PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by TBone7281

Mill 19 was (is?) tentatively supposed to start work in the Spring, but that was dependent on securing funding. Haven't heard anything lately though. I wonder if they're in need of a tenant before they commit to building it out.

http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/city-d...-19-hazelwood/

The last planning commission presentation altered the plan for Mill 19 to expand Phase 1, which would suggest to me that demand for the space has actually increased.

[eschaton]

I just noticed this press release from last week about the affordable housing projects on the URA's schedule.

PITTSBURGH, PA (February 7, 2017) The board of the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, in partnership with Mayor William Peduto's administration, is set to vote Thursday on several efforts to provide more affordable housing around the City.

The board is set to vote on five agenda items regarding housing in Morningside, Downtown, Larimer, East Liberty and the North Side, which will support hundreds of affordable housing units across the city and a neighborhood park proximate to an affordable housing development site.

"The need for affordable housing is one of the biggest issues facing not only Pittsburgh but cities across the world. I'm happy to be working with the URA and stakeholders across our city to provide more such housing, and adopt policies to ensure more affordable housing initiatives in the future," Mayor Peduto said.

On Thursday the URA board is set to convey the former Morningside School on Jancey Street to developers to build a 46-unit mixed income apartment building for seniors with 39 affordable units restricted to those earning 20%, 50% and 60% of area medium income (AMI).

Ten units will be in the renovated schoolhouse and 39 in a new addition that will also house the Morningside Senior Center.

In Downtown, the URA is set to approve additional financing for Wood Street Commons on Third Avenue, which provides 258 affordable Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units for low-income adults, including 32 emergency shelter units and 15 bridge housing units for the mentally ill. The site also includes space for job training services and non-profit groups.

Some $310,000 in repairs is needed to the building, so the URA board is set to vote on a $180,000 grant in support of the needed improvements, to be combined with $125,000 in recently approved financing from the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh.

As part of the Larimer/East Liberty Choice Neighborhoods plan, the URA board is set Thursday to vote on a $3.27 million financing plan to provide a portion of the financing for demolition and site preparation work at the former East Liberty Gardens property, making way for the construction of 150 Phase 2 mixed-income housing units. A ground lease between the Housing Authority and the developers will require long-term housing affordability terms for future tenants.

Also in East Liberty, the URA is set to apply to the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County for $250,000 and $500,000 grants for the construction of a new park at Larimer Avenue and Station Street as part of the Larimer/East Liberty Choice Neighborhoods. The three-acre park site is adjacent to the recently completed Phase I 85-unit mixed income development, as well as the Phase 2 site mentioned above.

Finally, in the North Side neighborhoods of California Kirkbride and the Central Northside, the URA board is set to authorize its intent to issue up to $15 million in tax-exempt debt to support the redevelopment of 75 affordable housing units across the two neighborhoods. The financing includes four percent (4%) Low Income Housing Credits and Historic Tax Credits. These 75 units are part of a 324-unit affordable portfolio which is intended to be developed in phases.

It looks like the California-Kirkbride/Central Northside affordable housing is one of the phases of the replacement of Allegheny Dwellings. I do wonder where the houses will go in Central Northside though. There's plenty of vacant lots still along streets like East Jefferson, West Jefferson, Carrington, and Alpine, but market-rate infill has been going up on these streets as well.

[PITairport]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Quote:
Originally Posted by mattejb
Argo, Delphi, and Uber. Any other serious autonomous driving companies in Pittsburgh?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Austinlee
Caterpillar and now Ford.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GeneW
Seegrid in Coraopolis develops autonomous forklifts.

Quote:
Originally Posted by AFW523
In addition to those two previously mentioned, Red Zone and Carnegie Robotics to a certain extent and then of course the nexus of all of this, NREC.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Austinlee
We could add Astrobotic which has been building an autonomous Moon rover and also CMU's entry in the Hylerloop pod competition.

Bombardier as well. They supply a good percentage of automated people movers at airports around the world such as ATL, PIT, FRA, LGW, and DXB. Bombardier is headquartered in Montreal but the people movers are manufactured in West Mifflin. Granted they are on a track so its one less dimension to worry about but they are nonetheless autonomous.

[BrianTH]

Things seems to be going well at Nova Place, with an interesting note about possible expansion:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburg...nology-at.html

Jeremy Kronman, executive vice president for CBRE in charge of leasing the property, said the main concourse building is now 95 percent leased, with two other buildings in the complex 80 percent and 50 percent leased. He added Nova Place’s Alloy 26 co-working space is expected to soon graduate two companies that are negotiating to lease their own small offices elsewhere in the complex. . . .

Jeremy Leventhal, a principal of Faros, offered an update on the overall redevelopment at Nova Place. Along with the new exterior plaza now under construction, he said to expect a restaurant to be announced in the near future as well as for a redesign of the the exterior entrance of Nova Place as his company works to lease up the remaining 300,000 to 400,000 square feet of space with a future 500,000 square foot expansion also under consideration.

