PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Meanwhile, a few people I know who work in PPS also think it is a good idea (their view is PPS needs more students).

PPS is in a very odd place. On one hand, the school district as a whole is seeing a relative increase in the black percentage, and a fall in the white percentage. On the other hand, the black population of the city, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage, continues to drop. Presumably the same general trends are holding for black children as well, and they may have accelerated since 2010.

It seems to me there are two possible outcomes for PPS. One is that much of the public school system folds up entirely, but what is left predominately focuses on the rump of impoverished black students who aren't gentrified out of the city. The second is that through declining enrollment, we end up in a situation where only a dozen "gentrifier" parents enrolling in a neighborhood school is enough to begin boosting the local test scores, such that we see neighborhood schools in the desirable portions of the city change back to the default enrollment option for middle-class parents.

[BrianTH]

Update on the Heinz office/research complex:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...ill-pursuing-former-heinz-buildings.html

Crow Hill Development LLC has the three buildings under agreement . . . . A closing date for the acquisition remains unknown. . . . But sources familiar with the potential deal say [Crow Hill principal] Friedland expects to pursue redeveloping what has been office buildings into a new residential project, and that Crow Hill expects to present a plan to the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment in the fall. The three properties include what once were called the annex building, the administration building and the research building when they were part of the North Side operations of H.J. Heinz Co.
. . .
Friedland, a former software engineer and native of Manchester, England, has been actively seeking to invest and develop property in Pittsburgh through his Crow Hill, a firm which has taken on historic rehabs in the past and currently is pursing the redevelopment of the Nassau Brewing Co. complex in his home market of Brooklyn. Crow Hill first entered the Pittsburgh market in January when the firm bought the office property Stone Quarry Crossing in Ohio Township for $7.85 million and is currently working to redevelop a former school on Butler Street in Lawrenceville, a project Friedland suggested at the time was a little small compared to others his firm has pursued.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It seems to me there are two possible outcomes for PPS. One is that much of the public school system folds up entirely, but what is left predominately focuses on the rump of impoverished black students who aren't gentrified out of the city. The second is that through declining enrollment, we end up in a situation where only a dozen "gentrifier" parents enrolling in a neighborhood school is enough to begin boosting the local test scores, such that we see neighborhood schools in the desirable portions of the city change back to the default enrollment option for middle-class parents.

Just a guess, but I think more and more parents are going to find it is difficult to find open spots in desirable private and charter schools, which may push more toward your second scenario. Obviously they could also leave for suburban school districts, but I feel like once you have parents comfortable living somewhere and the problem is arising just as their kids are hitting kindergarten age, more of them will be willing to give their local feeder a shot.

I also tend to think this works best from the early grades up. To talk bluntly, I think many white parents are a lot less afraid of a majority-black kindergarten than they are a majority-black high school.

[BrianTH]

Tree Pittsburgh is getting a longer-term lease for some URA land at the former Tippins site in Lawrenceville:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...ong-term-lease-with-tree-pittsburgh.html

According to the agenda for the URA’s August board meeting, the board will vote on a measure to enter into negotiations with the nonprofit for a 220,139-square-foot stretch of riverfront land between the Allegheny River and the Allegheny Valley Railroad rail line, narrow strip of land that’s has made the property challenging to develop in the past. Already leasing the property, Tree Pittsburgh plans to pursue $2 million worth of development on the land expected to include “a tree nursery, offices, and educational facilities,” according to the directors report for the URA agenda. A long-term lease for Tree Pittsburgh at the site is expected to enable the nonprofit to better access funding to pursue its development plans.

There is a note as well about the URA being able to take back control some day if a future user of the main site finds Tree Pittsburgh incompatible, but one would hope most users would find that a desirable arrangement.

[Wiz Khalifa]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Nice to see some attention given to the Ohio River Trail. I run or bike along there often and it's sad how poorly maintained the trails and riverbanks are along there.

Imagine how bad it would be if some of the private companies along that stretch didn't hold regular river/trail volunteer cleanups. They regularly remove tons of garbage from the riverbanks, such as old tires and discarded appliances and a bunch of other crap, and also trim back the overgrowth.

Here's what needs to happen: everything that isn't a boat dock needs to be evicted and removed from the bank all the way down to Alcosan. You can't have homeless camps and rusted out trailers lining the riverbank and expect it to magically stay in pristine shape.

[BrianTH]

Apparently there have been some design changes for the Saks project:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...otes-to-sell-saks-for-redevelopment.html

Brian Walker, CFO for Millcraft, informed the board about updates to the project, which includes the elimination of its L-shaped design that included a wing that fronted out onto Fifth Avenue, a change he said was made out of neighbor concerns and cost issues.

Hmm.

[Wally G]

So they are doing away with the L shape design for something more bland. I was really looking forward to this project but now not so much. I hope they go back to the original plans because we need to stop settling for less with some of these developments. Neighbor concerns give me a break.

