[Rufus]

I seriously doubt the city of Pittsburgh will lose that many people in thirty years. That seems way too high. There are plenty of brownfields all along the rivers just itching to be developed. Entire neighborhoods could be created from scratch!

[Grego43]

I seriously doubt the city of Pittsburgh will lose that many people in thirty years. That seems way too high. There are plenty of brownfields all along the rivers just itching to be developed. Entire neighborhoods could be created from scratch!

Sure, but there needs to be good reasons for willing people to move into the region...job growth being the reason.

[hyperion1110]

To beat a dead horse, the single most damaging factor to this city's population growth is the high taxes...and it's such a, logistically, simple fix. Unifying the city and Allegheny County will save hundreds of millions of dollar per year. Most importantly, though, we have to integrate the various school districts into one system. The biggest tax burden in this city does not even come from the city...it's the damn school district, where we pay most of our wage and property taxes to (with little benefit, given the level of education our students are getting).

That's my two cents.

[themaguffin]

High taxes don't help, but I don't believe that's what keeps most people out. People move to Pittsburgh and they move to very costly coastal cities as well.

We (the country) are headed in a downturn in the economy. The housing issue has hardly bottomed out and has already forced thousands of banking/mortgage layoffs, home building companies to struggle (and I assume layoff) and the spill of this can't even begin to be calculated.

What I hope is, that Pittsburgh has enough job growth in the next few years to do (relatively) well. Less people leave when the economy sucks everywhere and that leads to better local numbers. In the early 90's the meant population increases and unfortunately it didn't stick, when the economy boomed in the mid/late 90's, the exodus surged.

Earlier this decade we almost saw gains again, but the numbers never quite made it happen.

Certainly the growth areas of education and medical fields won't suffer much in a recession and companies like Westinghouse's plans won't change, but the region will still needs more to happen.

If we cold prevent just a few thousand people less to leave a year, get a few thousand more come and improve the int'l annual gain of 2,500 or so to even 5,000 or so, then I think we would see some momentum.

This isn't exactly aiming high either.

[Evergrey]

High taxes don't help, but I don't believe that's what keeps most people out. People move to Pittsburgh and they move to very costly coastal cities as well.

We (the country) are headed in a downturn in the economy. The housing issue has hardly bottomed out and has already forced thousands of banking/mortgage layoffs, home building companies to struggle (and I assume layoff) and the spill of this can't even begin to be calculated.

What I hope is, that Pittsburgh has enough job growth in the next few years to do (relatively) well. Less people leave when the economy sucks everywhere and that leads to better local numbers. In the early 90's the meant population increases and unfortunately it didn't stick, when the economy boomed in the mid/late 90's, the exodus surged.

Earlier this decade we almost saw gains again, but the numbers never quite made it happen.

Certainly the growth areas of education and medical fields won't suffer much in a recession and companies like Westinghouse's plans won't change, but the region will still needs more to happen.

If we cold prevent just a few thousand people less to leave a year, get a few thousand more come and improve the int'l annual gain of 2,500 or so to even 5,000 or so, then I think we would see some momentum.

This isn't exactly aiming high either.



Although you may be correct about the national recession of the early 90s contributing to the only 3 years of population growth since 1970 in the Pittsburgh MSA, the late 90s actually saw extremely low out-migration rates. The late 90s is when the deaths starting to outnumber births because we lost all those young adults (and their future children) during the 80s and were left with all these old people who started dying off.

Check out this study from 2000 about Pittsburgh MSA population trends. There is a chart on page 3 that shows Pittsburgh having both the lowest out-migration rate and in-migration rate of the Top 25 MSAs in 1998-1999. http://www.smartpolicy.org/pdf/pitmigration.pdf

The problem isn't any exceptional rate of out-migration ... but a lack of in-migration and the birth deficit that is a legacy of the 80s exodus. We are one of the only major regions in the country that experiences a birth deficit... and it will continue to be a drag on regional population due to our larger percentage of seniors and declining fertility (a national trend). Pittsburgh's age demographic situation will work itself out in the coming years. http://www.economist.com/world/na/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=7914950

The 90s saw solid economic recovery for the Pittsburgh Region in response to the steel collapse of the 80s. In 2001, the labor force population was at an all-time high... much of this due to rapidly increasing female participation in a previously male-dominated heavy-industry regional economy. This is another reason we didn't experience net population growth despite economic growth in the 90s... because we already had the potential workers here.

Unfortunately, 9/11 had a huge negative effect on the Pittsburgh Region. The entire country went into recession... but it took Pittsburgh a couple more years to snap out of the malaise. Much of the job loss is directly attributable to USAirways' elimination of 11,000 jobs in the past 6 years. The Pittsburgh Region has posted modest job gains the past few years... and the economic forecast is increasingly positive... but we still remain just shy of the 2001 job peak.

The primary drag on the Pittsburgh economy has been population-dependent sectors... which includes retail, transportation/warehousing, government (including school districts), low-wage service. Pittsburgh has been successful in growing high-wage sectors, such as health care, higher education, tech, engineering, etc. This is reflected in Pittsburgh ranking 19th out of the top 100 metros in personal income growth in the past 25 years. The net job growth has been miniscule due to the exodus of the 80s and resultant drag on population-dependent sectors... but the quality of jobs has increased dramatically from the days of heavy manufacturing.

[xyagentguy]

Well, the casino initiative should give the people of Pennsylvania as a whole lower property taxes in a couple years or so which will help. Speaking of which, does anybody know any numbers or percents that the governor is hoping in terms of tax relief?

It seems to me that you're right, taxes are one of, if not the leading cause of making Pittsburgh undesirable to live. I know this is easier said than done, but I don't even hear much about anything on this issue and how to fix it. I mean, if it is our biggest problem, why not lower taxes, and hopefully fuel enough growth to offset the possible short-term loses in revenue?

Not to mention, Pennsylvania's company taxing is one of the worst in the entire country. We have to lower the taxes we force companies to pay so they can actually flourish in Pennsylvania.

[BMikeSci]

High taxes don't help, but I don't believe that's what keeps most people out. People move to Pittsburgh and they move to very costly coastal cities as well.

We (the country) are headed in a downturn in the economy. The housing issue has hardly bottomed out and has already forced thousands of banking/mortgage layoffs, home building companies to struggle (and I assume layoff) and the spill of this can't even begin to be calculated.

What I hope is, that Pittsburgh has enough job growth in the next few years to do (relatively) well. Less people leave when the economy sucks everywhere and that leads to better local numbers. In the early 90's the meant population increases and unfortunately it didn't stick, when the economy boomed in the mid/late 90's, the exodus surged.

Earlier this decade we almost saw gains again, but the numbers never quite made it happen.

Certainly the growth areas of education and medical fields won't suffer much in a recession and companies like Westinghouse's plans won't change, but the region will still needs more to happen.

If we cold prevent just a few thousand people less to leave a year, get a few thousand more come and improve the int'l annual gain of 2,500 or so to even 5,000 or so, then I think we would see some momentum.

This isn't exactly aiming high either.

I moved to PGH so that I could live cheaply and well while the country goes through the second Bush recession. PGH is still a good housing investment haven for people who want to hide away for a few years while housing prices decline in the "zoned zones."

I expect to see a lot of crime over the next four or five years in places that experience severe declines in real estate prices. PGH should remain a relatively stable oasis during the same period. The local economy in PGH has not been home equity driven. Many people in once booming real estate markets have been living by refinancing their homes every few years. Once that ends, many will find that "booming" real estate taxes alone will force them out. People tend not to be such great citizens when they become destitute. Opting for a larger building with good security seems like a smart idea

On the other hand, if we start having hyper inflation, the other possible post-Bush outcome, real estate may be the best place to be. NYC real estate has remained high because of the large numbers of foreign investors whose native currency buys a lot with our cheapened dollar. They want to invest here, and they buy with their own currency in mind. The dollar's conversion rate makes prices seem high to americans and cheap to foreigners. The canadian dollar, for example, buys almost twice as many dollars as it bought when Shrub first took office.

Thanks again George.

Anyway, for me it's simple. I want to be in real estate because of very real inflationary threats, but I don't want to be in real estate markets that could take a real beating in a recession. Therefore, I selected Pittsburgh.

People who have sold their homes and now chose to rent may find themselves unable to own a home in the future. Watch the Federal Reserve. Their continued cutting of the discount rate has immense inflationary pressure. Bush would like to be able to say that he left the White-house with good economic numbers. Pushing the Fed to lower rates at this point is his only hope of limping out without another disaster during his time. What lowering rates does to inflation is another story. Greenspan's interview on 60 minutes was very clear on this. Greenspan said that Shrub was the only president who ever pushed him to lower rates - irrespective of the outcome. Greenspan also said that inflation was the real worry.

Finally, It is also possible that the American people can have a recession at the same time that foreign money causes inflation. Caught between the silla and charybdis of no decent jobs and expensive everything, americans may be in for really tough times. People who hedge for inflation may at least keep roofs over their heads.

[xyagentguy]

Many people in once booming real estate markets have been living by refinancing their homes every few years.
That is SO true. I have a lot of family in Florida who say their friends and neighbors are in REAL trouble now. Thankfully, my family is fortunate and wasn't doing any of this refinancing.

The canadian dollar, for example, buys almost twice as many dollars as it bought when Shrub first took office.

That's true, however, while a depreciating American dollar is not all good news, far from it, it's also definitely not all bad.

For example, it is really bad right now for Americans to travel. During the money exchange, we lose out big time. That's not cool. However, it's a GREAT time for visitors!
Tourism will jump a great deal while the American dollar stays low because foreigners do well in the conversion. That's good and will be great for the economy! Also, American exports become less expensive which means our trade-deficit will decrease (which it has) and our manufactures and exporters will have to ramp up production to meet the increasing demand of cheaper American goods. This could bring in new jobs, fuel the economy, and reduce the deficit (maybe if we weren't in a war costing us billions).

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not all peaces and creme. However, a weakened American dollar is a good thing in many ways.

What still astounds me is the money we waste on this war that could be going to much better and desperately needed things, like the American infrastructure.

I mean, I find it pretty incredulous that Bush won't pass a child's health care plan to ensure millions of uninsured children have access to health outcomes when the entire plan costs roughly the same as one week of war in Iraq.

*boggle*

[themaguffin]

An uncharacteristically positive article from the Scaife Right Wing Times...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_533765.html

Pitt's total take in NIH dollars puts it No. 7 in the nation, ahead of heavyhitters such as Duke, Stanford and UCLA.


Magee's Hillier, who travels the world as part of her HIV work, says colleagues often ask her how she's able to recruit scientists to Pittsburgh to work on her project.

"They say 'Pittsburgh? How can you go to Pittsburgh?' " she said. "It's going to happen in Pittsburgh."

[PA Pride]

Evergrey: I love this quote from that economist article you linked to:
Over the next quarter-century, however, the Census Bureau expects Pennsylvania's over-64 population to grow by only 50%, the smallest increase of the 50 states. The national elderly population will grow more than twice as quickly, while that of currently vibrant states in America's south-west will explode. When today's most glamorous regions begin to face that brutal arithmetic, many of today's young Pittsburghers may be glad they stayed put.

I can't wait!




