PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
Are they going to knock down all of that crime riddled 1970s or whatever public housing in the hill and replace it with better public housing?

I mean, they've been in the process of doing this for decades across the city.

Back in the 1990s and 2000s, they closed Broadhead Manor (Fairywood), St. Clair Village (St. Clair), and most of Arlington Heights without any plans for replacement. This indirectly caused the decline of areas like Sheraden and much of the Southern Hilltop, so the city edged away from that.

They much more successfully converted the public housing in Terrace Village (on the other side of the Hill, towards Oakland) into two major mixed-income housing developments over the last 15 years or so (Oak Hill is still filling in, and new apartments were built in the last few years). They've been in the process of rebuilding Allegheny Dwellings as well, which is around half done, IIRC.

Bedford Dwellings is one of the last major "traditional projects" left, and is now slated for total replacement with new developments. After it's gone, all that will be left is Northview Heights, and a relatively small project in Homewood that will be directly managed by HCAP (not counting senior housing, which generally isn't problematic to manage).

My understanding of this plan is basically Phase 1 is going to build some new housing in the Lower Hill to move some of the residents of Bedford Dwellings into. Then they'll demolish part of Bedford Dwellings, freeing up land for the later phases of construction.

Originally Posted by themaguffin

Why can't the 23 story building be residential... assuming they are interested in doing that...?

Obviously, this would necessitate a new design. It would also likely require new financing. At that point they might as well sell the cleaned, leveled site to another developer.

I do expect it will eventually be used for a residential project. One thing about the idea that's promising is they could break up the megablock again, and re-connect Mulberry Way through the block, allowing for greater neighborhood connectivity. Plus the floor plates for two narrower buildings will be easier to lay out units for.

I'd prefer a tower to be on one of the parcels directly abutting the river. Now that the condo bounding at the corner of Penn and 24th has broken the barrier and full steel-beam/concrete residential construction is apparently viable in the Strip, I hope we start seeing more soon.

[eschaton]

The HRC is meeting right now. After googling, I found the agenda here. Somehow it was neither available on the main page for upcoming meetings or the HRC page. Something is really fucked right now when it comes to proper web administration for the city.

Regardless, mostly small residential projects, as per usual. There's a rehab of a historic stable building remaining in an alley in Manchester into a house, which is nice. They're reviewing the rehab of the Sauer Building downtown (the nice green glazed on on Penn Avenue) into a 12-unit residential building again as well.

There's also an application for demolition for a "historic structure" - the Tito Garage, which was granted historic status at the same time as the house on Fifth in Uptown. I think granting this building historical protection was entirely wrongheaded - a knee-jerk response from local NIMBYs. Even though Uptown Partners is now in favor, I worry that the HRC's hands may now be tied on this.

[eschaton]

June 13th Planning Commission presentation is online.

Unfortunately, it's a pretty light week, with the only new item something we've discussed before - the planned getgo on Fifth Avenue in Homewood, which has to go to the Commission since they're looking to rezone almost an entire block from residential to industrial in order to allow for the gas station.

The presentation does have some new details. This Getgo is planned to have a pretty substantial indoor dining area, functioning not only as a convenience store or even mini-grocery but also as a restaurant of sorts for the area.

I don't have a problem with the zoning itself per-se. Pittsburgh has way too many single-family zoned areas, and this pocket of SFH-zoned area tucked between Fifth and the railroad tracks is not really sustainable as any sort of neighborhood.

That said, I am very hesitant about adding yet another gas station at a corner that already has two. The intersection of Fifth and Frankstown is one of the worst in the East End, and this is a chance to do better. It adds more curb cuts to an area with far too many. My own personal reservations would be less if, as I said earlier, they just flipped the site and had the Get Go store have frontage on Fifth - at least in part.

[photoLith]

• Video Link

[eschaton]

July 20th ZBA agenda is now online. A few things here of note:

1. A new two-unit infill project in Homewood West. Not much information here; the only notable thing is it replaces an existing building. Usually we wait until lots are vacant to see infill in a place like Homewood.

2. A new four-story office building on Centre Avenue in the Hill District. Not much of note here, but this is the location - a block up from the YMCA, and just across the street from the Carnegie Library. I'm not a fan of how much of the block behind will be given over to surface parking. However, it's probably inevitable given the still low land values in the middle hill, and at least they are asking for a variance allowing for parking to be cut by more than half. Looks like the project will also involve a ground-floor restaurant. While there are no renderings, a quick google search shows this is the planned Sankofa Square project; though that was supposed to only be three stories, so maybe they've redesigned it a bit.



