PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BobLoblaw

CBRE has started marketing retail space for 1700 Smallman, the former warehouse building beside the recently renovated (and beautiful) 1600 Smallman. It's all pretty vague, with references to "potential boutique hotel or residential" on the upper floors, but it includes the first renderings that I've seen.

https://retailproperties.cbre.us/pro...view/id:137723

Their earlier plans involved demolition of the building and replacement with a new residential structure. I'd consider saving the building a big trade up.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'd consider saving the building a big trade up.

Same. That building is really contributing to the cool historic feel of the Strip.

[shantyside]

Pittsburgh's Grant Building lands in special servicing, faces 'imminent' default as major lease nears deadline

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...-downtown.html

"A recent loan servicer report listed occupancy at a relatively healthy 86% as of June, though the Grant Building's biggest tenant's lease is close to ending.

Huntington Bancshares, a Columbus-based bank that ranks as Pittsburgh's seventh-largest bank by deposit market share, has a more than 58,000-square-foot office in the Grant Building for which the lease is scheduled to expire next April, according to loan servicer notes.

Following what has become a persistent trend of companies working to reduce the size of their offices since they need less from hybrid-work arrangements, sources indicate that Huntington has been engaged in a search for a new office that will likely be much smaller, in the range of 15,000 square feet.

The remaining balance on the loan for the building is more than $36.7 million for an original loan balance of $38 million."



no word on what will happen to the signage


Bloomfield, the next neighborhood targeted for high-rise apartment complex, against zoning code

https://www.wtae.com/article/pittsbu...mplex/45727700

"Community Supermarket is one of the oldest landmark neighborhood grocery stores, carrying a legacy spanning decades.

However, its days appear to be numbered, as Echo Realty is positioned to build Bloomfield Square on the same parcel, at 4100 Liberty Ave., facing the Bloomfield Bridge.

Many residents and business owners in the neighborhood agree that something attractive should be built in its place, but there was mixed reaction when it became public that Echo Realty wants to build Bloomfield Square.

That proposed development will have a grocery store, along with more than 260 units, but what Echo is requesting is what rubs some people the wrong way.

Pittsburgh's zoning ordinance for that parcel says a building should not exceed four stories or 50 feet. Echo Realty is requesting a variance to make Bloomfield Square six stories."

[shantyside]

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey reveals early talks for downtown redevelopment plan

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...ment-plan.html

"Amid a progress report on various organizational maneuvers within city government and touting decreases in reports of violent crime downtown, Gainey revealed early talks with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development among others on establishing a new redevelopment plan for the Central Business District.

Gainey was quick to emphasize that it's only in the earliest discussions of establishing a downtown redevelopment plan and had no other meaningful details to share on just what such a plan might consist of.

But he also articulated a great need for it.

"We've got some buildings that could go dark," Gainey said. "We need a new plan for downtown. The real estate market isn't coming back."

With some estimates putting the percentage of office buildings here and elsewhere that are feasible for residential conversion at 30%, Gainey seems to realize there will need to be other approaches that could be hashed out in a downtown redevelopment plan.."



suggestion to the gainey administration - look to pittsburgh's recent past for guidance

our riverfronts were once lined with steel mills - when the steel industry left and the mills were abandoned, developers did not seek to convert the mills into malls - they tore them down and started from scratch

fact the facts and realize many downtown office buildings eventually need to be demolished and replaced with buildings similar in scale to what you find in the strip district and the rest of the city

[photoLith]

This isn’t development related but today I went to the Greensburg museum of art to see the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, it’s definitely worth it to go see his plans for downtown Pittsburgh.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by shantyside

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey reveals early talks for downtown redevelopment plan

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...ment-plan.html

"Amid a progress report on various organizational maneuvers within city government and touting decreases in reports of violent crime downtown, Gainey revealed early talks with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development among others on establishing a new redevelopment plan for the Central Business District.

Gainey was quick to emphasize that it's only in the earliest discussions of establishing a downtown redevelopment plan and had no other meaningful details to share on just what such a plan might consist of.

But he also articulated a great need for it.

"We've got some buildings that could go dark," Gainey said. "We need a new plan for downtown. The real estate market isn't coming back."

With some estimates putting the percentage of office buildings here and elsewhere that are feasible for residential conversion at 30%, Gainey seems to realize there will need to be other approaches that could be hashed out in a downtown redevelopment plan.."



suggestion to the gainey administration - look to pittsburgh's recent past for guidance

our riverfronts were once lined with steel mills - when the steel industry left and the mills were abandoned, developers did not seek to convert the mills into malls - they tore them down and started from scratch

fact the facts and realize many downtown office buildings eventually need to be demolished and replaced with buildings similar in scale to what you find in the strip district and the rest of the city

The unfortunate truth is the best buildings to convert from office to residential remain the older, shorter office buildings. They've been done at a steady clip, but there are a good number of these grand old dames left, like the Park Building and the lower floors of the Oliver Building (which weren't made part of the hotel). Old charm and small floor plates just make it much easier.

