PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[photoLith]

The piles of shit at Traoini Group finally got their sick wish of tearing down some of downtowns oldest buildings for a “Bocci Ball Court”. Absolutely mind blowingly idiotic. Their office is just down the street from me. I’m going to leave a flaming bag of dog crap at their front door.

https://www.wtae.com/amp/article/pit...ntown/46116604

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Looks like a new 50-unit apartment complex is coming to Lower Lawrenceville.

This is a very underutilized section of Penn. Filling in that vacant grassy lot will make a big difference in the feel of the block.

That's a decent amount of units for a plot of land that small, right? This should have some height on it? Or maybe it's larger than it looks on Street View...

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by photoLith

The piles of shit at Traoini Group finally got their sick wish of tearing down some of downtowns oldest buildings for a “Bocci Ball Court”. Absolutely mind blowingly idiotic. Their office is just down the street from me. I’m going to leave a flaming bag of dog crap at their front door.

https://www.wtae.com/amp/article/pit...ntown/46116604

It's insane to me that all it took was a fucking bocce court to steamroll all previous succesful preservation efforts.

Here's this email address in case anyone wants to send them a note: planningcommission@pittsburghpa.gov

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

That's a decent amount of units for a plot of land that small, right? This should have some height on it? Or maybe it's larger than it looks on Street View...

Alright, fixed this. Mistakenly replied on the Hazelwood project.

Yeah, that is a is a lot of units considering the size of the building. To put in perspective, the nearby Square View seems to be about 40% of the total footprint of the site in question, yet only fit 12 units. That seems to suggest it's gonna have to be a steel-framed midrise, not a five over one. Unless we're talking micros.

[eschaton]

It looks like Phipps is going to buy the former Irish Center site. The site is going to be mostly used to grow plants for flower shows and as a site for its program to establish green spaces in neighborhoods designated as food deserts.

Kinda meh (I'd wish there was more public use), but sometimes, communities don't get the exact use they're looking for when a use they disagree with is defeated.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Looks like a new 50-unit apartment complex is coming to Lower Lawrenceville.

This is a very underutilized section of Penn. Filling in that vacant grassy lot will make a big difference in the feel of the block.

This could be great for that section of Penn, but I don't have my hopes up if this project takes as long as the same developer's Mellon Orchard project on North Negley. Though I do forget the outcome of the zoning hearing on that project, it's been in the works for at least 5 years.

[BrianTH]

Frontier is expanding service at PIT, including taking a whack at competing with American with twice-daily PHL flights:

https://blueskypit.com/2023/12/front...-4-new-routes/

The PIT to PHL route is a notorious example of how one big carrier keeps monopolizing the route by dropping prices and going way overcapacity whenever a competitor appears, then lowering capacity and jacking back up prices once the competitor is forced out. We'll see if Frontier can beat the game this time.

[photoLith]

Wonder how this will pan out...

Japan's Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion

Dec 18 (Reuters) - Japan's Nippon Steel (5401.T) clinched a deal on Monday to buy U.S. Steel (X.N) for $14.9 billion in cash, prevailing in an auction for the 122-year-old iconic steelmaker over rivals including Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF.N) and ArcelorMittal (MT.LU).

The deal price of $55 per share represents a whopping 142% premium to Aug. 11, the last trading day before Cleveland-Cliffs unveiled a $35-per-share cash-and-stock bid for U.S. Steel.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deal...ei-2023-12-18/

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Wonder how this will pan out...

Japan's Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion

https://www.reuters.com/markets/deal...ei-2023-12-18/

I saw something on Reddit this morning how Nippon agreed to abide by all union collective bargaining deals and to keep the headquarters in Pittsburgh.

[bmust71]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The September 19 Planning Commission agenda is now online. Only three items for next week, all of them relatively minor, though they are showing that two projects are continuing to move forward.

