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  #881  
Old Posted Apr 21, 2018, 11:11 PM
wpipkins2 wpipkins2 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
It looks to me like there is some sort of grand staircase from the relocated Station down to Penn (right now that is just a retaining wall with a mural). That would be incredibly handy for just the reason you mentioned.

I've also heard they are talking about opening up the passage at the Train Station, which comes out on Pennwood as seen here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wi...!4d-79.8819942
The original Wilkinsburg station sat directly over Penn Avenue. The view up there was amazing. I was shocked when they decided to moved the stop during the extension and park and ride addition.
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  #882  
Old Posted Apr 22, 2018, 1:26 AM
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Austinlee Austinlee is offline
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Originally Posted by wpipkins2 View Post
The original Wilkinsburg station sat directly over Penn Avenue. The view up there was amazing. I was shocked when they decided to moved the stop during the extension and park and ride addition.
How long ago was that? I'm unfamiliar.
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  #883  
Old Posted Apr 23, 2018, 10:40 AM
wpipkins2 wpipkins2 is offline
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How long ago was that? I'm unfamiliar.
Not sure. The original Wilkinsburg Station moved during the busway extension project. 2003 or 2004?
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  #884  
Old Posted Apr 23, 2018, 2:28 PM
BrianTH BrianTH is offline
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Just to clarify, my understanding is the current train station building has always been in its current location since it was built circa 1915, replacing a station that was farther southeast (this was the era in which the tracks were also elevated). But it used to have long platforms which could be accessed from Penn.

Here is a map from 1903 showing a station along Wood near Franklin:

http://historicpittsburgh.org/island...75e1941/viewer

Here is one from 1915 showing the "new" station, same shape as today and same location at the end of Ross:

http://historicpittsburgh.org/island...ns-0003/viewer

Here is a map from 1941 showing the train station and platforms with access at Penn:

http://historicpittsburgh.org/island...75e1941/viewer

A couple postcards from the early era showing the station and platforms:





From what I have read, the platforms were removed some time between 1975, when Amtrak discontinued use of station, and 1981, when there was briefly commuter service between Pittsburgh and Greensburg. That service stopped in Wilkinsburg, but didn't use the station in part because the platforms had already been removed by then (or so I was told).

So I assume the references above are to the Busway station.

ETA:

Here is a reference to the "relocated" Busway station in December of 2002, in the context of discussing the opening of the Park and Ride lot:

https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsbur...9/daily32.html
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  #885  
Old Posted Apr 23, 2018, 2:42 PM
BrianTH BrianTH is offline
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Completely apropos of nothing, here is a shot of a streetcar on Trenton Avenue back in the 1960s, followed by a bus coming down the same block in 2017:

http://www.historicpittsburgh.org/is....058.PF/viewer

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4441...7i13312!8i6656
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  #886  
Old Posted Apr 24, 2018, 4:09 PM
Captain Crash Captain Crash is offline
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Something of interest on Mt. Washington caught my eye while walking the dog this weekend. The two remaining houses at the corner of Wyoming and Sycamore have notices posted for planned demolition. The owner on the notices is One Grandview LLC. These houses were occupied until recently and I don't think were included with the original footprint of the previous proposals for One Grandview. Perhaps a possible sign of progress with an enlarged scope?

The houses in question are these two: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4304...2!8i6656?hl=en
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  #887  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2018, 1:49 PM
eschaton eschaton is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianTH View Post
Completely apropos of nothing, here is a shot of a streetcar on Trenton Avenue back in the 1960s, followed by a bus coming down the same block in 2017:

http://www.historicpittsburgh.org/is....058.PF/viewer

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4441...7i13312!8i6656
Trenton Avenue has a potentially nice little mini-business district that's basically totally unknown outside of the area. I'm actually always a bit surprised that Peebles Square hasn't turned around more, considering all of the other Wilkinsburg neighborhoods on the West side of the Busway are pretty nice.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Crash View Post
Something of interest on Mt. Washington caught my eye while walking the dog this weekend. The two remaining houses at the corner of Wyoming and Sycamore have notices posted for planned demolition. The owner on the notices is One Grandview LLC. These houses were occupied until recently and I don't think were included with the original footprint of the previous proposals for One Grandview. Perhaps a possible sign of progress with an enlarged scope?

The houses in question are these two: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4304...2!8i6656?hl=en
IIRC they said they bought out some of the remaining houses as part of the "reboot" of the project. Looking at the assessor's site, they've bought everything up to this house, though they own property on both sides of it, meaning presumably they'd like it as well.
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  #888  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2018, 3:18 PM
UppaMahnt UppaMahnt is offline
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Good eye! I walk past this all the time and never noticed. I looked up those two addresses on the Allegheny County Tax Assessment site and it appears that One Grandview Realty acquired them, along with 8 other parcels on that corner in December 2017 for $1.5M. Being as I'm very interested in this project (some might use the word obsessed ), I checked every single parcel down that hillside and found that they bought most of those properties back in May 2016 for $3M. I created a little map showing which properties they now own.