And themaguffin: i bought a trib today when I saw that GREAT article on the front cover.... That is what excites me about Pgh: It is poised for such an impressive turnaround, it's gonna suprise everybody, in my guesstimation.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07295/827378-52.stm

Pittsburgh persuades New Yorker to build here

Monday, October 22, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When Joe Caro began visiting cities in search of an investment, Pittsburgh didn't figure to merit much more than a pit stop.

After all, for a well-traveled New Yorker who had visited countries in Central America and South America and many of the major cities and tourist destinations on the East Coast, Pittsburgh didn't hold any special appeal.

"I wanted to check it off the to-do list," he said.

But a funny thing happened on his way to some place more exotic. He fell in love with the Steel City after his first visit in March.

"I'm kind of shocked, too," he said. "It was a surprise to me when I discovered the way it is."

Mr. Caro, 50, liked Pittsburgh so much that he last month bought an eight-story building at 333 Boulevard of the Allies for $495,000 with plans to convert it into apartments and street level retail. He also intends to make his home here.

"I decided this is it. This is where I should be," he said.

He said the skinny structure he purchased near Point Park University would have fetched $20 million to $30 million in the Big Apple. As it is, "it's like I bought New York City at a discount," he said.

Mr. Caro has been utilizing the top floor of the building for an office. But he plans to convert all seven upper floors into loft style apartments -- one per floor, with a mix of one- and two-bedrooms.

There's another four-story structure connected at the back which Mr. Caro intends to use for more commercial space and perhaps another apartment.

His goal is to rent the apartment units at $1,000 to $1,200 a month, among the more affordable options for renters Downtown.

Mr. Caro, self-employed graphic and interior designer, expects the conversion to cost $250,000 to $300,000. He will be renovating every floor and giving the exterior a face lift. He hopes to have the first apartments ready by February.

He also wants to make the complex a green building, with a rooftop garden and energy-efficient appliances. He also plans to utilize solar energy and reclaim used building materials.

"This way I'm helping with the environment and saving a buck," he said.

Mr. Caro, who bought the property under the name Urban Ever-Green Group LLC, said he had searched for investments in a number of other cities before deciding on Pittsburgh. Not only did he see the building as a bargain, he found Pittsburgh to be a "gem" with "very, very friendly" people.

"When a 50-year-old man smiles at a young lady and she smiles back, I like it," he said, adding that the same smile in New York would get you "sued or ignored."

He also was stunned by the entrance into the Golden Triangle through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, which he described as "like a burst of city in your face."

"I'm having more fun here than I've had anywhere," he said.

Mr. Caro also believes Pittsburgh is on the cusp of a major boom, another reason he decided to invest his money here.

"I see trends and I know when everything is going to boom," he said. "This town is definitely going to see a boom. It's going to sneak up on them and one day, they're going to realize, 'Hey, when did this happen?' "

First published on October 22, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07295/827381-53.stm

East Liberty housing's good design is rewarded with funding

Monday, October 22, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Design advocates have been trying for years to convince people that good design is not a luxury. Recently, they succeeded in convincing the hardest of all sells: financiers and developers.

One beneficiary of their salesmanship is a development of 17 infill houses in East Liberty, one of three in the state chosen to participate in a project of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, or PHFA, and three design centers.

The collaboration is part of a one-time pilot project to reward best-design proposals from a $1.5 million fund the agency set up this year.

Jason Vrabel, the funding director for the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, said the other participants are in Carlisle, Cumberland County, and in Philadelphia.

He said the design groups' intent was to bring design permanently into the mix of criteria agencies consider when choosing projects to invest in.

Robert F. Bobincheck, PHFA's director of strategic planning and policy, said it would be.

The state's largest funder of affordable housing, PHFA was ready for some fresh ideas.

"We encouraged architects to put a little more forth," said Mr. Bobincheck. "We are encouraging design features [that promote] less maintenance, more efficiency and longevity of the housing."

Mr. Vrabel said developers of affordable housing traditionally have resisted high-quality design because it either takes space from extra units or costs more in some materials.

"Giving up quality for an extra unit is a big mistake," said Mr. Vrabel. "Urban renewal should have taught us a lesson, that lots and lots of 'decent' housing is just decent and never any better. Good design elevates the experience" of the property user.

Good design is still more art than science, said Beth Miller, executive director of the Community Design Collaborative in Philadelphia. Its four tenets are that well-designed housing meets the user's needs, responds to the surrounding context, enhances the neighborhood and is built to last.

East Liberty's proposal was a collaboration of East Liberty Development Inc.; S&A Homes, a developer based in State College; two architecture firms; and the city of Pittsburgh.

Moss Architects and Pfaffmann + Associates each designed two custom prototypes, each with two facades to choose from and two floor plans, including one with a courtyard. The resulting prototypes meet and exceed federal energy standards and can be duplicated relatively cheaply.

The local engineering firm IBACOS helped design air-tight wall systems, tested materials for durability and formulated how many windows each design would need for maximum efficiency, said Erik Hokanson, lead designer for Pfaffmann + Associates. Facade options include cement board panels and wood siding panels.

Prices will range from $184,000 to $270,000, and the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority will offer deferred second mortgages to buyers who earn less than $66,000 a year. Ground will be broken this fall on the first sites on North Euclid Street.

Although the costs come in above what many people can afford, the duplication of the prototypes over time is expected bring down the costs.

Mr. Hokanson said the impetus was "to bring good design to the masses with a custom house that doesn't have to be custom made each time.

"In a 10-year period, there may be 150 of these houses in the area."

First published on October 22, 2007 at 12:00 am
Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.

[Evergrey]

following up on BMikeSci's comments... Forbes ranked Pittsburgh as America's 2nd most stable housing market.

http://www.forbes.com/2007/10/01/property-stable-homes-forbeslife-cx_mw_1001realestate.html

2. Pittsburgh, Pa.
Median home price: $123,500

Annual price change from 2006: 2.7%

Projected price change to 2008: 3.37%

Pittsburgh's growth has been steady over the last year, and with low foreclosure projections based on the state of the local lending market, very affordable housing stock and relatively low inventory, it can overcome the fact that its sales rate is 30th out of the 40 markets measured.
http://images.forbes.com/media/2007/10/01/stable_2.jpg

In contrast, neighboring Cleveland was named the 2nd WORST housing market with a price change of -7.1%.

[PittPenn 03]

http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/index.php?gymID=1060

I am not quite sure where this is headed, my guess is the Kossman Building. I have not seen any news about this - forgive me if someone posted anything. There is a recruiting office in whichever PPG Building has the food court. Nice to see they have confidence in Downtown, particularly with the YMCA moving to the Murphy's building. Should also be a nice chuck of sq footage off the market in a not so desirable building.

[BMikeSci]

Well, the casino initiative should give the people of Pennsylvania as a whole lower property taxes in a couple years or so which will help. Speaking of which, does anybody know any numbers or percents that the governor is hoping in terms of tax relief?

It seems to me that you're right, taxes are one of, if not the leading cause of making Pittsburgh undesirable to live. I know this is easier said than done, but I don't even hear much about anything on this issue and how to fix it. I mean, if it is our biggest problem, why not lower taxes, and hopefully fuel enough growth to offset the possible short-term loses in revenue?

Not to mention, Pennsylvania's company taxing is one of the worst in the entire country. We have to lower the taxes we force companies to pay so they can actually flourish in Pennsylvania.

That is,if the casino is ever built. Am I wrong, or has any construction begun? As far as I know, not one shovel of earth has been moved. PA is losing tens of millions of dollars by this long, long delay. If Barden were being paid by Ohio casinos to delay, he couldn't be helping them more.

[BMikeSci]

Penguins want practice rink:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/hockey/nhl/specials/preview/2007/10/05/bc.hkn.penguins.practice.ap/

Why not keep the old igloo? It's a great building. Just tear-up the old parking lot and put in some multi-story parking. Then the Penguins can develop the rest of the acreage.

[xyagentguy]

That is,if the casino is ever built. Am I wrong, or has any construction begun? As far as I know, not one shovel of earth has been moved.
No, definitely not a drop of dirt has been moved. haha, but the casino initiative is not specific to Pittsburgh. In fact, six casino's are currently open in Pennsylvania, all performing above expectations, and the property tax relief fund already has well over half its required goal before the relief can take effect. Many think it will happen as soon as next year or no longer than the following year.
PA is losing tens of millions of dollars by this long, long delay
Thats sort of true, but Pennsylvania has already brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the casino's already opened, and several more set to open in the next year.

The casino in Pittsburgh is not set to actually fund much of Pittsburgh (a small percent will only). It's all state-wide projects.

[tooluther]

http://www.goldsgym.com/gyms/index.php?gymID=1060

I am not quite sure where this is headed, my guess is the Kossman Building.

It is the Kossman Building on the first two floors. In addition to Gold's and the Y there is a small gym, "Shape" that just oppened in Market Square above Bruggers.

[cdc]

No, definitely not a drop of dirt has been moved. haha, but the casino initiative is not specific to Pittsburgh. In fact, six casino's are currently open in Pennsylvania, all performing above expectations, and the property tax relief fund already has well over half its required goal before the relief can take effect. Many think it will happen as soon as next year or no longer than the following year.


The PG breaks down the state's usage of its share of casino revenue here:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07292/826723-336.stm

- 34% for property tax relief
- 4% for host cities/counties
- 5% for Economic Development and Tourism Fund (i.e. hockey arena)
- 12% for Race Horse Development Fund (wow!)

state total gross terminal revenue tax = 55% (sum of the above)

The PG claims that when they come, the propery tax "relief" checks
will be $150 to $200. That's not very much.

[xyagentguy]

Actually I was under the impression that the tax relief would be an actual drop in property tax percent and would be a permanent enactment.

I didn't realize it would just be a measly check sent out. You're right, $150 to $200 is almost more insulting than helpful.

Are you sure that's right?

All the percent breakdowns are right, I knew all that already.

Speaking of property tax, didn't the governor lower property tax for all Pennsylvanians last year or did I go crazy?

[cdc]

Actually I was under the impression that the tax relief would be an actual drop in property tax percent and would be a permanent enactment.

I didn't realize it would just be a measly check sent out. You're right, $150 to $200 is almost more insulting than helpful.

Are you sure that's right?


All I've recently seen on it is what was in that PG article. I assume
the PG is correct, but I don't know much beyond that. I would think
if there was a more substantive reduction in property taxes coming
then there would be more press releases from the state pointing it
out.



Speaking of property tax, didn't the governor lower property tax for all Pennsylvanians last year or did I go crazy?

You went crazy! The so called property tax "relief" from last year only
applies to Seniors. See this PG article right here:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07283/824135-35.stm



And, for reference, the two most recent property tax "relief"
proposals I've seen are:

1. eliminating the school property taxes for Seniors:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07285/824934-100.stm



2. various forms of tax shifting, the most recent of which reduces
"most" of the school property tax (city and county property tax would
still be there, i think) by increasing the sales tax from 7% to 10.19%
and the personal income tax rate to 4.36 percent from the current 3.07
percent.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07270/820911-85.stm

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_534165.html

First new condo building in decades opens in Pittsburgh

By The Associated Press
Tuesday, October 23, 2007


There's a new addition to the downtown skyline.
Local authorities and a real estate developer today officially opened a building touted as the first newly built condominium complex in the Downtown area in decades, and they hope it will breathe new life into the city.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato toured several of 151 First Side's 82 units, priced from about $200,000 to $1.8 million. A developer said 62 of the units had been sold, including 23 that have closed.

