PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[BobLoblaw]

In the same vein, the first retail tenant of the new apartment building on the Garden Theatre block in the North Side was announced as Starbucks.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by markson33

Its all about the economics. The cost to build the space, plus the debt required by the banks means that you have to have national credit or large franchisees. Starbucks can pay the rent, but a local one-off can't. Its really expensive to do new construction.

I can understand all of that. But I still can never quite understand how it's preferable to leave a retail space entirely vacant for 2-10 years over rent it out to someone on a shorter-term basis who might give you say 75% of the rent you're looking for.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I can understand all of that. But I still can never quite understand how it's preferable to leave a retail space entirely vacant for 2-10 years over rent it out to someone on a shorter-term basis who might give you say 75% of the rent you're looking for.

I worked at Bakery Square and was always amazed how long it took to fill out the retail in the shops there.

[eschaton]

November 2 HRC presentation is up. Mostly retread items and/or small projects, but two things to note.

1. 17 new construction townhouses on North Avenue in Allegheny West. I knew about this project because I remember seeing the subdivision of the old parcel (which housed a large, not particularly historic warehouse building) but this is the first time I've seen the design. It's an Indovina project and looks sharp, attempting to blend in with the historic homes adjacent and across the street. If I have any critique it's just the identical massing/roof lines across 17 homes is a bit oppressive, though they at least alternate the brick facades between three colors. I'm guessing they decided not to give three of the homes front porches for a similar reason. Only two of the 17 homes are within the historic district (currently part of the parking lot is within it for some reason) so it's impressive they're doing them all up this way.

2. Not really a fun/interesting project, but the owners of the former Iron City Brewing site are asking to demo a wall along Liberty Avenue. It is true the wall is deteriorated, and it serves no function, but it's also pretty clearly one of the oldest remaining structures on site, with sections of original 19th century brickwork remaining. I feel like it would be a waste to see it go, since an area screened off from Liberty with the old doors/windows cut back in would have some great uses (like an outdoor dining space).

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I can understand all of that. But I still can never quite understand how it's preferable to leave a retail space entirely vacant for 2-10 years over rent it out to someone on a shorter-term basis who might give you say 75% of the rent you're looking for.

From what I understand, usually most retail tenants are not willing to do something like sign a month-to-month lease, or anything else that could be cancelled on short notice. So in order to hold out for a long-term lease on suitable financial terms, the property owner usually has to leave the space vacant while they look.

Of course they might not be intending to leave it vacant for like 10 years, and if they knew in advance that would happen they might have been willing to do something different. I think that usually happens more just because they keep hoping for a suitable long-term tenant, and it keeps not working out, and eventually you look back and see it has been a long time, but that doesn't really change the logic . . . .

Sort of like how my brother and sister both ended up unmarried.

[dfiler]

Those 17 new townhomes for North Ave are a great match for the neighborhood. There's a continuous street wall with fitting architecture for the area. While i'm not a fan with two-car garages for all of these homes, at least they're in the alley and are taken out of yard space rather than having a surface lot on a separate lot.

It's neat to see parts of the butchered up northside starting to heal. This will create one more pocket of townhome living. Eventually, it would be nice to see all of those pockets connected into a cohesive neighborhood not chopped up by blight, parking lots, and the misguided "urban renewal" of the 20th century.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

1. 17 new construction townhouses on North Avenue in Allegheny West.

Visitors of Type C people get screwed if it is raining . . . .

Anyway, that is actually almost too on the nose for me, and I always worry that it will end up having an "uncanny valley" effect when they go for such an historic look using modern materials and such.

Still, it is a nice enough project so I guess it is fine.

[GeneW]

That two block stretch of West North here in Allegheny West is changing quickly. First the Stables Building, then the Guckart building next to the railroad and now these. I noticed that the Mr. Smalls recording studio building in the middle of the 900 block has a "For Sale" sign on it now. I wonder if someone could do something more interesting with that parcel?

[DKNewYork]

CMU chose ZGF Architects, which designed The Assembly, as the architect of its new science building to be built south of Forbes beside the Scaife Gallery. Seems promising to me given the photos I've seen of The Assembly.