[BrianTH]

Speaking of The Terminator:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburg...fficiency.html

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a thermally conductive rubber material, a breakthrough for creating soft, stretchable machines and electronics. The new material, nicknamed "thubber," can stretch over six times its initial length, and exhibits an unprecedented combination of metal-like thermal conductivity and elasticity similar to biological tissue. Findings from CMU were published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[BrianTH]

Fun article about developers pitching possible locations to Argo:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201702150074

It is thin on the most important end--what Argo is actually planning to do in Pittsburgh and what they will need as a result. But still, it serves as a roundup of recent and planned development activity in various locations:



Any of those locations would be fine with me, but the article notes BKSQ is all leased up, and they have approval for a second new office building which could be launched if they get an anchor tenant. That would probably be my preferred scenario, just because I would like to see that project completed.

[eschaton]

I saw this real estate listing regarding a new modest-sized (five-unit) townhouse project in Lawrenceville. Looks to be going here, which is right around the corner from where I used to live. There was an old man in the neighborhood who actually farmed on that parcel up until a few years ago.

Also, I noticed that LG Realty has put in for a demolition permit to knock down the other half of Penn Plaza. This holds with what I predicted - that they'd try to knock it down before getting any plan approved out of spite. Somehow, I don't think their request will be greenlighted.

[Minivan Werner]

^That is a very ugly rendering.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

^That is a very ugly rendering.

I have very low expectations for Lawrenceville infill, but this didn't even meet those.

I hate how the block is asymmetric. I mean, I know why they did it - they wanted one unit to be cheaper, so they left off the fourth story. But the result leaves much to be desired.

Also, it looks like three of the units have garage doors on both the front and the back? I'm not sure if that's due to sloppy rendering or by design to allow you to pull one car in from either direction.

[AFW523]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I saw this real estate listing regarding a new modest-sized (five-unit) townhouse project in Lawrenceville. Looks to be going here, which is right around the corner from where I used to live.

That design makes me nauseous. But for only $600k per unit, what do you expect I guess?

Interesting note from the Argo/PG article - I didn't realize Bakery Square still had an option to blow out another 250,000 sqft building with a contingent tenant. I thought they were focusing on the town homes and then calling it quits. I don't really have an opinion on where it would be best for them to land, but something about BSQ 2.0 seems unfinished or too vast...another 250k of space would probably fill that up.

[Private Dick]

But I do really LOVE the "Pittsburgh Orange" that every new project in the region is now required to feature! It's so classy and will never look dated at all...

[AFW523]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

But I do really LOVE the "Pittsburgh Orange" that every new project in the region is now required to feature! It's so classy and will never look dated at all...

I'm getting a late-80's / early 90's municipal project feel. Think Science Center or PIT. The golden age of timeless design.

[Private Dick]

Originally Posted by AFW523

I'm getting a late-80's / early 90's municipal project feel. Think Science Center or PIT. The golden age of timeless design.

Good call... totally

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by AFW523

Interesting note from the Argo/PG article - I didn't realize Bakery Square still had an option to blow out another 250,000 sqft building with a contingent tenant. I thought they were focusing on the town homes and then calling it quits. I don't really have an opinion on where it would be best for them to land, but something about BSQ 2.0 seems unfinished or too vast...another 250k of space would probably fill that up.

There were initial plans to build a second office building fronting on Penn where the big empty lot is in front of Bakery Square Orange. These plans were semi-shelved due to lack of an anchor tenant, but it was always implied if one came up they would build the second building. If not, I think their plan was to consider other uses for the space, like another apartment building or retail. But they weren't not going to try and find a profitable use for that parcel.

Also, AFAIK the money has been greenlit for the new Bakery Square busway station. If it gets built, the plans for the next phase include another parking garage in the rear, along with (presumably) starting to assemble land along Hamilton Ave in Larimer for further development.

[Dblcut3]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Also, AFAIK the money has been greenlit for the new Bakery Square T station. If it gets built, the plans for the next phase include another parking garage in the rear, along with (presumably) starting to assemble land along Hamilton Ave in Larimer for further development.

I'm assuming you mean a busway station? Or am I really out of the loop?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Dblcut3

I'm assuming you mean a busway station? Or am I really out of the loop?

Ack! Yes of course. But IIRC they made one of their renderings of that phase look like it was a rail station amusingly.

[photoLith]

Originally Posted by Private Dick

But I do really LOVE the "Pittsburgh Orange" that every new project in the region is now required to feature! It's so classy and will never look dated at all...

That is disgusting, what in the hell are they thinking? Jesus. Why is Pittsburgh subject to the worst designed new buildings in the country? All its missing now is some tin corrugated siding and the abomination will be complete.

[BrianTH]

I'm pretty sure that's a scene from the G.I. Joe animated series.

[Private Dick]

This tells me that you are of a certain age

[TBone7281]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I have very low expectations for Lawrenceville infill, but this didn't even meet those.

I've wandered around Lawrenceville a bit the last week or two, which isn't something I've done for some reason, even though I work in the Strip. I was pretty surprised by two things.
1. How terrible pretty much all of the infill looks.
2. How many hipsters are there.

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I'm pretty sure that's a scene from the G.I. Joe animated series.

Now you know.