It's just much harder with the postwar buildings, though obviously it can be done (see the Alcoa building). Gateway Center would probably be a great residential conversion - the cruciform floor plan was really used more for residential at the time anyway, and lends itself to apartments well.

The buildings that seem most ill-suited for residential conversion downtown are, unfortunately, the ones that comprise the most visible portions of the skyline. It's hard to see One PPG Place, for example, ever working as a residential building. Or the U.S. Steel Tower. Or even Fifth Avenue Place.

I think the idea of demolishing any of these buildings just seems a folly, however. It's worth remembering that. even in Oakland, Uptown, and increasingly the Strip, most new construction is now steel, and we don't see the "five over one" crap that litters much of the rest of the city. I really don't want to see another out-of-scale structure like PNC Firstside marring downtown. Because in the end, if a block-wide structure like One Oxford came down, it would be replaced by another, shorter block-wide structure, not a return to finely-grained urbanism.

[shantyside]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I really don't want to see another out-of-scale structure like PNC Firstside marring downtown. Because in the end, if a block-wide structure like One Oxford came down, it would be replaced by another, shorter block-wide structure, not a return to finely-grained urbanism.

what's wrong with PNC firstside? - i think that's one of the better buildings downtown, especially if you subscribe like i do to the zoning concept of building heights steadily decreasing from the steel building to the rivers



it fits nicely with the skyline and with the roadways and street grid

[shantyside]

Half baked? Pact for East End development has mayor hungry for more affordable housing

https://www.publicsource.org/east-li...ey-pittsburgh/

"In order for Walnut Capital to begin their planned redevelopment of Bakery Square, the city’s zoning board must first approve the special zoning application, but the board’s upcoming meeting agenda does not include this issue.

By leaning too heavily on the community benefits agreement, Schwab said, Walnut Capital is missing out on input from other parts of the community that aren’t represented by the two community organizations that signed the pact.

Schwab suggested Walnut Capital look to Giant Eagle’s real estate company ECHO Realty’s efforts to demolish the grocery store on Shakespeare Street and replace it with a new store and housing, as a possible model to be replicated. Like the Bakery Square expansion, the Giant Eagle plan was also contentious, and a zoning change was denied in 2020.

“They went through a very sincere several-year process, talking to the communities and neighborhood and various advocates – food access, transit, circulation, parking folks,” Schwab said. “That’s what [Walnut Capital] was trying to get around by getting a CBA going.”

Mayor Gainey, in his interview, said his goal is simple.

“My philosophy is this: I want affordable housing. That doesn’t slow down development.”

He continued, “If that’s slowing you down then you’re using that as an excuse to get what you want. But that’s not my interest. My interest is making this city affordable so people want to be here.”

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The unfortunate truth is the best buildings to convert from office to residential remain the older, shorter office buildings. They've been done at a steady clip, but there are a good number of these grand old dames left, like the Park Building and the lower floors of the Oliver Building (which weren't made part of the hotel). Old charm and small floor plates just make it much easier.

It's just much harder with the postwar buildings, though obviously it can be done (see the Alcoa building). Gateway Center would probably be a great residential conversion - the cruciform floor plan was really used more for residential at the time anyway, and lends itself to apartments well.

The buildings that seem most ill-suited for residential conversion downtown are, unfortunately, the ones that comprise the most visible portions of the skyline. It's hard to see One PPG Place, for example, ever working as a residential building. Or the U.S. Steel Tower. Or even Fifth Avenue Place.

I think the idea of demolishing any of these buildings just seems a folly, however. It's worth remembering that. even in Oakland, Uptown, and increasingly the Strip, most new construction is now steel, and we don't see the "five over one" crap that litters much of the rest of the city. I really don't want to see another out-of-scale structure like PNC Firstside marring downtown. Because in the end, if a block-wide structure like One Oxford came down, it would be replaced by another, shorter block-wide structure, not a return to finely-grained urbanism.

Demolishing Pittsburgh's tallest structures seems silly to me. The older historic structures should be saved. I have not heard of any US city considering the demolition of it's skyscrapers for midrise apartments.

I thought we would consider growing businesses to fill the spaces.