City authorities have been trying for years to revitalize Pittsburgh's Downtown, particularly a blighted corridor along Fifth and Forbes avenues, in part by encouraging residential housing.

Experts say Pittsburgh historically has had less housing stock in its Downtown area, which is small and bordered by three rivers, than other U.S. cities. And it ranks among cities with the highest number of commuters, they say.
That trend, officials hope, may be changing with the apparent demand for urban dwellings such as those at 151 First Side.

"It shows the interest in Downtown Pittsburgh, and I really believe that we're turning the corner," Ravenstahl said in the lobby of the building, which stands along the Monongahela River. "We're starting to create an environment that people really want to live, work and play in."

Onorato said the market will dictate whether developers build 500 or 5,000 units Downtown over the next five to 10 years.

"We had it all wrong for two decades," he said. "We were so worried about bringing stores down here and retail and other amenities, we forgot to bring the bodies to Downtown Pittsburgh. It's all about the bodies now. It's about housing."

Onorato said about 40 percent of the people who had purchased units at 151 First Side were from other cities. Some 73 percent were from Pittsburgh's suburbs, according to a 151 First Side statement.

Twenty condominiums in the building are still for sale and have not been completed. The remaining units carry prices exceeding $500,000. Some buyers moved in several months ago, even as construction continued on other units.

Ralph A. Falbo, one of the building's developers, said 151 First Side was the first new condominium complex built Downtown since the 1960s.

The $28 million project was undertaken by Falbo and two other developers from the Pittsburgh region.



Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


KDKA Video
http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_296131937.html

from left to right: County Executive Dan Onorato, Interim Mayor Opie, Developer Ralph Falbo on 4th-floor patio
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200710/20071023rad_firstside_condos_brk_330.jpg

[PA Pride]

Onorato said the market will dictate whether developers build 500 or 5,000 units Downtown over the next five to 10 years.

"We had it all wrong for two decades," he said. "We were so worried about bringing stores down here and retail and other amenities, we forgot to bring the bodies to Downtown Pittsburgh. It's all about the bodies now. It's about housing."

Thank you Onorato!! I'm glad someone else feels the same way I do.

It's insane to build retail and all kinds of stores and such when the downtown population has been non-existant. People come first and then all the other stuff follows.

I don't agree with the logic that no one will move downtown cause of a grocery store or lack of department stores... People can run right over to the Southside Giant Eagle or Whole Foods in Shadyside; And there is plenty of shopping all over the place for clothes and other items. It will be MORE CONVENIENT once those things are downtown; But I don't think that has stopped people from living there.

Anyway, I think we are finally getting the foot in the door as far as a HALF-DECENT downtown population; Now you will see more development of units both for sale and rent downtown, and retail and restaurants will open and close accordingly.

Things are looking very good here in the last 5 years of development (as recently as '99-'01, when I went to school downtown, it sucked and the mayor was building department stores hoping they were 'saviors' and also coming up with unrealistic developement strategies) and I think we are on the doorstep of MUCH more construction and positive buzz.

Like that post-gazette article said about the NewYork guy coming to develop a downtown building: Downtown is about to change FOREVER in a positive way because we are approximately at critical mass.

[Evergrey]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/homebake1024.aspx

$4.7M mixed-use project to feature new lofts and commercial space in Homestead

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2083/homestead_bakery_300.jpg

A former bakery located in the 200 block of Homestead's 7th Ave. corrdidor is undergoing a historic renovation project.

Pittsburgh Steeler Charlie Batch, who purchased the 40,600-square-foot property, broke ground on the project with Allegheny County last week. Plans for the renovation call for creating a mixed-use project that will feature eight one-bedroom, five two-bedroom, and three affordable senior housing units, as well as six commercial spaces. Mr. Batch, who owns more than 70 properties in the Steel Valley, grew up in Homestead.

Constructed in 1885, the historic property will house lofts ranging in size from 750 to 1,400 square feet, an 8,000-square-foot restaurant, offices, and two additional commercial tenants. J.A. Kudravy and Associates is designing the $4.7 million project; contractor is Americo Construction.

“When The Waterfront was developed, the concept was to capitalize on all of the traffic and revitalize Seventh and Eighth Avenues,” says Walter Haglund with Urban Design Ventures, a consulting firm with the project who has conducted studies of both the building and the corridor, and who moved its offices from Shadyside to Homestead in 2005.

Construction is slated to start during the spring of 2008. The project is expected to be completed in 2010. “The County has put money into many façade improvement programs. The borough of Homestead is building a new municipal building soon,” adds Haglund, who says that $13 million has been invested in Homestead in the last five years. “It’s an exciting time here. There are all sorts of little pieces. You’re starting to see the linkages—movement from The Waterfront.”

The Homestead Bakery renovation is funded by private loans, the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, a Pennsylvania Legislative Initiative Grant, and the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County.

Writer: Jennifer Baron
Source: Walter Haglund, Urban Design Ventures

Image courtesy of Allegheny County

http://media3.steelers.com/MediaContent/2005/04/28/08/04_Batch_CLE_DA182_52722.jpg

[Evergrey]

finally! i love this project!

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/glasslfts1024.aspx

Work set to start on $6.4M mixed-use Glass Lofts in Friendship

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2083/glass_lofts_300.jpg

A new green condo project will soon be underway in the heart of the Penn Avenue Arts District.

Friendship Development Associates (FDA) has just secured construction financing for The Glass Lofts, which will feature 18 for-sale lofts, a 3,200-square-foot restaurant, artist studios, and 1,200 square feet of office space. Demolition of blighted properties located at the corner of Penn Ave. and N. Fairmount St. will begin within the next two weeks, with groundbreaking expected within 30 days.

The second phase of 3.2-acre project that includes the 60-unit Penn Fairmont, The Glass Lofts will include one- and two-story lofts ranging in size from 845 to 1,873 square feet. Amenities include concrete flooring, retractable glass garage doors, balconies, and skylights. Residents will have access to a common room, as well as private internal garages and rear parking areas. Featuring modern architecture designed by Arthur Lubetz, the $6.4 million project will also include high-efficiency heating and cooling and environmentally low-impact materials. Contractor is Sota Construction Services, a leader in green building.

Affordable financing is available for qualified buyers; buyers will pay no local or state income or property taxes through 2010. Lofts, which will be a mix of market rate and affordable units, will sell for between $180,000 and $330,000. Three sales agreeements are already in place. The project is being marketed by FDA and We Do Property Management, Inc.

Located near the Pittsburgh Glass Center, Dance Alloy Theater, Quiet Storm Coffeehouse, and a variety of shops, schools and hospitals, The Glass Lofts is situated within a Pennsylvania K02 zone. The result of a series of community input sessions, during which project planners discussed neighborhood needs, The Glass Lofts/Penn Fairmont project brings much-needed senior housing, restaurant, retail and office space, for-sale condos, green space, and adequate parking to Friendship.


Writer: Jennifer Baron
Sources: Sarah Collins and Matthew Galluzzo, Friendship Development Associates

Image courtesy of Arthur Lubetz Associates Architects

[PA Pride]

^ Green construction; Modern design; Infilling holes in the urban fabric... That is an awesome project. A few more thousand of those please!


EDIT: Wow. I read that article again and it is really everything that is good about urbanity and good urban design: Senior housing also; food, retail, office, living, green space.... This is why I like cities. Sustainability coupled with a sense of community, close to everything you need, and keeping in mind different income brackets too instead of just catering to very rich or very poor residents. What do you think Evergrey?

[BMikeSci]

finally! i love this project!



Yes, very attractive. Reminds me a little of Frank Gehry's dancing house-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry- but with more restraint.

I'd like to see a roof garden for insulation or some solar panels for common areas.

[Evergrey]

more on the opening of 151 FirstSide... and even more exciting news... Falbo has a proposal to bulld 120 condos at a parking lot next to 1 Smithfield (currently the site of a hideous low-rise building recently discussed as potential Point Park University threatre-space)... there are 3 other condo proposals as well... 120 condos would most likely put this building over the 20-story mark... and a boutique hotel component could possibly increase the height even more

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07297/827963-53.stm

Condo developer confident in market for Downtown living

After 151 First Side, big plans

Wednesday, October 24, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With 75 percent of the condos in his 151 First Side building Downtown sold, Ralph Falbo is ready for an encore.

He is one of four developers to submit a proposal to Allegheny County to buy the One Smithfield Street building and an adjacent parking lot Downtown at the corner of Smithfield Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard, only a few blocks from his 151 First Side complex.

He has plans to develop a boutique hotel and another 120 condos at the Smithfield Street site, so confident is he of the market for Downtown living.

"I just feel good about what we did here and the response," he said. There were people who wanted to be in [151 First Side] and couldn't afford it. I think there's an untapped market out there."

Mr. Falbo said he would offer condos in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, which proved to be the quickest selling units at 151 First Side, where prices run from $200,000 to $1.8 million for an 18th-floor penthouse overlooking the Monongahela River.

He would use the parking lot for the condos and the hotel. The One Smithfield Street building would remain as office space.

The building recently caught the attention of a panel of experts from the Washington D.C.-based Urban Land Institute. The group, which was in town to help Point Park University plot its development, suggested that the school move its Pittsburgh Playhouse from Oakland to the building, as part of an "iconic theater complex."

Mr. Falbo said he would like to talk to the university about a possible partnership.

"If they can't own it, I thought they might like to be in it," he said.

Dennis Davin, the county's economic development director, would not release the names of the other three developers to submit preliminary proposals, but said their plans involved condos or apartments.

The county received those proposals about the same time the Urban Land Institute panel finished up its work. So far, Point Park has not offered a plan. Mr. Davin said the county also has received interest from other developers who thought the time period for submitting proposals was too short and didn't file.

As a result, the county is still trying to decide whether to go with the four proposals it already has or put out another request to developers.

Mr. Falbo is hoping to build off the success of 151 First Side, Downtown's first new condominium building since 1968. He has sold 62 of 82 units in the high rise, with the bulk running from $350,000 to $450,000. About 23 buyers have moved into the building so far. Forty percent of all buyers have been from out of town.

"We're just happy as hell," Mr. Falbo said Tuesday morning before leading County Chief Executive Dan Onorato and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on a tour of the complex during its grand opening.

Both politicians said the 151 First Side project has helped to usher in a residential renaissance Downtown. Luxury condos also are being developed at the former Lazarus-Macy's store, the old Union National Bank, and Three PNC Plaza, the new 23-story skyscraper under construction.

"This project was key because it was the first new one in a long time," Mr. Onorato said. "If this didn't sell, it would have put the brakes on Downtown new housing. But just the opposite has happened. This is now being viewed as, 'wow, there's a market, there's a market to service here.' "

Mr. Falbo also is planning to develop 40 condos on the South Side near the UPMC Sports Performance Complex.

First published on October 24, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.



...