[photoLith]

Man, those West Allegheny houses look good for the renderings, hopefully they look good once completed. We need more of that kind of development badly across the city.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Man, those West Allegheny houses look good for the renderings, hopefully they look good once completed. We need more of that kind of development badly across the city.

There are similar "blending in" infill houses elsewhere in the North Side...particularly Deutschtown.

These are infill houses, for example.

[photoLith]

^
Wow, Ive been on that street 100 times, never would have guessed those were newish infill.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
Wow, Ive been on that street 100 times, never would have guessed those were newish infill.

Much clearer if you look at the back side.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Much clearer if you look at the back side.

Homage to recent versions of Bloomfield, Polish Hill, etc.?

[SouthCentralPA]

Nothing super exciting but drove by the former Wholey's building and it is almost completely demolished. Taken 10/13/2022.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by SouthCentralPA

Nothing super exciting but drove by the former Wholey's building and it is almost completely demolished. Taken 10/13/2022.

Yeah. I bike by this pretty regularly (less so now that the weather is turning) and have been watching the demolition unfold.

The last little bits standing will take a lot longer since they have to be sure Lucky's (the gay bar next door) doesn't collapse. I presume they may clear out most of the debris on site before cutting down the last bits of the wall.

I feel bad for how chewed up the street trees in the front got due to falling concrete, but I'm guessing they're gonna replace them regardless, as they're actually fairly young.

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by SouthCentralPA

Nothing super exciting but drove by the former Wholey's building and it is almost completely demolished. Taken 10/13/2022.

I wonder if the developers are rethinking the idea of building an office building on the site?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by GeneW

I wonder if the developers are rethinking the idea of building an office building on the site?

It sure seems like a folly now, but the project has already been financed/approved by the Planning Commission. Shifting such a big site to residential (particularly in the current environment of rising interest rates for financing) would result in a big hit.

It does seem like even in the post-pandemic environment some of the new buildings in the Strip are landing commercial tenants - though a lot of this seems to be poaching from elsewhere in the city or county.

[SouthCentralPA]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Yeah. I bike by this pretty regularly (less so now that the weather is turning) and have been watching the demolition unfold.

The last little bits standing will take a lot longer since they have to be sure Lucky's (the gay bar next door) doesn't collapse. I presume they may clear out most of the debris on site before cutting down the last bits of the wall.

I feel bad for how chewed up the street trees in the front got due to falling concrete, but I'm guessing they're gonna replace them regardless, as they're actually fairly young.

Yeah I imagine that remaining wall will be a bit trickier due to the adjacent building like you said. I find stuff like this fascinating though - all the planning and effort required to demolish a building in the middle of an active city.

[eschaton]

November 1 Planning Commission presentation is now online. Three new items for next week:

1. Another submission for 642 Fort Duquense Boulevard (the apartment conversion). This appears to be to cover the new-construction penthouse which was not included in earlier plans approved by the Commission. Looks like it will add an additional six units plus a lounge. I am confused on why they are maintaining the metal scaffolding for the sign on the roof with the new use...all it will do is obscure views.

2. A very boring-project on Centre Avenue. PIMS (the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science) has bought the former drive-thru bank site (most recently a Key Bank) at the corner of Baum and S Euclid and plan to replace it with additional parking (22 spaces). It's certainly not a higher/better use, but on the plus side they plan to remove the existing curb cuts on Baum and Euclid, and exclusively use the rear entrance off of the alley (Commerce Street). They also plan to screen the site with trees and bushes. Given more of the block is being consolidated under a single owner, overall I think this is...fine?

3. The new Duquense dorm we discovered a few weeks ago through the ZBA agenda is now landing with the planning commission. Much, much more detail here than in the few renderings we had seen up until now. It's clear that although the building has large side setbacks, these areas will be occupied by plazas, not parking. Overall this is a 556 bed, 229 unit building. The design is sharp, since it's an Indovina project. Honestly it's probably about as urban-format as you can seriously expect a dorm to be, though I'd strongly prefer something with greater lot coverage.