Did anyone notice the new street scape plans for Smithfield St.? Smithfield and the Blvd of the Allies never got the revamp similar to Liberty, Penn, Fifth, and Forbes Avenues. The retail and pedestrian plans look good. I will post the renderings at some point.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by shantyside

what's wrong with PNC firstside? - i think that's one of the better buildings downtown, especially if you subscribe like i do to the zoning concept of building heights steadily decreasing from the steel building to the rivers



it fits nicely with the skyline and with the roadways and street grid

I agree. PNC Firstside and the Parklet replaced the old abandoned Baltimore and Lake Erie Railroad Terminal and the abandoned mid century Allegheny County Jail annex. That section of downtown was dark and desolate. The same can be said about the Mellon Client Service Center. That section of Ross Street was a deadzone with a large fence with a hole in the ground. If anyone remembers the rear entrance to Steel Plaza......decending the wooden steps into what felt like a construction ditch. Both PNC Firstside and the BNY Mellon Client Service Center's expanded the footprint of downtown and kept hundreds of back office operations in downtown.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by shantyside

what's wrong with PNC firstside?

For me, the main thing is that it is a full-block-plus-sized building that's only 4-5 stories.

Along with the convention center and the arena, PNC Firstside makes the largest footprint in the downtown area... yet it's an office building, not a massive assembly center.

Show me a single office building (or any building other than the convention center or arena) in the downtown that has a footprint the size of PNC Firstside...

That makes it completely out-of-scale, as eschaton correctly stated.

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

I agree. PNC Firstside and the Parklet replaced the old abandoned Baltimore and Lake Erie Railroad Terminal and the abandoned mid century Allegheny County Jail annex. That section of downtown was dark and desolate. The same can be said about the Mellon Client Service Center. That section of Ross Street was a deadzone with a large fence with a hole in the ground. If anyone remembers the rear entrance to Steel Plaza......decending the wooden steps into what felt like a construction ditch. Both PNC Firstside and the BNY Mellon Client Service Center's expanded the footprint of downtown and kept hundreds of back office operations in downtown.

Whether or not the locations were dark and desolate or dead zones prior to these buildings' existence, or whether or not their existence has kept employment downtown, is irrelevant to a discussion about appropriate scale of the buildings in relation to their environment.

That being said, BNY Mellon is a high-rise office building and is not out-of-scale in a downtown area.

PNC Firstside is a design much better suited to the Pittsburgh Technology Center up the river.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by shantyside

what's wrong with PNC firstside? - i think that's one of the better buildings downtown, especially if you subscribe like i do to the zoning concept of building heights steadily decreasing from the steel building to the rivers



it fits nicely with the skyline and with the roadways and street grid

The building height is fine, but the massing is bad for downtown, as it effectively fills two city blocks (I presume Ross used to continue another block south, at one point, even if not immediately prior).

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

Demolishing Pittsburgh's tallest structures seems silly to me. The older historic structures should be saved. I have not heard of any US city considering the demolition of it's skyscrapers for midrise apartments.

Agreed. We're in the same boat as everywhere else in the country, and really only have around a dozen true highrises downtown to seriously worry about.

Ideally, office space would consolidate in these highrises, leaving the rest for residential, but that level of centralized planning in land use just isn't possible within U.S. zoning (or really any non-command economy) so we just have to see how it shakes out.

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

I thought we would consider growing businesses to fill the spaces.

I'm just not seeing what "growing businesses" downtown would have at this point. Even personal service firms like doctor's officers and the like are moving out of downtown, as the decline in patients who walk from work more than counteracts the higher residential population.

I could see more things like yoga studios and doggy daycares opening up on the upper floors of some of these office buildings, but I don't think that would be enough to fill them up.

Also, while I know the remaining indoor shopping areas downtown (like the mini-mall in Fifth Avenue Place, or that sad section within the Warner Center) have struggled, I hate to say it, but with the rise in the visible homeless/addict/weird, overly-tattooed loiterer population downtown, I could see a return to popularity here for a shopping arcade, where security would bar entry from these folks. I hope it doesn't come to that, because it would lead to a further death of street-level activity downtown.

Originally Posted by wpipkins2

Did anyone notice the new street scape plans for Smithfield St.? Smithfield and the Blvd of the Allies never got the revamp similar to Liberty, Penn, Fifth, and Forbes Avenues. The retail and pedestrian plans look good. I will post the renderings at some point.

You mean to widen the sidewalks and add street trees? It's long overdue, but it will only accomplish so much. Smithfield has so many parking garages fronting on it (three straight blocks between Allies and Forbes) that it's never going to have the same level of streetscape vitality as Penn or Liberty.

