PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II - Page 473

BrianTH · #**9441** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 2:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Wow, that looks horrifying. It looks like a county jail or a youth correctional facility in that rendering.

I actually like our county jail a lot better:

Private Dick · #**9442** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 3:17 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I actually like our county jail a lot better:

I like that sweet speedboat burnin' up the Mon!

Urbana · #**9443** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 4:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyPittsburgh

This rendering appears to be the one most drawn out, the one with the most detail to it. If I had to wager, I would think this is the design they are going with.

Who knows what is going on behind closed doors. They could have been going with the nice design until they decided to add the office component - making them more inclined to value-engineer the apartments.

BrianTH · #**9444** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 6:51 PM**

Nice update on the Hotel Indigo in East Liberty:

http://newpittsburghcourieronline.co...-east-liberty/

The corner suites in the former Governors Hotel sound very appealing. Anyway, they are apparently on schedule to open in January (if not earlier), and in fact you can make reservations now starting January 11:

http://www.ihg.com/hotelindigo/hotel...hb/hoteldetail

BrianTH · #**9445** Posted **Aug 20, 2014, 6:57 PM**

Also found this nice rendering of the future Ace Hotel at the following link . . . what I love about this rendering is it looks almost purely historic (and very classy):

http://www.trfund.com/ace-hotel/

BrianTH · #**9446** Posted **Aug 21, 2014, 4:55 PM**

Rugby wants to do a mixed-use development in the Ayoob/Benkowitz site in the Strip:

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201408210244

It is a little concerning the existing historic buildings are getting demolished without any fanfare, but apparently they were in very bad condition. Otherwise, this could be great, and in fact it could help reframe the nearby portion of Smallman across from the Produce Terminal as a plaza centered on St. Stanislaus. And a hotel (as they are discussing) could really help add to that portion of the Strip as a tourist destination (it would bookend the other new hotel going above Lidia's).

photoLith · #**9447** Posted **Aug 21, 2014, 5:58 PM**

Whatever will be built there, I'm sure it will be mundane and architecturally inferior to what other cities are doing.

BrianTH · #**9448** Posted **Aug 21, 2014, 6:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Whatever will be built there, I'm sure it will be mundane and architecturally inferior to what other cities are doing.

I'd settle for anything that blended pretty well with the historic industrial Strip buildings nearby (e.g., Cork Factory, and the multi-story warehouses along Smithfield). I thought Lot 24 did this pretty well--there is nothing groundbreaking about its design, but it sort of looks like someone did a conversion of an existing industrial building ala Otto Milk. The Hampton Inn is, frankly, boring, but it also blends well, and I think the design for the new Homewood Suites (in progress) also looks suitable.

Austinlee · #**9449** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 3:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Whatever will be built there, I'm sure it will be mundane and architecturally inferior to what other cities are doing.

You've become the cynical, negative Pittsburgher that you first spoke about when you moved here.

And in what, less than a year? A new record!

Austinlee · #**9450** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 3:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Also found this nice rendering of the future Ace Hotel at the following link . . . what I love about this rendering is it looks almost purely historic (and very classy):

http://www.trfund.com/ace-hotel/

I've had this rendering on page 1 for quite some time.

BrianTH · #**9451** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 3:26 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I've had this rendering on page 1 for quite some time.

I noticed that after posting it (I guess it has been a while since I saw Page 1!). Interestingly it looks to me like your version is for the old Y Lofts, and this is a very lightly updated version for the Ace Hotel.

photoLith · #**9452** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 3:50 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinlee

You've become the cynical, negative Pittsburgher that you first spoke about when you moved here.

And in what, less than a year? A new record!

Hooray!

BrianTH · #**9453** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 6:05 AM**

The East Warehouse at Station Square is coming down starting Monday (or even earlier):

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201408220082

They are still saying this is the first step toward a residential development, but those plans remain very vague.