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_534202.html

Downtown Condos Open

By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, October 24, 2007


John Miller is among a wave of new residents who have local officials hopeful of revitalizing Downtown.
The 35-year-old attorney with the Jones Day law firm is one of 62 individuals who have committed to purchase units at 151 First Side, a project billed as the first new residential condominium built Downtown since 1968. About 80 percent of the 78 units have been sold.

Miller is one of eight buyers who have moved into the 18-story structure at 151 First Ave., which celebrated its official opening Tuesday. He relocated to Pittsburgh in 2000 from Washington and was among the first to commit to the project after construction commenced in 2005.

"I decided to buy Downtown because the city is turning the corner and more people are living there," he said. "Also, my main reason was the convenience living Downtown offers. I don't need to spend time traveling to work, not having to deal with parkways, tunnels and bridges."

"I really believe ... we are creating an environment where people want to live, to work and play," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said during the first of two grand opening events scheduled Tuesday.
Ravenstahl was joined by Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato in praising developers Ralph Falbo, Eugene Zambrano and EQA Landmark Communities -- partners in 151 First Side Associates LP -- for risking their own funds in the $28 million project.

The city Urban Redevelopment Authority provided a $4 million loan for the project that has to be repaid, with interest.

Now that there are more residents coming Downtown, more retailers will join them, Onorato said.

"We had it so wrong for decades, We were so interested in bringing stores and other amenities Downtown, we forgot about the bodies," he said. "This project was the key. If this doesn't sell, it would have put the brakes on new housing Downtown."

When sales began at 151 First Side, prices started around $200,000. Today, prices range from $500,000 to $1.8 million for the Riverside penthouse offering a view of the Monongahela River and surrounding area. A penthouse with a Downtown view already has been sold.

The building started with 82 condos; however, several buyers have purchased and combined multiple units bringing the total to 78.

Interest in the remaining units remains strong, Falbo said.

About 40 percent of the buyers to date have come from out of town, including from San Francisco, Manhattan, Raleigh, Phoenix and Philadelphia. One is a former Pittsburgh resident now living in London, he said.

The complex offers amenities including a fitness center, concierge service, 24-hour security, parking in the interior garage and free storage space for bicycles and household items.

Ravenstahl said the city still is hoping to have 151 First Side and the Carlyle, another Downtown condo project, included in a new 10-year tax abatement program being offered by the city.

Developers of both projects obtained building permits prior to the July 1, effective date for the program.



Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com or 412-320-7843.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-10-23/1024bfalbo-a.jpg
County Executive Dan Onorato (left) and Ralph Falbo laugh about the proximity of the 151 First Side condos with other downtown buildings.
Philip G. Pavely/Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-10-23/1024bbldg-a.jpg
The new 151 First Side, seen here as the second building from the right, is an 18-story, 82 unit downtown condo and is the first residential unit to be built in the city since 1968.
Philip G. Pavely/Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/images/video/2007_pdfs/GX-FALBO-ch-10-24.pdf

Sales of New Downtown Condominiums:

BUILDING No. of Units No. Sold
151 FirstSide 78 62
Piatt Place 65 25
Carlyle 61 30
3 PNC Plaza 30 0
941 Penn Ave. 18 15
Keystone Picture 12 4
Granite Building 6 0
806 Penn Ave. 5 4

This picture shows the silver low-rise 1 Smithfield at bottom left. To the left of the structure is a parking lot where Falbo's proposed 120 condo / boutique hotel tower would be built. 1 Smithfield building would remain as office space (though I'd love to see it destroyed and replaced by a tower). 3 other residential proposals have been submitted for this site. The Urban Land Institute recent recommended that nearby Point Park University purchase this building and use it as theatre space.

http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/84279112.jpg

[cdc]

Yes, very attractive. Reminds me a little of Frank Gehry's dancing house-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Gehry- but with more restraint.

I'd like to see a roof garden for insulation or some solar panels for common areas.

the rendering looked a lot like a cheaper version of the CMU SCS complex currently under
construction (except that CMU will have the roof garden).

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~faculty/gatesBuilding/blog/Aug28/AerialfromForbesMed.jpg

[BANKofMANHATTAN]

more on the opening of 151 FirstSide... and even more exciting news... Falbo has a proposal to bulld 120 condos at a parking lot next to 1 Smithfield (currently the site of a hideous low-rise building recently discussed as potential Point Park University threatre-space)... there are 3 other condo proposals as well... 120 condos would most likely put this building over the 20-story mark... and a boutique hotel component could possibly increase the height even more

This picture shows the silver low-rise 1 Smithfield at bottom left. To the left of the structure is a parking lot where Falbo's proposed 120 condo / boutique hotel tower would be built. 1 Smithfield building would remain as office space (though I'd love to see it destroyed and replaced by a tower). 3 other residential proposals have been submitted for this site. The Urban Land Institute recent recommended that nearby Point Park University purchase this building and use it as theatre space.

http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/84279112.jpg


Isn't that hideous building the United Way? I used to park in that parking lot when I worked at the YMCA (which should also be torn down, that building is an eyesore.)

[Evergrey]

http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/10/22/daily17.html?surround=lfn

Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 4:13 PM EDT

Without TIF, Bakery Square would be smaller, URA, developer say

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Vincent Lara-Cinisomo

A plan to redevelop a former Nabisco bakery into housing, office and retail space would be one-tenth the size without a $10 million tax increment financing plan, the project's developer and an official from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh said Tuesday.

Pittsburgh City Council held a public hearing on the TIF, which would be used to support part of the renovation of the former bakery site into 216,000 square feet of office space and 135,000 square feet of retail.

Under a TIF, a developer pays only a portion of the regular property taxes during the life of the special financing plan. The rest is diverted to retire bonds floated to finance infrastructure improvements or other project costs.

In addition to the office and retail space, developer Walnut Capital has proposed a 110-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott hotel and about 38 residential units for its Bakery Square project. Total development costs have been estimated at more than $113 million.

Walnut Capital has said the development would sustain 1,182 jobs, including 750 new jobs.

But URA Economic Development Director Robert Rubenstein told city council members that without the TIF, the project's size would be reduced.

"Without the TIF, the economics of this deal would allow only a $13 million investment," Rubenstein said. "The project would have a 10-fold, 11-fold difference."

Walnut Capital partner Todd Reibord agreed, saying the 216,000 square feet of office space "is the real benefit of the TIF."

Rubenstein said money from the TIF would be used for infrastructure repairs, such as road and traffic improvements in Penn Circle and for a parking garage.

City council is the final hurdle for the TIF plan, after earlier approvals from the Pittsburgh Public Schools board, Allegheny County Council and the URA.

But city council members made clear to Walnut Capital and the URA that approval of the TIF was no sure thing.

Councilwoman Tonya Payne expressed reservations that most of the jobs created by the development would pay minimum wage.

While Joe Balsamo of UNITE HERE Local 57, which represents most hotel workers in Pittsburgh, said the plan could not go forward without a signed labor peace agreement with Walnut Capital, Rubenstein said the TIF does not cover the hotel portion of the project.

That was a concern for councilman Bill Peduto, since it means the hotel could conceivably be staffed with nonunion workers.

No vote for the TIF resolution was scheduled.

vlara@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3822



All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

[PA Pride]

Awesome news about Falbo's second proposal... Evergrey, weren't we just talking yesterday about how this project was being watched very closely and lots of other developers would jump right in if there was a moderate level of success?? It's great news...

Now that more projects will be built, I will have a good selection of downtown condos to pick from when I have enough money to move downtown in the next few years. I hope they overbuild so I can scoop up a cheap one when I am ready to buy!!

[BMikeSci]

the rendering looked a lot like a cheaper version of the CMU SCS complex currently under
construction (except that CMU will have the roof garden).

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~faculty/gatesBuilding/blog/Aug28/AerialfromForbesMed.jpg

You're absolutely right. Maybe it is the same architect.

[BMikeSci]

Has anyone heard anything about Vidalia Fine Foods opening downtown? I thought this market was scheduled to open in October in the Encore apartments, but I haven't seen any signs of building out the space, etc.

[Smoker]

I haven't found anything new about Vadalia. I'm disappointed that it's only to be 3,100 sq.ft. which is the size of a typical convenience store. Having a monopoly in town I imagine their prices would be very high so if you are getting a lot of groceries it pays to drive to a Giant Eagle. In an article I read, a tenant at Encore said he's now driving 6 miles for groceries.

[PA Pride]

^How is anyone supposed to feel sorry for this guy driving 6 miles to a grocery store when you can see a Giant Eagle across the river from the damn Encore?

I don't understand people.... There's also a Giant Eagle in the southside which i can't imagine is more than a 2-3 mile drive....

He probably drives to the Giant Eagle off the Camp Horne Rd exit heading towards Cranberry cause he's a suburban-addicted ASSHOLE.

[Johnland]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-10-23/1024bbldg-a.jpg
The new 151 First Side, seen here as the second building from the right, is an 18-story, 82 unit downtown condo and is the first residential unit to be built in the city since 1968.
Philip G. Pavely/Tribune-Review

Love the new building. It works soooo well with the neighboring buildings, creating a lively rythm among the facades. HOWEVER, that blank walled box it sits on has got to stop. And those gaping garage openings. Why must every skyline enhancement be at the expense of street level aesthetics? Hopefully future projects will address the mundane parking issues in a more sophisticated manner. Garages along Fort Pitt Blvs just won't do. That street is part of Pittsburgh's trademarked, world-class urban view.

[Evergrey]

That's not a garage entrance along Ft. Pitt Blvd... it's a porte-cochère. The garage entrance is along 1st Ave. in the rear.

[Evergrey]

^How is anyone supposed to feel sorry for this guy driving 6 miles to a grocery store when you can see a Giant Eagle across the river from the damn Encore?

I don't understand people.... There's also a Giant Eagle in the southside which i can't imagine is more than a 2-3 mile drive....

He probably drives to the Giant Eagle off the Camp Horne Rd exit heading towards Cranberry cause he's a suburban-addicted ASSHOLE.

Exactly. I'm tired of hearing about Downtown residents "forced" to drive to Robinson Township to shop for groceries. From the Giant Eagle website... the following stores are within a FIVE-MILE RADIUS of the 15222 Zip Code (where Encore on 7th is located):

Brighton Heights
Cedar Avenue
Crafton
Greenfield
Lawrenceville
Parkway Center
Shadyside
Shakespeare Street
South Side
Squirrel Hill


In addition, you have Wholey's and all the other independent shops in the Strip District... 10 blocks away... Kuhn's in Banksville... Foodland in Mt. Washington... Shop N Save in Lawrenceville... etc etc etc.

[PA Pride]

Thank you Evergrey!

Also, do we have any closeup pictures of this so-called porte-cochère?

[Evergrey]

Thank you Evergrey!

Also, do we have any closeup pictures of this so-called porte-cochère?

Here's a close-up rendering

http://www.151firstside.com/images/gallery/exterior_2.jpg

[PA Pride]

Are they still gonna finish it that way? Any word?

I'm hoping they didn't cut costs and leave it blank...