[photoLith]

Some updates from yesterday of the FNB Tower.

Untitled by PittsburghMarbles, on Flickr

Untitled by PittsburghMarbles, on Flickr

[pj3000]

^ Thanks for the new shots of this good-looking, glassy building.

And such a relief that it will feature corporate signage on all four sides. I was worried that we wouldn't get to see that awesome logo from all angles in the city.

[eschaton]

The ZBA vetoed Echo Realty's proposal for the Bloomfield Square development. It's not necessarily dead - the first proposal for the Shakespeare Street site was also defeated, but it's now under construction. But it doesn't look good.

Your weekly reminder that the ZBA is an impediment to development. Actually, I don't even blame the ZBA itself for this - their hands are tied by zoning code (which only allows for three-story infill by right in LNC-zoned areas). Indeed, they note that while the project got community buy-in, their role is simply to follow the plain letter of the law, and new legislation is really needed to allow for this.

In the end, this is the fault of the city for keeping in place a zoning system which allows for a loud minority (or even one person, if they hire a lawyer) to have veto power over virtually any higher-density development within a neighborhood.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by pj3000

For me, the main thing is that it is a full-block-plus-sized building that's only 4-5 stories.

Along with the convention center and the arena, PNC Firstside makes the largest footprint in the downtown area... yet it's an office building, not a massive assembly center.

Show me a single office building (or any building other than the convention center or arena) in the downtown that has a footprint the size of PNC Firstside...

That makes it completely out-of-scale, as eschaton correctly stated.



Whether or not the locations were dark and desolate or dead zones prior to these buildings' existence, or whether or not their existence has kept employment downtown, is irrelevant to a discussion about appropriate scale of the buildings in relation to their environment.

That being said, BNY Mellon is a high-rise office building and is not out-of-scale in a downtown area.

PNC Firstside is a design much better suited to the Pittsburgh Technology Center up the river.

The design is better suited for a financial institution trying to keep hundreds of jobs close to reliable public transportation. Form vs function with the added benefit of an expanded and upgraded jail trail. The First Avenue T Station and garage received funding because of PNC’s investment in downtown. The PNC operations center is an asset to downtown Pittsburgh.

[themaguffin]

Originally Posted by pj3000

For me, the main thing is that it is a full-block-plus-sized building that's only 4-5 stories.

Along with the convention center and the arena, PNC Firstside makes the largest footprint in the downtown area... yet it's an office building, not a massive assembly center.

Show me a single office building (or any building other than the convention center or arena) in the downtown that has a footprint the size of PNC Firstside...

That makes it completely out-of-scale, as eschaton correctly stated.



Whether or not the locations were dark and desolate or dead zones prior to these buildings' existence, or whether or not their existence has kept employment downtown, is irrelevant to a discussion about appropriate scale of the buildings in relation to their environment.

That being said, BNY Mellon is a high-rise office building and is not out-of-scale in a downtown area.

PNC Firstside is a design much better suited to the Pittsburgh Technology Center up the river.

Absolutely agree with all of this and have felt that way since it was built.

[BrianTH]

Icelandair has opened up seasonal service from Pittsburgh next year:

https://blueskypit.com/2023/11/02/ic...-begin-in-may/

We had been planning to use the Wow flight back in the day, but then Wow ran into huge financial trouble. However, apparently the Wow flight had been doing well, which helped persuade Icelandair to add Pittsburgh to its flight map.

Reykjavik also has some interesting further destinations available:

https://blueskypit.com/wp-content/up...8-1200x800.jpg

It could provide some valuable competition to going through London for some destinations, and in fact is much closer to being on the shortest route to Scandinavia, and about the same for Northern Germany or Denmark.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Icelandair has opened up seasonal service from Pittsburgh next year:

https://blueskypit.com/2023/11/02/ic...-begin-in-may/

We had been planning to use the Wow flight back in the day, but then Wow ran into huge financial trouble. However, apparently the Wow flight had been doing well, which helped persuade Icelandair to add Pittsburgh to its flight map.

Reykjavik also has some interesting further destinations available:

https://blueskypit.com/wp-content/up...8-1200x800.jpg

It could provide some valuable competition to going through London for some destinations, and in fact is much closer to being on the shortest route to Scandinavia, and about the same for Northern Germany or Denmark.

Wish I could take advantage of this, but we had two international vacations last year. It was an accident - we had planned a family vacation to the UK for spring break, but my wife's father had an accident (and ultimately died), but she felt strongly I shouldn't cancel the vacation, so I went alone with the kids. Then she had a flight credit to use with British Airways within six months, so the two of us went to the Netherlands sans kids in August.