[Nitwit]

Originally Posted by Wally G

So they are doing away with the L shape design for something more bland. I was really looking forward to this project but now not so much. I hope they go back to the original plans because we need to stop settling for less with some of these developments. Neighbor concerns give me a break.

I wouldn't say there's any reason to assume the footprint of the building will make the project more bland. Not sure if it's meaningful but the last line of that article stating they anticipate a number of residential units "much higher" that the 50 originally agreed to with the city. We'll see if that comes to fruition, but it sounds good at this point.

[anotherpghdave]

Originally Posted by Wally G

So they are doing away with the L shape design for something more bland. I was really looking forward to this project but now not so much. I hope they go back to the original plans because we need to stop settling for less with some of these developments. Neighbor concerns give me a break.

The L-shaped design remains for the garage footprint, but not for the residential units above. The residential units will front Oliver/Smithfield. The vacant space above the garage on Fifth will be converted to greenspace/play space for a nearby daycare.

[Urbana]

Originally Posted by Nitwit

they anticipate a number of residential units "much higher" that the 50 originally agreed to with the city.

This combined with the smaller floor plates lead me to believe it will end up being at least a bit taller - which is a good thing, in my book. Maybe we can get a proper residential tower out of this! That is something Pittsburgh has been lacking for a while.

[itspgh]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Update on the Heinz office/research complex:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...ill-pursuing-former-heinz-buildings.html

Nice! But "residential project" .. Hopefully that isn't the plan for all three. All residential and no fun makes that portion of the North Shore a dull area.
In any case, it is exciting to potentially see this back to life (I promise it was very cool at one point!!).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by itspgh

All residential and no fun makes that portion of the North Shore a dull area.

Is there even a convenience store in that area? I know there is a small cafe, but it does seem really sparse over there. Of course it is a pretty cut off area . . .

[BrianTH]

Responses to the RFP for the Hunt Armory were due 8/7, and apparently they got a lot of interest:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/bl...strong-developer-interest-in-former.html

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Pittsburgh and Wilkinsburg are continuing to look seriously at some sort of school partnership:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ne...ublic-schools-and-wilkinsburg-weigh.html



I cannot tell you how great this would be for Wilkinsburg, including with respect to likely investment in development. In fact, this dovetails nicely with the expanded tax abatement plan they just passed:

http://wesa.fm/post/officials-hope-tax-abatement-will-revitalize-wilkinsburg-business-district



Meanwhile, a few people I know who work in PPS also think it is a good idea (their view is PPS needs more students).

This NEEDS to happen. This would forever change Wilkinsburg.

[Jonboy1983]

Is the City of PGH eventually going to annex Wilkinsburg? That would be nice; it would boost the population by 15,000 residents.

[Wally G]

Originally Posted by Nitwit

I wouldn't say there's any reason to assume the footprint of the building will make the project more bland. Not sure if it's meaningful but the last line of that article stating they anticipate a number of residential units "much higher" that the 50 originally agreed to with the city. We'll see if that comes to fruition, but it sounds good at this point.

Yeah but most of the time when a developer cut cost it is usually for something less impressive. Plus I think the L shape will look good with height on both streets besides just parking. I hope your right and hopefully it is more then 50 units.

[Wally G]

Originally Posted by anotherpghdave

The L-shaped design remains for the garage footprint, but not for the residential units above. The residential units will front Oliver/Smithfield. The vacant space above the garage on Fifth will be converted to greenspace/play space for a nearby daycare.

That sounds good but I would like to see the same height on both streets which would be more impressive in my opinion. Although it the green space is done right that would nice also.

[Wally G]

Originally Posted by itspgh

Nice! But "residential project" .. Hopefully that isn't the plan for all three. All residential and no fun makes that portion of the North Shore a dull area.
In any case, it is exciting to potentially see this back to life (I promise it was very cool at one point!!).

I agree so much with what you said. I walked past the new three story buildings the other night and it looks a lot better at night. I am still mad that its just three stories on such a prime piece of land. The residential portion hopefully will have commercial space also like the other buildings.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

Is the City of PGH eventually going to annex Wilkinsburg? That would be nice; it would boost the population by 15,000 residents.

I would guess no at this point. The administrative and legal hassle of a full merger would be large, and these service deals seem adequate to capture the main benefits. And I suspect for civic pride reasons, plus maybe wanting a more direct say in government, a lot of people in Wilkinsburg would resist.

[Ditchdigger]

Old post I know, but I can't see where it's been discussed recently.

Originally Posted by Private Dick

Yeah, I know about that plaza on Browns Hill Rd -- that's been there for a few years now. I was referring to a small commercial district within the Summerset development to be built along Parkview Rd before you get into the residential area... very new urbanist in style with storefronts along the sidewalk/street, apartments and office space on the 2nd floors, and no parking aside from metered on-street and a small amount of parking in the rear for employees and some customers. It was to be designed to provide the basic amenities specifically with the residents of Summerset in mind. I know they were looking at the Kentlands in Maryland as a model... though on a much smaller scale.

For anyone that's interested, construction will begin there soon...





...wait for it....






...on a new CVS Pharmacy.