[cdc]

Exactly. I'm tired of hearing about Downtown residents "forced" to drive to Robinson Township to shop for groceries. From the Giant Eagle website... the following stores are within a FIVE-MILE RADIUS of the 15222 Zip Code (where Encore on 7th is located):

Brighton Heights
Cedar Avenue
Crafton
Greenfield
Lawrenceville
Parkway Center
Shadyside
Shakespeare Street
South Side
Squirrel Hill


While I agree with the gist of your comment (downtown residents need
not to drive to Robinson Twp for groceries), I think it is fair to
point out that not all Giant Eagles are created equally! It is not
just a question of distance. For example, the Shadyside Market
District GE is FAR superior to the small, poorly staffed and dumpy
Squirrel Hill GE. (In fact, I would say Shadyside is also superior to
the GE in Robinson Twp, except that Shadyside doesn't have a GetGo for
discount gas.)

[Rufus]

Well, even the Shadyside GE is what, two miles at most from downtown? And it's even right next to the east busway stop at Negley Ave if one is so inclined to ditch their car and take public transit.

Okay, it's about four miles. I checked.

[Evergrey]

well... I walked past the Highland Building in East Liberty today and wondered if we'd ever hear anything about when it's condo conversion was ever gonna get started... I guess I have my answer now

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_534436.html

Highland Building won't be converted to condos

By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 25, 2007


The 13-story, nearly century-old Highland Building in East Liberty isn't going to be converted into a condominium complex after all.
Plans are to renovate the building on South Highland Avenue into commercial office space, its former use, said its owner, developer Eugene Zambrano, of Zambrano Corp.

"We have received inquiries about using the building for office space, so we have decided to go that route," Zambrano said.

The building had been scheduled to be converted into 84 condominiums by Terminus Real Estate of Knoxville, Tenn. Terminus acquired the building for $1,000 from the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2005, with plans to invest $14 million into the condo project and sell units starting at $167,000.

Under the Terminus plan, the Highland Building would share garage parking space with a new 132-room hotel to be built on the site of a neighboring Stadterman building at the corner of South Highland and Centre avenues.
Zambrano took control of the development early this year.

The hotel, to be built by Kratsa Properties of Harmar, awaits a decision on a hotel chain that will operate the facility.

Zambrano gave no indication of when work would begin on either building, both currently vacant.

The Highland Building was built in 1910 by Henry Clay Frick. Abandoned for two decades, it was sold by the city to the URA in 2004.



Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com or 412-320-7843.

...

The Highland Building switch to office space and the permenantly-on-hold Lofts on Baum may indicate that rapidly-changing East Liberty is not yet ready for luxury condos

http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/74394646.jpg

[PA Pride]

^That's a great shot... East Liberty is gonna be the poor mans shadyside before long....

[tooluther]

I haven't found anything new about Vadalia. I'm disappointed that it's only to be 3,100 sq.ft. which is the size of a typical convenience store. Having a monopoly in town I imagine their prices would be very high so if you are getting a lot of groceries it pays to drive to a Giant Eagle. In an article I read, a tenant at Encore said he's now driving 6 miles for groceries.

Everything is fine...I'll post details as soon as I'm allowed

[PittPenn 03]

While I agree with the gist of your comment (downtown residents need
not to drive to Robinson Twp for groceries), I think it is fair to
point out that not all Giant Eagles are created equally! It is not
just a question of distance. For example, the Shadyside Market
District GE is FAR superior to the small, poorly staffed and dumpy
Squirrel Hill GE. (In fact, I would say Shadyside is also superior to
the GE in Robinson Twp, except that Shadyside doesn't have a GetGo for
discount gas.)

I will agree that not all GE's are created equal, but one has to wonder if there is a need to go to a top of the line GE everytime you go to the store? I go to the Lawrenceville GE/ShopnSave or the Bloomfield ShurFine for simple things depending on where I am at when I am out, but if I need a better selection I go to Market Place, the regular Shadyside GE, or the Waterworks GE, also depending on my location when I am out. Bread, milk, ketchup is the same everywhere, and something tells me there is a bit of snobbery or fear of the city in the person who drives out to Robinson. I think we are going to get a lot of people in these new condos that want the glamorous address, but never sets foot on the streets of the city.

I will admit to avoiding the GE in Squirrel Hill. I f-ing hate that location! Even when I lived in Squirrel Hill, I did my shopping almost exclusively in Greenfield. Understaffed, packed, no selection just as pointed out - my head feels like it is going to explode everytime I set foot in there.

[Brentsters]

I noticed the other day that the building next to the church on Penn in East Lib was being renovated, it said by Moss Architects I think, anybody know what that is for? It's on the opposite side of Penn from the new hotel complex so I don't think it's part of that.

Also, regarding that transportation forum thread a couple months ago about malls not allowing buses, I saw some flyers at my busway stop today organizing a protest against Simon Properties, the company that owns the malls in question. Apparently Simon does not like the image projected by transit riders waiting at the bus stop outside their malls. I didn't wanna rehash that whole thread but thought I'd mention it

[PGHzealot]

I wouldn't be so quick to sneer at folks who would like to shop in a nice grocery store. If I were in the market for a downtown condo, I'd hope that there were not good, but GREAT grocery options right nearby. After all, these folks are not going to shell out big bucks for a condo, and then want to shop at a GE like the one on the North Side. A few years back when I lived in the Mexican War Streets, we often went to McKnight Road to shop for groceries, because the GE close by was just not a very good store - bad produce offerings, high prices, awful hours, etc. Believe me, if you have to get into your car to shop for groceries, it doesn't make much sense to drive to one of the bad GE stores that are "close" to downtown.

I can only hope that a developer sees this opportunity and seizes it when and if downtown begins filling up with condo dwellers. I wonder if Whole Foods or Wegmans or Trader Joes would be interested? That kind of store can become a real attraction in many ways, as East End denizens would currently attest...

[PA Pride]

^I suppose you are right about what higher end city buyers might want; It's just that I live about 1 mile from the Aliquippa Giant Eagle where i shop, which I have heard some people say is too ghetto, but if you go right across the river to the Sewickely Giant Eagle on RT 65 which is one of the richest areas in the Pgh metro, the stores are EXACLTY the same... All the same damn food and the same prices. Just nicer cars in the Sewickley parking lot.

I'm a laid back person in general, but for some reason I am getting really upset about these talks of "good" and "bad" grocery stores.... The Captain Crunch is the same at every store!!!!


If you wanna get some shitty food, shop at Aldi's. I bought food there for a cookout and almost puked it was soo nasty!

[PittPenn 03]

Frankly, you have made my point. I suppose I have a different philosophy on this. I live in Lawrenceville, so I try to keep my money in Lawrenceville or close by businesses in hopes one day the businesses that are in need of improvement will have the money to do so. I know a lot of Northsiders flock out to the burbs to do their shopping. Perhaps if the people who did this would have supported their local businesses all along, places like the Northside GE (and the Northside in general) would not be in the shape it is. It absolutely makes sense to support your own neighborhood Giant Eagle or whatever store, regardless of its shape - particularly if you are a property owner. Look at the Shop n Save they tried to reopen in Spring Garden. Not very nice - true, but the locals continued their jaunts out to McKnight Road and the business failed within weeks. Very sad - where is our neighborhood's pride anymore? I guess since we have become a culture of 'foodie' or gourmet wannabes, no one would ever have the patience to let a place Spring Garden ShopnSave take hold. I hate to sound so snotty, but if we do not make a sacrifice here or there to show we have the willingness to support certain types of business in the city, it just makes it all the harder to sell Pittsburgh to Wholefoods etc.

I wouldn't be so quick to sneer at folks who would like to shop in a nice grocery store. If I were in the market for a downtown condo, I'd hope that there were not good, but GREAT grocery options right nearby. After all, these folks are not going to shell out big bucks for a condo, and then want to shop at a GE like the one on the North Side. A few years back when I lived in the Mexican War Streets, we often went to McKnight Road to shop for groceries, because the GE close by was just not a very good store - bad produce offerings, high prices, awful hours, etc. Believe me, if you have to get into your car to shop for groceries, it doesn't make much sense to drive to one of the bad GE stores that are "close" to downtown.

I can only hope that a developer sees this opportunity and seizes it when and if downtown begins filling up with condo dwellers. I wonder if Whole Foods or Wegmans or Trader Joes would be interested? That kind of store can become a real attraction in many ways, as East End denizens would currently attest...

[cdc]

I'm a laid back person in general, but for some reason I am getting really upset about these talks of "good" and "bad" grocery stores.... The Captain Crunch is the same at every store!!!!

Sure, the basics are going to be the same across GE stores. However,
there can be big differences in product selection, staffing, aisle
layout (e.g. cramped vs spacious), and physical facilities
(e.g. cleanliness, parking, condition of equipment like shopping
carts, registers, fridge units, etc...). Come to the city and compare
the Shadyside Market District GE to the Squirrel Hill GE.



It absolutely makes sense to support your own neighborhood Giant Eagle or whatever store, regardless of its shape - particularly if you are a property owner.

OK, but is that consistent with your earlier statement? This one:

I will admit to avoiding the GE in Squirrel Hill. I f-ing hate that location! Even when I lived in Squirrel Hill, I did my shopping almost exclusively in Greenfield. Understaffed, packed, no selection just as pointed out - my head feels like it is going to explode everytime I set foot in there.

[Evergrey]

I like the Squirrel Hill GE. It has character and it's parking lot is behind the facility.

[PA Pride]

I like the Giant Eagle in the SouthSide. Last time I was there a month or two ago, some white guy was screaming at a couple other white guys standing near the entrance that they were Al Qaeda at the top of his lungs. They looked confused... Some people may hate that stuff but I love it. I find real life with all the weirdos in it to be WAY more entertaining than TV.

[Rufus]

I like the Squirrel Hill GE. It has character and it's parking lot is behind the facility.

Me too. It's an intimate neighborhood grocery store. Not trashy nor fancy/gourmet. There aren't enough of those around anymore.

[tooluther]

The Captain Crunch is the same at every store!!!!


NO WAY! I can walk to the Shure Save in Bloomfield from my place in Lawrenceville...and I do often. But it is one of the worst stores I've ever been in. The produce bad, the meat is worse, and even things like Capin Crunch seam to have a seedy film on the box.

IMO, none of the other Lawrenceville options (Shop-n-Save or Giant Eagle) are much better, so I head out of the neighborhood for big trips...sorry L Ville

[Evergrey]

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/10/22/focus1.html?b=1193025600^1535949

Friday, October 19, 2007

A change of plans

As some residential buildings ride wave of success, other developments get reshaped -- or scrapped

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley

http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/99943-400-0.jpg
Joe Wojcik
Holly Brubach stands in the Granite Building, which she bought last year with plans to turn it into condominiums. Unable to sell any units, she’s now offering the space as office condos for businesses.

To Rich Beynon, the 120,000-square-foot warehouse at 29th Street and Liberty Avenue in the Strip District is ripe for a condominium conversion, thanks to the large windows on each of its six floors, heavy timber ceilings and handsome red brick.

Yet a few weeks ago, a New York buyer whom Beynon declined to identify dropped its plan to buy the building and pursue a condo conversion due to a less-than-ideal business climate.

"I don't believe that they were able to secure their financing on it," said Beynon, president of Beynon & Co., a Downtown-based real estate company. "I don't think they could put it all together in a quick enough time frame."

