work in the morning. Guess I'll have to do it soon before it gets blocked off. This is right across the street from Harp & Fiddle (and my parking lot for work). The building also has some new sweet graffiti that doesn't show up on the latest street view.

That's an excellent addition to this section of the Strip. It'll be the tallest building in the immediate area by a couple stories.

[TBone7281]

Not that it should really affect much, but the US Steel building is going up for sale and they're guessing it will go for around $350 mil.

http://www.wtae.com/article/downtown-pittsburgh-us-steel-tower-for-sale/8631538

[akPITT207]

The Bitz condo building looks great and I prefer it to the highrise, which was dynamic and had great height, but was awkward and not aesthetically pleasing IMO. The new building is visually interesting, a bit more modest but still quite tall for the Strip. And it's more architecturally significant than most new construction in Pittsburgh. Very exciting project.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by akPITT207

The Bitz condo building looks great and I prefer it to the highrise, which was dynamic and had great height, but was awkward and not aesthetically pleasing IMO. The new building is visually interesting, a bit more modest but still quite tall for the Strip. And it's more architecturally significant than most new construction in Pittsburgh. Very exciting project.

It looks pretty decent. Still seems too short to me but perhaps i'm biased. The design is nothing exciting. But it's not bad either.

[AFW523]

Another Strip related note - I thought the AUDI dealer got squashed, but the news had a story the other day that they were breaking ground and set to open this year. I don't really care because I believe it was set to be on the SE side of Liberty and it can use all the help it can get...but does anyone know if that was correct? Wouldn't be the first time the local news was behind the times on development news.

[AFW523]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

It looks pretty decent. Still seems too short to me but perhaps i'm biased.

My only hope is that a few of these mid-rise 7-10 story structures get built in a scattered fashion in the area, so that the "nope, too tall" contingent will have less ammo.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by AFW523

My only hope is that a few of these mid-rise 7-10 story structures get built in a scattered fashion in the area, so that the "nope, too tall" contingent will have less ammo.

There is a six-story structure which is in planning at 3008-3012 Penn Ave - right where the Bayardstown Social Club was located.

[photoLith]

^
That kinda 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵, that plce is cool as hell, hopefully they relocate.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by eschaton

There is a six-story structure which is in planning at 3008-3012 Penn Ave - right where the Bayardstown Social Club was located.

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
That kinda 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵, that plce is cool as hell, hopefully they relocate.

I know a guy who lives in The Strip & was a member of Bayardstown Social Club. He was devastated by it's closure. The pics he posted on FB from there always looked so cool.

[daviderik]

In light of more new hotel news. I found this article:

Health of hotel industry in Pittsburgh region lags

Irvine, Calif.-based Ten-X Research, an online real estate marketplace, forecasts declines in occupancy rates in the Pittsburgh seven-county region for the near future, projecting rates could drop as low as 54 percent by 2020, according to its latest Quarterly Hotel Monitor report.

The average hotel occupancy rate in the Pittsburgh region as of November, the most recent period for which data was available, was 60.3 percent, down 9.6 percent year-over-year, according to STR Global, an industry group that tracks hotel occupancy. That marks the lowest November level since at least 2010, STR reported.

Nationwide, the occupancy rate was 65.3 percent...Pittsburgh's year-over-year occupancy rate decline of 9.6 percent marked the biggest drop among medium-sized markets, according to STR. Cleveland was off 2.2 percent, Boston was down 2.8 percent and Buffalo was lower by 0.9 percent...“Things are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Ten-X quantitative strategist Matthew Schreck said of Pittsburgh's hotel sector. “Since about 2012, there's been too much supply and not enough demand.” ...“Pittsburgh isn't ranked poorly just in comparison to other cities,” Schreck said, referring to the hotel figures. “Even in a vacuum, the region's economy just isn't equipped to handle the glut of supply.”

http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/11803049-74/hotel-percent-pittsburgh

I really never understood the boom in the hotel market locally. It seemed unsustainable considering all economic factors. I wouldn't be surprised to see some hotels around the city center closing because of low occupancy rates due to over saturation. Too much too fast. On a side note I read an article recently predicting the next bubble to bust is the restaurant industry. (If you can call it that.)

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by AFW523

My only hope is that a few of these mid-rise 7-10 story structures get built in a scattered fashion in the area, so that the "nope, too tall" contingent will have less ammo.

Good point. I kinda had an idea in the back of my mind about a cluster of midrises somewhere in the neighborhood but considering the vacant lots are scattered your idea is probably more likely.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

It looks pretty decent. Still seems too short to me but perhaps i'm biased. The design is nothing exciting. But it's not bad either.

I'd almost always vote taller, but it will fit in pretty well with the nearby Otto Milk and Cork Factory developments.