With all the development happening along Centre between Heldman (where Salim's will finally replace the old Shop 'n Save) and Kirkpatrick, this is beginning to feel like the heart of the neighborhood again.

[Urbanthusiat]

Huge news!

'A transformational legacy': Pittsburgh Regional Transit's bus rapid transit line gets $150 million boost

The Federal Transit Administration on Tuesday announced a grant of about $150 million to Pittsburgh Regional Transit for its Downtown-Uptown-Oakland bus rapid transit project. The 7.1-mile span connects Downtown to the Hill District and Oakland via dedicated bus lanes, with one arriving every five minutes during peak periods. The total cost of the project is about $291 million, and the $150 million in federal funds comes from the PRT's Capital Investment Grants program.

The new line will be a vital connection to universities and jobs throughout the city, and will hopefully spur new commercial and residential development, officials said. Lt. Gov. Austin Davis called it a transformational legacy project for Allegheny County and County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. Mr. Fitzgerald said the project has been in the works since 2009, when he sat on the Allegheny County Council, and it would not have moved forward without federal assistance. Katharine Kelleman, CEO of PRT, said the bus rapid transit project is an overlay and enhancement of current bus lines which run from Downtown to Oakland. The line would serve more than 40,000 riders, with fewer stops and better amenities, like modern bus shelters, Ms. Kelleman said.

The first phase of construction will begin this fall, creating the loop in the Downtown area, Ms. Kelleman said. Construction on lanes around the universities in Oakland would happen after that, with further phases eastward occurring later, she said. "Driving through Oakland is always a challenge; it's a massive job center, so of course a lot of folks are going there," Ms. Kelleman said of the project's greatest impact. "This project is just going to improve the travel time for buses ... if you've driven through Oakland and have to stop five feet behind a bus, you know ... so it's not just good for buses, it's good for the entire corridor."

Veronica Vanterpool, deputy administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, told reporters that the new bus rapid transit line would connect residents to about 232,000 jobs in the city and region. That, along with the potential for new residential units along the line, helped PRT earn the award, Ms. Vanterpool said.

"This city has made zoning changes and land use policies that support that density around these transit stations," Ms. Vanterpool said. "Those are the sorts of investments that the FTA has come to see really deliver the best [return on investment]."

"It takes time to plan very large projects. And what we don't want to see with any projects in any communities is, projects that don't engage well with the community, that are not meeting all of the federal requirements, such as all the environmental reviews and the planning reviews ... we like to see that those steps have been taken very thoroughly."

[Urbanthusiat]

New deal unlocks $1B in hydropower construction in the Pittsburgh region

This will be a nice boost for the area.

[fonzi]

Wow! thanks for posting the video about the airport project. 450 working per shift and up to 1200 by fall alludes to the large scope of the project. I'll miss the tunnels to a finite degree, as this seems like a much better way to enter and depart. I hope the terminals get gussied up as well, since that is in desperate need.

[photoLith]

Yeah I’m going to miss the people mover in between the terminal and entrance. I think I read somewhere that Disney designed them but I may be thinking of the Morgantown people mover…

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by fonzi

I hope the terminals get gussied up as well, since that is in desperate need.

They will be. If you dig deep into the renderings and videos, you can see that the interior style of the new landside terminal will extend into the interiors of the airside as well. While I'll miss the train for silly reasons (trains!), I will appreciate the faster transit time. Since it's already a nightmare getting out to our airport from the East End (with no short-term hope for improvements), I'll take any kind of reduction in door to plane time I can get.

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

They will be. If you dig deep into the renderings and videos, you can see that the interior style of the new landside terminal will extend into the interiors of the airside as well. While I'll miss the train for silly reasons (trains!), I will appreciate the faster transit time. Since it's already a nightmare getting out to our airport from the East End (with no short-term hope for improvements), I'll take any kind of reduction in door to plane time I can get.

Just flew out of PIT yesterday and was really looking at the current set up. It is pretty flawed. You enter the terminal on one level, but have to go down to another level for security. Then there's the train to the gates. When you arrive at the airside it's up two levels to the concourses. Any reduction or consolidation of movement will be an improvement.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Johnland

Just flew out of PIT yesterday and was really looking at the current set up. It is pretty flawed. You enter the terminal on one level, but have to go down to another level for security. Then there's the train to the gates. When you arrive at the airside it's up two levels to the concourses. Any reduction or consolidation of movement will be an improvement.