Against a wall of marketing kitsch seeking to push a new wave of urban condo projects, the 2839 Liberty property, marked with the Gateway Industrial Exhibits signage, is one of a number of new projects that are being reconsidered, changed or dropped altogether in a residential market chastened by caution in the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle.

Beynon's firm, however, is part of the development team that successfully tackled a long-delayed residential rehab project, the 295-apartment Cork Factory in the Strip. The building reopened this spring after a $50 million renovation.

"These developments require a lot of time. They require a lot of up-front capital from the developers. They require a lot of code and building issues that have to be resolved," Beynon said. "As such, if everything isn't lined up just right, it's hard to get these things to make sense."

While the 2839 Liberty sale fell through, other projects are seeing changes in strategy.

Springdale-based R.E. Crawford Construction has informed the Bellefield Area Citizens Association that it has scaled back its plans to develop a new 17-story condominium tower on Dithridge Street in Oakland to instead pursue an 11-story project.

Downtown, Holly Brubach has decided to broaden the marketing of her seven-story Granite Building redevelopment to include office condominiums, perhaps splitting the building between residential and office condo uses.

And Art and Bonn McSorley decided earlier this year to shift their conversion of an old school building formerly known as the Pink Building in the Strip District from 14 condos to 14 apartments.

For every project that has been successful so far, there are plenty of others that are in limbo.

A vice president of construction for General Nutrition Centers Inc., Art McSorley, said the decision came easily because the project generated few interested buyers for presales. Without committed buyers, condo projects generally can't get financing.

The shift to apartments meant he could reduce his construction costs by 40 percent, reducing its $2.7 million price tag to $1.5 million by scaling back plans to add surrounding parking that buyers would expect for luxury condos.

McSorley hopes to begin construction in 60 days and have the building occupied next year. He said he wanted to capitalize on the opening of the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in 2009 in nearby Lawrenceville, but may been marketing the condos too far in advance.

Pittsburgh might be slower than many other cities to respond to the urban condo trend, he said.

"I think until people are comfortable living in Downtown Pittsburgh, we seem to be so slow to get people to believe in that prospect," McSorley said. "I think it's just going to take Pittsburgh a longer time like it does for Pittsburgh on so many things."

A Shaler native who moved back to Pittsburgh from New York earlier this year, Brubach has faced a year without any buyers yet at the Granite Building. But as a new resident of the Cork Factory, which has begun quietly marketing its apartments as future condo sales, Brubach also can see a market of buyers.

"There's no question that it's a small market at the top. Part of the problem is there hasn't been much product at the top of the market Downtown," said Brubach, who has priced her units at $795,000 for shells and $995,000 for customized build-outs. "When you get into precedents and comparables, there really aren't many. That's been a wild card all along."

Others remain optimistic.

In an e-mail, Lucas Piatt, vice president of Millcraft Industries, said that sales at Piatt Place, the former Lazarus building Downtown, are on schedule without discounts or concessions.

"We are making great progress, and I think it would be unfair to instill undue fear in our potential buyers," wrote Piatt, who added that the city's new 10 percent tax abatement is helping entice buyers.

"We are making great progress, and I think it would be unfair to instill undue fear in our potential buyers," wrote Piatt, who added that the city's new 10 percent tax abatement is helping entice buyers.

Jack Benoff is also hopeful to begin the $10 million redevelopment of the former Otto Milk building in the Strip District into approximately 60 condos with many priced around $180,000. Separately, most of the units in Benoff's 941 Penn Avenue Downtown sold quickly.

Benoff said the lack of product at the lower end of the condo market is an advantage.

"I'm still bullish," he said. "There's mortgage money out there."

Beynon, who hopes to have a new buyer for the Liberty Avenue property soon, believes a few condo projects dropping out of the market could help the rest, leaving less competition.

"If one or two of these things don't happen, it's probably not going to be a huge detriment to our area," Beynon said. "It's probably better that it is staggered out over more time. Let the market catch up to it."

tschooley@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3826

[Evergrey]

for all you height junkies out there... I finally found some structural height numbers for recently completed and under construction towers in Pittsburgh

The media always reported the number of floors for these buildings... but I never found heights in feet or meters anywhere...

I finally noticed these numbers on this website.

This is SkyscraperPage's list of Pittsburgh skyscrapers:
http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?cityID=327&offset=0&statusID=1

Three PNC Plaza
U/C
23 floors
110 meters
360 feet

151 FirstSide
completed 2007
18 floors
61 meters
200 feet

The Encore on 7th
completed 2006
18 floors
59.4 meters
194 feet

[BMikeSci]

Rosebud

http://kdka.com/topstories/local_story_299142836.html

Well, now it's December. Does anything in PGH ever open on schedule?

[BMikeSci]

Take out the papers and the trash

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07299/828619-53.stm

[PA Pride]

Wow Evergrey; Thanks for posting those heights... I didn't think PNC was gonna be quite that tall... I thought it would be lucky to crack 300'.


Stolen from the "US Cities with most highrises" thread in the Buildings & Architecture section:

Total highrises of 350ft and up list:
New York .....................552
Chicago........................243
Miami...........................77
Houston........................66
San Francisco................61
Atlanta.........................59
Los Angeles...................59
Honolulu.......................53
Las Vegas.....................50
Boston.........................40
Philadelphia...................39
Dallas...........................33
Seattle.........................32
Denver..........................31
San Diego......................25
Minneapolis....................24
Pittsburgh......................21
Jersey City.....................20
Detroit...........................19
New Orleans....................16
Baltimore........................15
Miami Beach....................15
Charlotte........................14
Cleveland.......................14
Columbus.......................13
Kansas City....................13
Cincinnati......................12
Phoenix.........................11
Atlantic City..................10
Sacramento...................10
St. Louis.......................10
Tampa..........................10


PNC3 puts us at 22. Double the amount of Phoenix.

[Evergrey]

This is from July 2007

http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/whatsNew_detail.aspx?NewsID=213

http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/cms/assets/pdp-111-investment_map_web.jpg

from this map... North Shore Live! has been scrapped... though the Steelers are still going ahead with an entertainment/retail complex with a new developer... ground to break next year.

We haven't heard anything about Station Square condos since Forest City lost out on the casino.

No concrete plans on Barden's part in the Lower Hill redevelopment.

[Evergrey]

I noticed the other day that the building next to the church on Penn in East Lib was being renovated, it said by Moss Architects I think, anybody know what that is for? It's on the opposite side of Penn from the new hotel complex so I don't think it's part of that.



I know this has been posted somewhere in this thread... but the thread search function isn't working properly. I know it's not part of the Indigo hotel development. I assume it's probably a renovation for speculative commercial use.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07301/829148-85.stm

New hospital for kids taking shape detail by detail

Lawrenceville site to open in spring 2009

Sunday, October 28, 2007
By Dennis B. Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200710/20071028rd_hospital1028_bc_500.jpg
V.W.H. Campbell Jr. / Post-Gazette
Eric Hess, the Children's Hospital vice president who is overseeing the project, stands on what will be the outside healing garden for patients. The hospital is under construction at the site of the former St. Francis Hospital in Lawrenceville.Work continues apace in Lawrenceville, where the new incarnation of the expanding Children's Hospital is rising around the husk of the venerable St. Francis Hospital.

Amid the clatter of sheet-metal duct work being unloaded, the spark of grinders against steel girders and, at times, an eerie calm in rooms awaiting the family dramas that will one day be played out, hospital officials yesterday took reporters on a tour of a facility not slated to open for another 18 months.

"The reason we're building it here is we're essentially out of room in Oakland," said Children's President Roger Oxendale.

In Lawrenceville, where St. Francis once served generations of working-class families, Children's will have room, not to mention walls of natural light, and a city vista that, on some floors, takes in the skyscrapers of Downtown, the spires of Oakland, and the surrounding hills that stretch into the eastern suburbs.

"I'm sure we'll have them requesting rooms based on both view and color," said Eric Hess, the hospital vice president who is overseeing the project. Mr. Hess presided over yesterday's hour-long walk through the facility, which includes new construction that has been wrapped around and appended to the old St. Francis buildings.

Planners took note of the nearly subterranean atmosphere of most city hospitals, where windows are at a premium and fluorescent lighting has displaced the sun. Part of the advantage of the new site is that it has the space needed to factor in natural light.

In all, the new Children's will cover 10 acres, comprise five buildings and three parking garages as well as a large satellite parking lot nearly a mile away on 55th Street near the Allegheny River. The hospital bought the land for $4 million and will run shuttles from it to the hospital.

The new Children's will have 296 patient beds, employ 868 full-time staff, and is nearing completion on a 10-story, 300,000-square-foot research annex.

The campus will have wireless Internet access, permit wider use of cell phones than in most other facilities, and offer overnight in-room accommodations to parents who often move in with their children during long hospital stays. There will be a rooftop garden in which to relax, a chapel in which to pray, kitchenettes in which to cook, and a library in which to read.

With all that, Mr. Hess said, will come something else: quiet.

Rooms have been designed to allow everything from linen and food delivery through hallway-to-room closets and shelves, to nursing staff that will be hooked, wirelessly, to monitors attached to children to reduce the number of bells, alarms and buzzers typical of most health-care settings.

"There are studies out that have shown how noise pollution affects patient care. So we're doing something about that," Mr. Hess said.

One of the more striking features is a multi-story atrium area where patients and families will be invited for special events such as celebrity visits or entertainment. Mr. Hess described the massive room as "sort of a children's town square."

"We'll be able to have sort of everybody participate," he said.

Nearby, too, are playrooms where long-term patients can behave like children. At least one will run round-the-clock, accommodating youngsters whose body clocks have been reset by the disruption of hospital life.

Yesterday's tour was one of several hospital officials are considering as the new hospital rises. It won't open to patients until May 2, 2009 -- 7 a.m. to be precise.

That, Mr. Hess said, is when patients from Children's will be moved, en masse, in a maneuver worthy of military precision. Officials have already conducted computer simulations of the huge transfer, which they plan to carry off in a matter of one business day. "There's not a patient that cannot be moved safely," Mr. Hess promised.

When they arrive, they'll have windows, sunlight, and playrooms. The rest will be up to doctors and nurses.

First published on October 28, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dennis Roddy can be reached at droddy@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1965,.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_535009.html

Pittsburgh casino license process cloaked in secrecy

By Brad Bumsted, Andrew Conte
and Richard Byrne Reilly
Sunday, October 28, 2007


Meeting secretly in December before awarding casino licenses, state gambling regulators took up Pittsburgh first and agreed on Don Barden with almost no discussion.
"He was the first one, and it was seven to zero," said Sanford Rivers of Churchill, one of seven state Gaming Control Board members.

The public vote for Barden's PITG Gaming the next day surprised many, including agency employees who knew an internal document called one of Barden's gambling companies "very high risk" and who felt Barden hadn't been fully vetted.

"No one thought he would get the license," one employee said.

Barden's transformation from the "darkest of dark horses," in Rivers' words, to the board's first-ballot choice took place almost entirely behind closed doors. A three-month investigation by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review shows a board cloaked in secrecy, where employees rushed to analyze applicants by a board-imposed deadline and where at least some employees lost confidence in the process.
The Trib based its findings on Gaming Control Board documents, information provided by Barden's companies, state Supreme Court records, federal regulatory filings and interviews with more than 35 sources.