3. Demolition of the existing building at 3440 Forbes. This is the two-story building that formerly housed CVS in Oakland, before it relocated into the ground floor of the new Wexford building on the opposite side of Coltart. This is part of the staging for the eventual construction of a new office building on the site, which is expected to begin in late 2024/complete in late 2026.

I'm not sure how dated these are but Strada has a few renderings of the 3440 Forbes tower on there website. Apologies for not dropping in the pics - sometimes I'm able to figure it out but not this time.

https://stradallc.com/projects/3440-forbes/

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by photoLith

The piles of shit at Traoini Group finally got their sick wish of tearing down some of downtowns oldest buildings for a “Bocci Ball Court”. Absolutely mind blowingly idiotic. Their office is just down the street from me. I’m going to leave a flaming bag of dog crap at their front door.

https://www.wtae.com/amp/article/pit...ntown/46116604

Again Pittsburgh pisses away some of its urban treasures.

[eschaton]

In other demolition news...



Citizens Bank just got around to demoing the historic mid-century bank branch yesterday. The building was literally still intact this weekend - this was one day's work.

I remain most pissed not that it is getting demolished, but getting replaced by a smaller, less architecturally interesting bank branch which will have off-street parking. If it were demoed for a higher/better use, I'd be fine with it.

Thankfully this (along with the new Chase next door) will be disposable garbage construction, and might not even last a decade.

Edit: Let me know if you can't see the pic. Hotlinking from Google Drive is always so dicey.

[deja vu]

^ I see the pic. And I cringe.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by deja vu

^ I see the pic. And I cringe.

The way I would have liked to have seen this solved would be if one property owner had bought both this and the former CVS next door, consolidated the two, and built a mid-sized apartment building on the triangular parcel (which could go without structured parking due to being a 5-minute walk from the busway).

I really don't understand the proliferation of bank branches nationwide (another is currently being built at the corner of N Negley and Penn), but they can go pretty much anywhere - they don't need to take up land so close to rapid transit that has higher and better uses.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The way I would have liked to have seen this solved would be if one property owner had bought both this and the former CVS next door, consolidated the two, and built a mid-sized apartment building on the triangular parcel (which could go without structured parking due to being a 5-minute walk from the busway.

I really don't understand the proliferation of bank branches nationwide (another is currently being built at the corner of N Negley and Penn), but they can go pretty much anywhere - they don't need to take up land so close to rapid transit that has higher and better uses.

Exactly. A "flatiron" residential building with street-level retail (or even a bank branch) would have been the way to go.

But I have long abandoned having faith that Pittsburgh developments will be of sound design or even appealing.



I've read that new bank branches are basically just advertising "billboards".

Bank branch locations are actually decreasing in number, but the big banks are focusing on building these small, cheap buildings in high-traffic/in-demand areas to maintain a presence in the collective mind of the consumer populace and convey that they are current and even "cool".

[qwho]

Google maps 3D view seems to have a pretty recent update now for downtown and surroundings. Cool to see the changes in uptown and Oakland.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by bmust71

I'm not sure how dated these are but Strada has a few renderings of the 3440 Forbes tower on there website. Apologies for not dropping in the pics - sometimes I'm able to figure it out but not this time.

https://stradallc.com/projects/3440-forbes/

Not bad! One of the cleaner designs I've seen from Strada.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Not bad! One of the cleaner designs I've seen from Strada.

Yeah not bad:

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by eschaton

In other demolition news...



Citizens Bank just got around to demoing the historic mid-century bank branch yesterday. The building was literally still intact this weekend - this was one day's work.

I remain most pissed not that it is getting demolished, but getting replaced by a smaller, less architecturally interesting bank branch which will have off-street parking. If it were demoed for a higher/better use, I'd be fine with it.

Thankfully this (along with the new Chase next door) will be disposable garbage construction, and might not even last a decade.

Edit: Let me know if you can't see the pic. Hotlinking from Google Drive is always so dicey.

That was quick. I was just there recently.

[BrianTH]

That seems very appropriate for a research building. I like it.

Edit: Also one of the best integrations of above-ground parking levels I have seen.