It's a flawed mess. On the other hand, if you drive to the airport... check out this inefficiency... if you park in the sea of airport lots and then make the walk to the terminal using that long enclosed corridor with the moving walkways (which was never finished, btw), you arrive in the landside terminal at the security check level, which requires you to then go up one level to where ticketing/check-in is, and then you have to go right back down to the security check level, and then you have to get on the stupid tram for like 30 seconds, only to be let off at the airside terminal basement, requiring you to go up two levels to the concourses/gates, like you mention.

The up-down-across-up-up is goddamn silly.

I do like the airside terminal/concourse/gate area of PIT though. The hub and X layout is very simple, attractive, and well designed.

[Johnland]

Originally Posted by pj3000

It's a flawed mess. On the other hand, if you drive to the airport... check out this inefficiency... if you park in the sea of airport lots and then make the walk to the terminal using that long enclosed corridor with the moving walkways (which was never finished, btw), you arrive in the landside terminal at the security check level, which requires you to then go up one level to where ticketing/check-in is, and then you have to go right back down to the security check level, and then you have to get on the stupid tram for like 30 seconds, only to be let off at the airside terminal basement, requiring you to go up two levels to the concourses/gates, like you mention.

The up-down-across-up-up is goddamn silly.

I do like the airside terminal/concourse/gate area of PIT though. The hub and X layout is very simple, attractive, and well designed.

LOL. My brother who lives in Pittsburgh and uses the parking alot was just complaining that very same thing.

[eschaton]

I noticed an interesting tidbit in the Pittsburgh Business Times.

>With a new College of Osteopathic Medicine under construction to be completed next year and a new 550-bed dorm on the way, Duquesne University has another new plan in the works for its Forbes Avenue campus at the front door of Uptown.

The university recently issued a request for proposals for developers to buy a nearly three-quarters-of-an-acre site at the corner of Forbes and Hess between a parking garage and the UPMC Cooper Field House on which to establish a new hotel.

This is the location in question. So, in a period of a few years, Duquense will have completely transformed the Forbes/Magee intersection.

[highlander206]

Originally Posted by Urbanthusiat

Huge news!

'A transformational legacy': Pittsburgh Regional Transit's bus rapid transit line gets $150 million boost

Wonderful news indeed! I know there are a lot of people out there who wish it was the T that would get extended to Oakland, but the reality is if BRT is done right, it is just as fast or even faster than light rail at a much lower cost, in a quicker construction timetable too I would imagine. Uptown is going to be very different in 10 years.

Originally Posted by eschaton

I noticed an interesting tidbit in the Pittsburgh Business Times.




This is the location in question. So, in a period of a few years, Duquense will have completely transformed the Forbes/Magee intersection.

I went to Duquesne in the early 2010s. I honestly had no idea until today that the university didn't own that parking lot.

[eschaton]

Looks like the City's Edge project in Uptown - which has been stuck in development hell for seven years - will be going forward soon, with financing having been secured.

As a reminder, this project includes 110 units of residential (92 affordable), and 39,000 square feet of retail space.


Credit: Pittsburgh Business Times

[pj3000]

^ It looks "affordable"

I'd like to see it take up half the footprint on the lot and be twice as tall, but I don't expect much from residential development in Pittsburgh based on what we've witnessed over the past 10 years... especially not from affordable developments.

In other news...

Allegheny City Brewing is expanding in East Deutschtown. Sounds like there will be a taproom constructed on an empty space on East Ohio St. that the brewery has been using as a beer garden for a couple years. It's between Farmer's Daughter (where Arnold's Tea and the paint store used to be) and Fig & Ash.

Looks like it will only take up a small portion of the narrow lot, in order to have an indoor-outdoor space, and that the building will be set back from the sidewalk.

Allegheny City Brewing Co. set for a major expansion

https://www.post-gazette.com/life/di...s/202306200066

Allegheny City Brewing Co., a popular craft brewery in Deutschtown, is preparing for the most significant expansion in its nearly 7-year history. After operating as a pocket brewery facing Foreland Street since September 2016, the business will break ground on a new taproom and beer garden on East Ohio Street later this summer.

“We were a little constrained where we are now,” says co-owner Al Grasso, who owns Allegheny City Brewing with siblings Amy Yurkovich and Matt Yurkovich.