The newspaper talked with board members, agency employees, former employees and officials with the losing bidders. Many sources asked not to be identified by name because of rules prohibiting insiders from talking about the board's secret dealings or the Supreme Court appeals process.

Board Chairman Mary DiGiacomo Colins and other board members said Barden won, in part, on the strength of his casino location on the North Shore and because he had $495 million in financing to build the casino.

All of the applicants had a degree of financial risk, board members said, but they liked PITG's site best.

"We knew all of that," said board member Kenneth McCabe of Cranberry. "We took the totality of everything into our decision, not just the finances."

Barden, of Detroit, declined to comment for this story. He expects to open his casino in 2009, within 16 months of breaking ground. He's seeking some city permits and the resolution of appeals filed by the Steelers and Pirates over traffic concerns.

"No one has lost a dime in him yet," said Gregg Klein, a gambling industry analyst at BNP Paribas bank in New York. Finance "is a weak part of their story, but it's not weak enough to deny them a gaming license or for them to not finish the Pittsburgh project."

Based on sources and documents, the Trib found:

• Board investigators reported that their only area of concern with Barden was his personal gambling losses. (See related story, "Barden's gambling losses don't concern board," on A7)

Barden told investigators he lost $11.1 million over the previous five years.

Barden did not wager in any of his casinos, and none of the jurisdictions where he operates prohibits gambling by casino owners in other facilities. In the interview, Barden told investigators he stopped gambling with high-rollers.

• Confidential board documents said all three Pittsburgh applicants operated with debt levels that made them at least "high risk," and that Barden's Majestic Star was "very high risk." (See related story, "Casino hopefuls all had financial risks, documents show," on A7)

The report also said Barden's gambling company "demonstrated weak financial performance," compared to a "strong" assessment for St. Louis-based Isle of Capri Casinos and a "solid" one for Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises.

Because PITG is a new Barden company, the board looked at his Majestic Star, which owns casinos in Indiana, Mississippi and Colorado. Barden owns a 100 percent stake in PITG, although a local investor group has options to purchase a 12.75 percent stake.

• No matter who won the license, an internal board assessment showed a Pittsburgh casino would make $482.8 million a year, and 96 percent of the money would come from local residents. That projection is based on 5,000 slot machines, about 1,800 more than at Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va.

About a quarter of the 2.58 million people who live in the region are projected to be casino customers, averaging 10 visits a year and losing an average of $66 each time.

Just 2.3 percent of the region's overnight visitors would visit the casino, although that percentage could grow as the casino becomes more of a destination, the report says.

• Internal task force reports on each of the three Pittsburgh applicants did not include detailed individual financial analyses for any of the key players or investors.

Although Barden owns PITG, the board's internal report said there were no "significant financial contributors" to the project because all of the money was to be borrowed.

A quarter of Forest City's proposed Station Square Casino would have been owned by individual investors. Although four of the investors planned to put their own money into the project, the board's task force reported, yet again, that it had not found any "significant" contributors.

A public company, Isle of Capri did not have any individual contributors so the board did not have any potential investors to analyze.

• A loophole in the board rules allowed option holders in Barden's Pittsburgh casino to donate to political campaigns during the selection process, and two did.

Board rules prohibit license applicants from making state campaign contributions, but option holders in the Pittsburgh casino did not apply for licenses until last summer -- after the slots selection process started.

Philadelphia businessmen Larry McCrae and William Lincoln Wilson gave $5,650 to Gov. Ed Rendell's campaign in 2006. They applied for state licenses as casino principals in June 2006, and have not made campaign donations since then.

• Gambling board employees weren't the only ones rushing during the slots selection process. Just one day before his November suitability hearing, Barden submitted a $40 million loan commitment from International Game Technology's lending arm, IGT Capital. The company is a leading maker of slot machines.

Previously, Barden gave the board a $455 million letter of credit from Jefferies & Co., a Wall Street investment firm. That was enough to pay for the first two phases of his casino. Credit Suisse is now putting up the money for the casino instead of Jefferies.

An internal board report showed Barden would need more money for a third phase, to bring the casino up to 5,000 slot machines and add parking.

Barden, "without a doubt, is the best applicant for Pittsburgh," Colins said. "You will see that when he opens and from the way he will operate that casino."

Revenues at Majestic Star's two Gary, Ind., riverboats have improved since PITG won the Pittsburgh license. Revenue is up 1.4 percent over last year, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission.

"All that stuff that was being thrown around in the financial suitability hearings is moot because (Barden) did what he said he was going to do: turn around the Gary gaming operations," said Barden's spokesman, Bob Oltmanns.

Get it done

Driven by former Chairman Tad Decker, the gambling board rushed to award casino licenses last year after Rendell promised to provide property tax cuts and make up the revenue with slots money.

For weeks leading up to the board's Dec. 20 votes to award 11 slots licenses statewide, board employees worked long hours to review and report on more than 20 applicants, current and former staff members said.

Besides having five applicants' hearings and a board meeting over three days in November, for example, Decker and McCabe drove 200 miles round-trip to mark the opening of the state's first casino, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs.

Employees said Decker did not tolerate dissent or delay, and that they felt pressure to help the board award the licenses in 2006.

"There's no question I drove them to get it done, but not to the point that people became negligent," Decker said, adding that he wanted to finish the job before some board members' terms expired.

On the inside, some board employees lost confidence in the process.

One former employee said the board did not follow a uniform protocol for how to conduct each investigation.

Another source with knowledge of the agency's internal reviews said the work product suffered, particularly when the board's Financial Suitability Task Force failed to do a detailed financial analysis of Barden.

Colins declined to describe what was in the task force reports, saying only, "The total task force analysis was absolutely complete and detailed."

When investigating the three Pittsburgh applicants, the gambling board spent the least time and money looking at Barden and his companies, records show.

The agency spent 1,900 hours examining PITG and more than 3,000 hours each on Forest City and Isle of Capri. The investigations cost about $150,000 for Majestic Star, $166,000 for Isle of Capri and $206,000 for Forest City.

Colins said the differences do not mean the board paid less attention to Barden's application. He was "the most cooperative among the applicants" and his was a less complex corporate structure to examine, she said.

"I categorically reject that corners were cut," said Decker, who resigned from the board in August to become president and CEO of Cozen O'Connor, a Philadelphia law firm, which represents a company planning a Philadelphia casino.

From long shot to winner

At the start, a majority of the board members leaned toward either Forest City or Isle of Capri, giving Barden's company little chance.

But as they started looking at the applicants' traffic reports, board members realized PITG Gaming had a legitimate chance, Rivers said. The casino would sit on 17 acres west of the Carnegie Science Center.

"People are looking at each other like, 'Do you believe this?'" Rivers said. "It was amazing, and all of a sudden, people are going, 'I never thought Barden had this much going on for him.' That was the comment."

Members worried about traffic access to Station Square, where Forest City wanted to locate.

Isle of Capri, meanwhile, agreed to pay for a new hockey arena. It led a public campaign with the Penguins to build support for the plan.

"Isle of Capri, their only hook was save the Penguins, save the Penguins, save the Penguins," Rivers said. "The animosity that I had is that the city of Pittsburgh is more than just the Penguins. Pittsburgh was in dire need of a variety of assistance for help, and that's what I was looking at."

Although both he and Barden are black, Rivers said race never entered into his decision-making process. Barden was the only black applicant to win a casino operator's license.

When all the votes were finished in their private meeting, Rivers said he thanked his colleagues for being "able to address diversity without ever talking about diversity."

Rivers, a former National Football League referee, noted that the gambling board's vote came about a month before the Steelers named Mike Tomlin, who is black, as head coach.

"Two things happened that were just significant in that time frame," Rivers said. "We end up with a black football coach and a black man got the casino."

Both of the losing applicants criticized the board in their failed appeals to have the PITG award overturned.

The slots selection process was "laid out poorly and executed poorly," said a source with one of the losing bidders. "They spent too much time and too much money going through the process."

But Allan B. Solomon, executive vice president of Isle of Capri, said everyone knew there would be a winner and losers. He said he had no reason to believe the process was unfair or prejudiced -- even though he didn't agree with the outcome.

"We're in the gaming business or the gambling business, however you want to say it, and we play in high stakes tournaments," Solomon said. "We have to be bound, and we are bound, by what a gaming board decides."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-10-27/1028-gamble-a.jpg
An artist’s rendering shows what the entrance of Pittsburgh’s Majestic Star Casino would look like.
Strada LLC Architectural Firrm

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-10-27/1028-oldcas-a.jpg
The artist’s rendering for Pittsburgh’s Majestic Star Casino in 2006.
Strada LLC Architectural Firm

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-10-27/1028-newcas-a.jpg
The newest artist’s rendering for Pittsburgh’s Majestic Star Casino.
Strada LLC Architectural Firrm

[hyperion1110]

Those new renderings are truly hideous!

[Johnland]

I almost choked while eating when I looked at those crappy, crappy buildings. They're really laughable. Tampa's new airport economy parking garage looks exactly the same, except for the little suburban looking structure stuck on the front which is I guess the actual casino. It has all the intergrity of a turnpike exit Best Western. I wouldn't care if this was tucked away in some forgotten valley off the beaten path. But my God, this shit is going to be on full display on the riverbanks in downtown Pittsburgh. What really pissed me off is I've just been re-reading Stephan Laurents' mammoth Pittsburgh and have gone over pictures of the real gems and wonders of Pittsburgh's architectural past. The city deserves so much more than this stuff.

[Evergrey]

Yeah, I think the Pennslyvania Gaming Control Board should do a "do-over". This project just ain't right. Honestly, I always wondered why the casino had to be located in the central city... couldn't we just stick this thing out with all the booming big-box retail in Robinson Township? I don't think most people going to a slots barn really care about all the other things the urban core offers. And motoring to Robinson Township would probably be much easier for most people.

Strada LLC has done a lot of architectural and urban design work here in Pittsburgh.
http://www.stradallc.com/portfolio.php

[PA Pride]

In the latest "Pittsburgh Homes" magazine which is one of those free Real Estate mags you can grab at the entrance to grocery stores and other retail places, I found a rendering of a new 5 story luxury condo bldg to be built on Mt Washington - Grandview Ave. I couldn't find any more info when I did a search for this project so I just scanned the ad and uplaoded it here. It says prices start ni mid 500s which I guess means 550,000 and up:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/CondoBldgcropped.jpg

[BMikeSci]

Those new renderings are truly hideous!

I agree! hideous! It looks like a Giant Eagle. What happened to all the glass? Is this what we can expect from Barden? First the start date slips, then the design changes. What's next? Will we learn he lost all the money he raised on a horse?

[Evergrey]

good find, PA Pride.. I wonder if that's Vici or Bella Vista or something else... who knows if we'll ever see anything built on Grandview ever again

Chipotle will be demolishing the old house that contains the defunct Duke's Tavern at Baum and Millvale, replacing the house with a new restaurant. It will be next door to a Qdoba. I assume this will just be one of those single-story detached parking-lot encircled locations. It needs the approval of City Planning. This type of structure doesn't seem to fit in with the high-density Baum-Centre urban district devised by Peduto and City Planning 3 years ago. With the drive-thru National City bank across the street, a car dealership, a huge Pep Boys parking lot and now a Chipotle... this key intersection in the hypothetical high-quality urban district is wasted.

