PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[Minivan Werner]

There’s kind of a physical barrier (or several) between the old South Side & SSW. Anytime I’ve bar hopped or window shopped along Carson I usually turn around before the bridge intersection because it’s pretty sketchy for pedestrians. Then there’s a whole block of surface parking after that and before SSW. Gotta be at least part of the problem with SSW, but not sure what can be done about it besides just developing that block and maybe putting street lights in for those on and off ramps to Birmingham.

[pj3000]

^ I think most of it has to do with the fact that it just sucks.

[BenM]

I see Cheesecake Factory will still be the anchor.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by pj3000

If you can get past the inaccurate, reality show style, over-the-top narration and the slo-mo footage of some fucknut local leasing agents... well then this video from Somera Road at least provides some good aerial shots of Pittsburgh.

https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/...72429290098688

That video was cringe-inducing, but it answered some important questions.

1. the "container park" is going to go here. I always wondered why this relatively small space was never developed.

2. The PBT article was wrong regarding placement of the new buildings. The apartment building is going to take all the riverfront space between the marina and Hofbrauhaus. The planned office building - if it comes into being - will be between the Hyatt House and the American Eagle Outfitters building.

The unit count they give for apartments is way, way too low. Adding up the four apartment buildings (Carson Street Commons, South Side Works Apartments, Hot Metal Flats, and 3030 South Water Street) I get 707 units. Plus the additional 280 once Connection @ South Side is built. None of the individual buildings even have the 70-some units they claimed, so this just seems like an error on their part.

[dfiler]

Originally Posted by dfiler

From the PennDOT website:



PDF describing the parkway bridge replacement:
SR0376 A62 Bridge Feasibility Study.pdf

This is going to be a big deal! While I live nearby and will be impacted, luckily I don't commute over the bridge. Commutes could be significantly effected depending on if they choose the slide-in option (2 week closure) vs the staged option (5 years of construction)!


Kenmawr bridge Replacement
Also... The Kenmawr bridge on Bradock avenue between Rankin and Swissvale. It's the one that goes over the railroad tracks.

Things to note:

• The new bridge is much longer because it will be raised 4 feet to accomodate double stack trains.
• 30 properties are being acquired around the bridge and buildings will be demolished. This will make room for a temporary bridge during construction.
• The bridge will be closed for 75 days!
• The Hawkins Village development is being demolished in this timeframe as well but that is unrelated.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/tr...s/202002290009

A PPG article on the parkway bridge replacement:

PennDOT looking at creative ways to replace Parkway East bridge near Squirrel Hill Tunnel
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/tr...s/202003090128

[eschaton]

First ZBA of April is now up. Only one real item of interest: the conversion of 115 Bigham Street in Mount Washington - which I believe is an old Catholic school building - into a 36-unit multifamily structure. Unclear if this will be condos or apartments - I'm guessing the former given the neighborhood.

[Zachary R. English]

115 Bingham St is in the SS Flats, not Mt Washington. It is the two large, derelict, but potentially beautiful, buildings attached to the rear of the Oliver Bath House, South of the Holiday Inn’s rear surface parking lot. They’re in rough shape, and I thought the city wanted to demolish them as part of a rehabilitation plan for the bath house. The location very close to Mercy Behavioral Health’s sprawling campus might be problematic for higher-end condos. I’m excited to see these structures saved.

[BobMcKelvin]

Originally Posted by Zachary R. English

115 Bingham St is in the SS Flats, not Mt Washington. It is the two large, derelict, but potentially beautiful, buildings attached to the rear of the Oliver Bath House, South of the Holiday Inn’s rear surface parking lot. They’re in rough shape, and I thought the city wanted to demolish them as part of a rehabilitation plan for the bath house. The location very close to Mercy Behavioral Health’s sprawling campus might be problematic for higher-end condos. I’m excited to see these structures saved.

Bigham Street is in Mt. Washington
Bingham Street is in SS Flats

The properties referred to in the ZBA presentation are for Bigham on Mt. Washington

[Zachary R. English]

Apologies. It’s just an odd coincidence since the Bingham property has recently been purchased and is being converted to apartments or condos as well.