Sorry it's a little ghetto. I couldn't get it to save properly with the overlays so I got agitated and just took a picture with my phone.

What's really enlightening about this is that the old rendering of the project does not appear to stretch out into these properties at all... I agree that this points to an expansion/complete redesign, which makes sense since those renderings are pretty old by now.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that there are two properties on the map owned by Steven Beemsterboer, who is one of the owners of One Grandview Realty. These were purchased in 2013, likely before the creation of their LLC.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Captain Crash View Post
Something of interest on Mt. Washington caught my eye while walking the dog this weekend. The two remaining houses at the corner of Wyoming and Sycamore have notices posted for planned demolition. The owner on the notices is One Grandview LLC. These houses were occupied until recently and I don't think were included with the original footprint of the previous proposals for One Grandview. Perhaps a possible sign of progress with an enlarged scope?

The houses in question are these two: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4304...2!8i6656?hl=en
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  #889  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2018, 5:29 PM
BrianTH BrianTH is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
Trenton Avenue has a potentially nice little mini-business district that's basically totally unknown outside of the area. I'm actually always a bit surprised that Peebles Square hasn't turned around more, considering all of the other Wilkinsburg neighborhoods on the West side of the Busway are pretty nice.
Things are inching that way renovation by renovation, but it has been slow going. That little district near Trenton and South now has Percolate, an art gallery, and the Park Place Fresh Market, but it could handle a lot more.

I might note another little commercial district, around Trenton and Union, has taken off recently with the addition of a new bakery, Madeleine, which complements the longer-standing coffee house, Biddle's Escape. Still more potential there too.
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  #890  
Old Posted Apr 25, 2018, 5:38 PM
BrianTH BrianTH is offline
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So they own this little car pad, but not the buildings on each side?

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.4298...7i13312!8i6656
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  #891  
Old Posted Apr 26, 2018, 7:07 PM
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This is the shortest Planning Commission presentation in recent memory. There is only one item on the agenda at all - the demolition of 1231 Penn Avenue. I noticed the blue sign on the building the other week. Looking online, this was covered in detail by The Incline a few days ago. The irony of the History Center demolishing what it admits is the oldest remaining building on this block is palpable.

Last edited by eschaton; Apr 27, 2018 at 8:05 PM.
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  #892  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2018, 2:06 PM
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Some more on the Rugby Realty Strip District project...

Quote:
One of the Strip District’s next significant redevelopment projects is ready to begin pursuing public approvals.

A firm called 225 Smallman Associates LP, which is affiliated with Rugby Realty Co., is scheduled to appear before the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustments on May 10, seeking a special exception for building height for their proposal at 2200 Smallman Street, according to agenda documents.

It’s a site of about four acres for which Rugby first bought the first parcels nearly 11 years ago. Since then, the company cleared few mature, smaller industrial buildings from a larger development site that also now includes the former Benkovitz Seafood and Nordic Fisheries properties.

According to the zoning agenda, New Jersey-based Rugby proposes to build a seven-story, mixed-use building that will include a parking garage.

The company is pursuing a project expected to total 108.5 feet in height in a location in which the established zoning height limit is 60 feet and four stories.

An official for Rugby declined to comment on the proposal before zoning.

Lawrenceville-based Desmone Associates is the architect for the project, with which Rugby has been working with Cincinnati-based Al. Neyer as a joint venture partner.

Long under consideration, Rugby’s project is the latest to begin the development process along a stretch of more than five blocks of Smallman Street buzzing with plans.

Rugby’s site is next to the end of the Strip’s five-block-long terminal building that Chicago-based McCaffery Interests is working with the Peduto Administration to redevelop into a public market, combining a new food-centric market hall, office space and other commercial users.

McCaffery is pursuing the terminal plan along with a project to redevelop 1600 Smallman across the street into a renovated office address, with the two companion projects estimated to cost $100 million.

On the other end of the terminal building, RDC Inc. is progressing with construction on its 105,000-square-foot District 15 office project.

At the same time, the Urban Redevelopment Authority is pursuing a tax increment finance plan to invest upwards of $9 million on much-needed upgrades to Smallman Street itself along the stretch that passes by the terminal building, with new water and sewer improvements along with safety features in a plan to make the street more accommodating to cyclists and pedestrians.

Rugby’s project is slated to go before zoning in advance of Pittsburgh City Council voting to implement a new Riverfront Zoning ordinance, or RIV, which the Pittsburgh Planning Commission voted to recommend for approval in early March.

While the site is within the zone subject to the RIV, Rugby’s scheduled hearing on the agenda of the zoning board of adjustments suggests it will be voted on before a new zoning ordinance could go into affect.