GeneW · #**9454** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 11:57 AM**

Nonprofit intends to restore West End Village tavern

Quote:

Preservationists are working to purchase and restore the tavern, built in what became West End Village around the end of the Revolutionary War. Last year they established a nonprofit, Pittsburgh's Old Stone Tavern Friends Trust Inc., and hope to begin raising money shortly.

Quote:

Michael Shealey, an architect who researched tavern history, said it was constructed about 1782-84 by Daniel Elliott, a Revolutionary War veteran with large land holdings in the West End. The tavern was known as Elliott's and the Elliott neighborhood is named for him.

A tavern ledger from 1793-97 shows about 500 accounts to leading citizens, including Revolutionary War Gen. John Neville; John Woods, a member of one of Pittsburgh's founding families whose Hazelwood home is on the National Register of Historic Places; and Hugh Henry Brackenridge, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice and founder of the University of Pittsburgh.

Shealey's a good friend, I hope that he and his group can pull this off and save the tavern.

photoLith · #**9455** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 12:20 PM**

I am working with him on the preservation of the tavern, me and him documented it for the national register of historic place listing. I'm also coauthoring a book with Michael. He's a pretty good guy.

Austinlee · #**9456** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 1:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I noticed that after posting it (I guess it has been a while since I saw Page 1!). Interestingly it looks to me like your version is for the old Y Lofts, and this is a very lightly updated version for the Ace Hotel.

I probably have a few renderings on page 1 that aren't correct or accurate anymore. I need to weed them out. Any suggestions are always welcome to keep the renderings page accurate.

DKNewYork · #**9457** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 5:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneW

Nonprofit intends to restore West End Village tavern

Shealey's a good friend, I hope that he and his group can pull this off and save the tavern.

I hope so as well. I bet a public campaign to raise funds from the general public would generate the interest of a foundation or two.

PHLF has been talking to the owner for a few years and I hear, all in all, he's not a bad guy. He has put some limited funds into the building to prevent further deterioration. And for a business owner who purchased the building in order to tear it down, his low-key reaction to the historic designation was unusual and welcome. I'm told that his asking price for the entire property is reasonable, not extortionist. He needs enough to relocate his business. And that would be best for the restored tavern---to be viable, it can't be surrounded by his construction yard.

The people behind the Old Stone Tavern Friends Trust have met with PHLF a few times this year to discuss strategies and funding options. Let's hope the money can be found.

photoLith · #**9458** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 5:25 PM**

Ive talked to the guy that owns the Old Stone Tavern, he doesnt want that building preserved, he wanted to tear it down to make more room for his storage yard. He isnt very friendly towards preservationists, in fact he was downright condescending towards us and thinks the building is a thorn in his side.

AaronPGH · #**9459** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 6:45 PM**

Heard a terrible rumor today that Gumberg (the guy responsible for the potential Autozone on Penn Ave) wants to replace the Penn Plaza apartments in East Liberty with a Wal-Mart.

DKNewYork · #**9460** Posted **Aug 22, 2014, 7:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photoLith

Ive talked to the guy that owns the Old Stone Tavern, he doesnt want that building preserved, he wanted to tear it down to make more room for his storage yard. He isnt very friendly towards preservationists, in fact he was downright condescending towards us and thinks the building is a thorn in his side.

I have never met or talked to the guy. But he had a few meetings with people from PHLF who found him to be reasonable and civil. One person described the owner to me as "direct," which could be what you experienced.

Granted, he bought the building to tear it down and expand his construction yard. But he can't do that now. We don't need him to be a preservationist---we need him to get out of the way, which is precisely what he is willing to do by selling the property. Not just the tavern but rather the whole property, at what appears to be a fair price (or a slight premium for the West End). Jeez, he is willing to relocate his business. How many business owners would willingly go through that hassle? Even if he is using the tavern as leverage to get a better deal for his land because he wants to move, who cares? Let's get him out of the picture.

Did you speak to him as a representative of this new trust? If not, maybe he simply realized that, despite your enthusiasm, you are not a potential buyer and he tuned you out.