The current brewery has an indoor occupancy of 49, and production tanks take up half of the space. Grasso says it’s left them with nowhere else to expand.

“We don’t want to be super big or be a production brewery. We just want to have enough space to do what we want to do,” Grasso says.

The brewers rented an adjacent plot of unoccupied land in 2021 to provide additional outdoor seating and a space for live music during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. They decided to jump on a more permanent solution when 510 E. Foreland St. became available for sale last year.

“The timing was perfect with all the activity happening on East Ohio Street. There’s a lot going on over here,” Grasso says. “We want to be part of the revitalization and try to make it as dynamic a main street as possible.”

They plan to build a new 2,000-square-foot building on half of the lot, which will become the primary taproom for the brewery. Grasso says there will be a bunch of glass doors to enhance an indoor-outdoor component and a second-floor mezzanine with a wraparound balcony. The building will be set back 15 feet from East Ohio Street and features an L-shaped beer garden that tails around the side of the taproom.

“We’re working hard with the design team to improve upon functionality of the space without losing the neighborhood basement aesthetic that we have now. We don’t want it to feel like a corporate chain or antiseptic like a doctor’s office,” he says.

South Side-based Lab 8 Designs, which also is working on the renovations of the relaunch of James Street Tavern and Fat Cat, the forthcoming restaurant and music venue from the owners of Fig & Ash, is designing the building.

They’ll transition the original location to become their primary production faculty, and Grasso says part of it might function as a small events space once construction is done. It’ll stay open as-is until construction is finished.

“There won’t be any downtime when we’re not open at all,” he says.

Groundbreaking is set to begin later this summer, following the Northside Music Festival in mid-July.

“It’s such a great neighborhood. It’s cool to see it get all the momentum. There are a lot of people who really care about the community working to give people a lot of things to do,” Grasso says.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I noticed an interesting tidbit in the Pittsburgh Business Times.




This is the location in question. So, in a period of a few years, Duquense will have completely transformed the Forbes/Magee intersection.

WOW! That will really add density to that section of Uptown.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by pj3000

^ It looks "affordable"

I'd like to see it take up half the footprint on the lot and be twice as tall, but I don't expect much from residential development in Pittsburgh based on what we've witnessed over the past 10 years... especially not from affordable developments.

The good news is it's inevitable at some point the block in front (with the old Citizens Bank and the surface lot) will be redeveloped, and that building will hide the majority of this one (including the parking garage).

Originally Posted by pj3000

In other news...

Allegheny City Brewing is expanding in East Deutschtown. Sounds like there will be a taproom constructed on an empty space on East Ohio St. that the brewery has been using as a beer garden for a couple years. It's between Farmer's Daughter (where Arnold's Tea and the paint store used to be) and Fig & Ash.

Looks like it will only take up a small portion of the narrow lot, in order to have an indoor-outdoor space, and that the building will be set back from the sidewalk.

Allegheny City Brewing Co. set for a major expansion

https://www.post-gazette.com/life/di...s/202306200066

East Ohio Street is looking notably less schlubby over the last few years. It's odd how it took so much longer to revitalize the corridor, given the back residential streets in the western part of Deutchtown are almost completely redeveloped now.

Also, I find it odd I've been to Allegheny City Brewing a few times over the last couple years, and had no idea the beer garden existed. I don't even think you can work across Emlin Street to get to it, since the trophy place is in the way.

[eschaton]

June 27th Planning Commission agenda is online, and there's some interesting stuff for next week.

First, UPMC has its design for the new Children's Hospital Heart Institute. I've been hearing about this project for a while. It's within the existing footprint, to be built on top of an existing parking garage . There will be some spill-over effects on parking within the campus, with more of the remaining garage set up for visitors, and additional employees having to use the shuttle lots in Upper Lawrenceville. A decent design.

Also of note is our first look at Hudson Companies' plans for two new apartment buildings in the Strip District. This is another project we've known about from local media, but not to this extent. One of the two buildings will front on Smallman (here), while the other will have its entrance on 30th Street (here). The Smallman building (105 units) is more traditional looking, with a brick facade harkening back to the large warehouse buildings in the strip. Plans are to have residential units on the ground floor, but there is a possibility of retail as well. The 6th Street building (129 units) is less traditional, with balconies for most of the units. It seems like the development is going to be called "The Maxx."

In addition, there's a plot subdivision for Brighton Heights. It looks like the site of the social services agency Three Rivers Youth will be replaced by up to 34 houses.