Kevin McKeegan, a lawyer who specializes in real estate for Meyer Unkovic & Scott, said that any new application for a zoning variance under city law is postponed for a vote when such zoning changes are under consideration.

But applications already scheduled for a hearing should go forward under current zoning law, he added.
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  #893  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2018, 4:14 PM
eschaton eschaton is online now
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Also, a quick update on building permits: It looks like construction will begin soon on 1450 5th Avenue (new six-story apartment building in Uptown), 3423 Forbes Avenue (197-unit apartment building), and 350 Technology Drive (Burns-Scalo office building at PTC).

Edit: Also noted that the Holy Family Church/school in Lawrenceville is slated for demolition. There's a long backstory here we've discussed before. E Properties & Development bought the structures with plans rehab into apartments, but local NIMBYs blocked him - in part (my wife went to some community meetings before we moved) due to racial animus (given the owner was Nigerian, some locals thought he would help more of "his people" move into the neighborhood. Ultimately a zoning variance allowing for multi-family was granted, but with a much lower unit count and higher parking minimums than the developer wanted. They put the parcel on the market last year. Looks like someone has bought it, and decided the easiest thing to do is to knock everything down and start fresh. Real estate prices in Lawrenceville are high enough that starting with a clean slate and just filling in the block with townhouses would likely make financial sense now. It's a shame the buildings won't be saved though.

Last edited by eschaton; Apr 27, 2018 at 4:27 PM.
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  #894  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2018, 4:24 PM
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I rode my bike through Uptown last night and noticed that damned near half the buildings have blue demolition signs plasters on them, especially in between Moultire and Gist Street along Forbes Avenue. That neighborhood will soon will lose any semblance of any remaining urban fabric and most of the buildings they look to be tearing down are from around 1850-1880 so that sucks hard.
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  #895  
Old Posted Apr 27, 2018, 4:29 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photoLith View Post
I rode my bike through Uptown last night and noticed that damned near half the buildings have blue demolition signs plasters on them, especially in between Moultire and Gist Street along Forbes Avenue. That neighborhood will soon will lose any semblance of any remaining urban fabric and most of the buildings they look to be tearing down are from around 1850-1880 so that sucks hard.
A blue sign isn't an immediate death sentence for a building in Pittsburgh. It's basically the city telling everyone (including the property owners) that if the situation isn't rectified they're going to eventually knock the buildings down. But it can take years in some cases.
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  #896  
Old Posted Apr 28, 2018, 4:28 PM
BrianTH BrianTH is offline
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The Downtown branch of the Carnegie Library is looking to expand, and therefore might be relocating:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201804280068

Whether or not they move, an expansion would be great. I know it is an amenity many of us commuters use.
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  #897  
Old Posted Apr 29, 2018, 9:56 PM
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Some photos from today

AF5_3611 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_3570 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_3568 by photolitherland, on Flickr
Looks like they're finally doing some work on that school along Butler Street in Lville

AF5_3559 by photolitherland, on Flickr

AF5_3549 by photolitherland, on Flickr
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  #898  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2018, 12:14 AM
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Unique, and uniquely informative, perspectives, as usual.
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  #899  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2018, 2:53 PM
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My apologies for the terrible image quality (iphone camera lens died and had to use the tiny selfie lens!... arrgh!), but I was on the rooftop deck (which is awesome, BTW) of the Benedum Trees Building last week and got some shots.

I noticed significant site prep being done at the Glass House site across the Mon (not that you can make any of that out in this photo!). And I like that little 222 Blvd. of Allies building with the white facade.


Progress atop what I call the "Gold's Gym Building".


I've noticed a few times now that Market Square has lost much of it's atmosphere now that the tables and chairs have been removed.


I've always felt that the Diamond Building's back presents such an awkward "face" to the Square and to the city's "entrance" coming off the Ft. Pitt onto Liberty where one is 'welcomed to the Golden Triangle'. A thin condo tower built next to it and atop the existing base like the one being contructed on Penn currently would be really nice.
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  #900  
Old Posted Apr 30, 2018, 6:10 PM
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5/17 ZBA agenda is up. Some interesting items this week. By far the most important is Buncher appears to be ready to build the next two residential buildings on Watefront Place. Total unit count is now 443. They are asking to go back on a few elements of the master plan as originally proposed, including having a carport on Waterfront Place (it's supposed to be on the side street) adding accessory surface parking on 17th street, and eliminating plans for commercial space along 17th Street. All of these changes will make the development less pedestrian friendly than originally proposed.

There are several other smaller items as well, including three infill houses in Central Lawrenceville (here), some rehabs and new uses for existing buildings in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Homewood, and Manchester, and the curious case of an appeal of a rejection of a demolition permit for a house which seems to already have been demolished.
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