[eschaton]

So, I rode my bike in this morning, despite it being a cold day, largely to try and avoid the chance of infection on crowded buses.

One thing that immediately popped out is even though commerce in the city is largely shut down, construction is still running full tilt. I passed by several major projects in the Strip that had active work going on.

I wonder how much longer companies will be able to keep construction going without delays when everything else is shutting down? I suppose it's not the highest-risk occupation with the widespread use of protective clothing and workers often spaced apart a good deal (and in open air).

[BrianTH]

I don't think this has been posted yet--this article explains how the City and Cultural Trust did a land swap to move the replacement for the 9th and Penn garage off Penn, so the Cultural Trust can do better developments along Penn:

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202003120082

It also goes into the Cultural Trust's general plans, and mentions the Goodyear only has five years left on its lease.

[PITairport]

"In its bid to revitalize and rebrand a more than 20-acre swath of the East End, ICON Development Inc. has landed M*Modal, a local division of the 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM), to take a 53,000-square-foot office in a 142,000-square-foot building renovation under construction now."

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...nt-breeze.html

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by PITairport

"In its bid to revitalize and rebrand a more than 20-acre swath of the East End, ICON Development Inc. has landed M*Modal, a local division of the 3M Co. (NYSE:MMM), to take a 53,000-square-foot office in a 142,000-square-foot building renovation under construction now."

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...nt-breeze.html

Nice!

I know they can be controversial, but I often like this building the new out of the old style:



And I don't particularly mind this is only about 1 mile from my house in Regent Square.

[East Edge]

Are there any updated renderings of whats being proposed at these sites? Its prime real estate especially of how it will be viewed from the north shore. I was just in Nashville and was impressed with all of the building going on there and it kind of frustrated me that we lagging behind. I think we offer a more picturesque landscape and quality historic architecture however they got us beat with the number of skyscrapers under construction.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I don't think this has been posted yet--this article explains how the City and Cultural Trust did a land swap to move the replacement for the 9th and Penn garage off Penn, so the Cultural Trust can do better developments along Penn:

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202003120082

It also goes into the Cultural Trust's general plans, and mentions the Goodyear only has five years left on its lease.

[Austinlee]

That looks great. Love it!

[BobLoblaw]

Originally Posted by eschaton

That's an old rendering of the Esplanade project. It's been scaled down considerably, with the Ferris Wheel eliminated.

There's a new article on the Pittsburgh Business Times from yesterday that is primarily about the URA voting to approve an option agreement for Millcraft to acquire ~5.5 acres (by 9/1/21, I might add, just to add some color around timing), but it provides some other updates as well. The updates do in fact reflect a scaled back version of the plan as follows:

• 300,000sf office building decreased to 240,000sf
• 330 unit apartment building decreased to 246 units
• 209 unit condo building decreased to 123 units
• 150,000sf of retail/restaurant space decreased to 100,000sf

However, it continues to include the ferris wheel, and also indicates a couple of new components, namely an aquarium and events center. The description says, "a grand staircase will lead to the roof of the aquarium, which will contain a large public plaza and Ferris wheel, with the staircase designed to function as amphitheater seating for performances on the adjacent promenade."

I'm still, unfortunately, in believe-it-when-I-see-it-mode, but we'll see what happens! As many trips as I make over the West End Bridge, it would be fun to watch it be built out in a scale such as this.

[eschaton]

I suppose we're not going to have much to discuss for quite some time to come with Tom Wolf shutting down all construction in the state indefinitely.

[themaguffin]

...well the country and globe are essentially shutting down...

[bmust71]

A little quiet here, understandably, but I wanted to share something I found.

There are some sparse details on Walnut Capital's Mckee Place project in Oakland. Not a lot of info but this at least gives us an idea of the scale.







"Walnut Capital recently bought two buildings in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood to create the Oakland Innovation District. 234 and 242 McKee Place total 14,000 square feet in the heart of University of Pittsburgh’s campus. Our plans are to demolish the buildings on the property and build one new structure. The new building would span 124,000 square feet and house offices on the upper floors with restaurants and retail on the first level."

[BrianTH]

Nice densification!