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/baumcentre/assets/04_BaumCentreSlideshow_oct_12_edits.pdf

In other news, Pittsburgh Public Schools continues in its attempt to abandon Schenley High... the most architecturally stunning building in the system... due to asbestos removal costs.

and PIT's free-fall into the abyss continues

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07303/829555-85.stm

Southwest calls airport's fees a large concern

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Southwest Airlines is "very concerned" about the fee increases it is facing at Pittsburgh International Airport in January because of cutbacks by US Airways at its former hub.

But at the same time, Whitney Eichinger, a Southwest spokeswoman, said yesterday the sharp hike in fees isn't expected to affect the airline's plans for growth in Pittsburgh next year, although it could have some impact long term if fees continue to rise.

"I think it's a concern, definitely. We're still planning on growing in Pittsburgh and we have a great relationship with the people in Pittsburgh," she said. "Although this is a large concern to us, we'll work through it."

The Allegheny County Airport Authority board authorized sharp increases in landing, terminal and ramp fees to the airlines operating out of Pittsburgh in approving an $87.4 million budget Friday for 2008.

Starting in January, landing fees will jump from $2.39 per 1,000 pounds to $3.18, or 33 percent; terminal fees will increase from $95 a square foot to $129.17, or 35.9 percent; and ramp fees will rise from $230.23 a lineal foot to $378.92, or 64.5 percent.

The authority said it was forced to raise rates because of the US Airways cutbacks. The carrier, which has been retrenching in Pittsburgh since Sept. 11, 2001, will eliminate 40 more daily flights and drop 18 of its 28 airport gates in January.

Those moves will cost the airport an estimated $5.5 million in revenue next year. To help offset the losses, the authority will close 27 gates at the ends of two of four concourses, saving about $1 million. But that won't be enough to prevent fee increases.

Under airport leases, the airlines are required to cover any budget shortfalls in the form of rate increases. When there are surpluses, the money is returned to the carriers in the form of fee reductions.

Low-cost carrier Southwest has been growing rapidly in Pittsburgh since its debut in May 2005.

Since then it has gone from 10 daily flights to 23 and has become the airport's second largest carrier behind US Airways. Last month, it carried 15.5 percent of all traffic, behind US Airways' 39.5 percent.

While in Pittsburgh earlier this month, Southwest Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said the Dallas-based carrier "will probably" add one to two flights in Pittsburgh next year, although he did not identify the routes.

Ms. Eichinger said she doesn't expect the fee increases to affect those plans. She said, however, that airport fees, if they continue to go up, conceivably could affect the airline's long-term plans for growth.

"I don't think we're quite at that point yet," she said.

Ms. Eichinger said landing fees are right behind fuel at the top of Southwest expenses. The average landing fee for the airline currently is about $5, higher than next year's estimated $3.18 at Pittsburgh. She did not know the averages for the terminal and ramp fees.

She said Southwest will continue to discuss the fees with airport officials.

The airport authority is "very aware of the cost implications" of the fee increases to all carriers, not just Southwest, Executive Director Bradley D. Penrod said.

But he added there's a good chance the rates will come down at some point during the year. The authority, he said, typically takes a conservative approach to budgeting and could end up returning money to the airlines.

He pointed out, for example, that the authority budgeted a $120 a square foot terminal fee for 2007. The actual rate ended up at $95 a square foot.

"We anticipate that the actuals are going to be significantly lower than what the estimate is. [The airlines] know we are very good stewards of airport money," he said.

For 2008, the authority did not budget a $12.4 million payment expected later in the year from a slot machine revenue-backed economic development and tourism fund to reduce airport debt. Once received, that could help to bring down costs to the airlines.

In all, the airport is expected to receive $150 million from the fund over the next decade for debt reduction.

And while fee increases are shared by all airlines, there are landing fee discounts available to carriers that initiate service to new cities or markets that lack competition. That could be a way for Southwest or other carriers to lessen the impact of the adjustments, particularly if they are looking to replace lost US Airways' service.

Two other airlines, AirTran Airways and Delta Air Lines, have expressed concern about the fee increases; however, neither expected them to have a big impact on the potential for growth here.

First published on October 30, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

[PittPenn 03]

Sure, the basics are going to be the same across GE stores. However,
there can be big differences in product selection, staffing, aisle
layout (e.g. cramped vs spacious), and physical facilities
(e.g. cleanliness, parking, condition of equipment like shopping
carts, registers, fridge units, etc...). Come to the city and compare
the Shadyside Market District GE to the Squirrel Hill GE.





OK, but is that consistent with your earlier statement? This one:

Okay, cdc you got me. However, at least I did not opt for the Waterfront GE like a lot of the East Enders have. My hatred of the Sq Hill GE is more about the over crowding than anything- it is not suburban snobbery.

[PA Pride]

Evergrey:good find, PA Pride.. I wonder if that's Vici or Bella Vista or something else... who knows if we'll ever see anything built on Grandview ever again


That rendering is not found on the Cozza Enterprises website where the Vici rendering is located, so I assume this is a different project; Perhaps the Bella Vista or something different entirely...

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07304/829842-53.stm

Downtown's progress claims two standbys -- Headgear and Candy-Rama

HANGING UP THEIR HATS

Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

One has satisfied the sweet tooth of nearly two generations of Pittsburghers. The other has peddled Stetsons, fedoras and a host of other hats from the same Fifth Avenue location for nearly a century.

And both soon will join Gimbels, Joseph Horne, the Jenkins Arcade and countless others that have been lost to the tide of change or redevelopment.

Candy-Rama, a Downtown institution that has served up treats for more than five decades, will close its last little nook at Fifth Avenue and McMasters Way on Nov. 15. The Headgear store next door plans to relocate elsewhere Downtown, ending 84 years of hat sales at the same location.

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority has ordered those two stores and Kenny's Nail Design in the same block to vacate their premises to clear the way for the conversion of the G.C. Murphy store and their buildings into apartments and fitness and retail space.

Rather than relocate, Candy-Rama will close for good, ending a 55-year run Downtown that at one point featured locations on Fifth, Wood Street and Liberty Avenue and a Strip District warehouse.

The store has operated out of its cramped corner crevice on Fifth, one stuffed with chocolates, confections and sweet smells, since the Jenkins Arcade closed in 1983. It has served as Candy-Rama's lone location since mid-January, when a Liberty Avenue store closed. The Wood Street store closed in 2002.

Owner Debbie Tedesco said the store was facing rents upwards of $3,500 a month to stay Downtown. That was too expensive, particularly with the growing competition from Wal-Mart and other stores for candy shoppers. Candy-Rama currently pays $675 a month in rent.

"We're disappointed that it didn't work out," she said.

Since word leaked out that the store would close, regulars have been dropping by to take photos with employees and to enjoy the last few weeks of the store's life. Some have shed tears, said Sherri Schrader, who has been the store manager for the last 15 years.

She said she was upset about the closing.

"I feel like it's mine. I open, I close. I'm going to miss all the steady customers who come and visit us every day," she said. "We call this the living room in here because the same people every day just come and stop by and see us."

One of those regulars, Cathy Niederberger, has been visiting Candy-Rama since she was a child. She has carried on the tradition with her own son. She said she was disappointed to see the store go.

"It's sad. It really is sad. It's part of a bygone era," she said. "We're going to miss it. It's a great quick stop and the employees are friendly."

Ms. Niederberger, a PNC employee, said the redevelopment of Downtown, which includes the Murphy's conversion and the construction of the Three PNC Plaza skyscraper, was both exciting and overdue.

But at the same time "it would be great if the URA could figure out a way to incorporate some of these landmark institutions that have stuck around during Downtown's tough times and give them an opportunity for some affordable space in some of the new developments," she said.

At The Headgear store next door, owners Charles and Yung Lee said they plan to relocate elsewhere Downtown. But that does not mean Mr. Lee is happy about it.

"I have a feeling like someone cut my neck off," he said.

Part of the reason Mr. Lee is upset is that he understands and appreciates the long history of hat sales at the location. Before Mr. Lee arrived 12 years ago, the Tucker & Tucker hat store occupied the same storefront for 72 years.

He said some of his customers remember their fathers, grandfathers or even great-grandfathers stopping at the store. With the relocation, a "Pittsburgh tradition will be wiped out."

"I have a very empty feeling in my heart," he said.

The store is stacked from floor to ceiling with just about every style of hat imaginable, from Stetsons and fedoras to ball caps and knit caps. Some hats can go as high as $1,000. Mr. Lee said customers have come from all over the world.

"We collect the best hats in the world," he said proudly.

Mr. Lee said the URA had offered to temporarily relocate him to another of its properties Downtown, but he declined because he didn't want to move twice. He and his wife are now searching for another location Downtown.

He originally was told to vacate the store by today, but now may be able to stay until the end of the year. He hopes to remain for the holiday shopping season. Mr. Lee said he tried to buy the building about 10 years ago but was turned down by the city, which was assembling properties Downtown for redevelopment.

Kenny's Nail Design next to the hat store is planning to relocate to Forbes Avenue. Owner Tony Nguyen said he will be at the Fifth Avenue location for another three weeks before making the move.

Officials for the URA and Millcraft Industries, the Washington County firm undertaking the redevelopment of the Murphy building, could not be reached for comment.

The city planning commission yesterday approved Millcraft's plans to convert the Murphy store, the Candy-Rama and Headgear buildings and another structure into 46 apartments and street-level retail shops. The Downtown YMCA also will move into the new building.

Millcraft hopes to start the $33 million construction by the end of the year and have it completed by mid-December 2008.

First published on October 31, 2007 at 12:00 am
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_535431.html

Home construction, center renovation OK'd for Hill District

By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, October 31, 2007


The Pittsburgh Planning Commission on Tuesday cleared a final hurdle facing the second phase of a mixed-income Hill District housing community.
The commission approved renovations to an 8,400-square-foot community center called Wadsworth Hall and construction of 115 residences on 7.5 acres of land at Oak Hill, a Pittsburgh Housing Authority-managed development.

The approval is only the first part of the second phase of Oak Hill, which could eventually have 450 homes. The entire second phase will be developed in three to four parts, commission members said.

Boston-based developer Beacon/Corcoran Jennison could begin construction next fall if it receives the proper state tax credits.

[FlyingDog]

In the latest "Pittsburgh Homes" magazine which is one of those free Real Estate mags you can grab at the entrance to grocery stores and other retail places, I found a rendering of a new 5 story luxury condo bldg to be built on Mt Washington - Grandview Ave. I couldn't find any more info when I did a search for this project so I just scanned the ad and uplaoded it here. It says prices start ni mid 500s which I guess means 550,000 and up:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/CondoBldgcropped.jpg

I spoke with the Coldwell Banker rep: this condo project is "Vista Grande" and is to be located at 501 Grandview Ave. -- near the church. First floor units will ask $560K with prices rising to the penthouse ... two units per floor with the penthouse being one unit. Coldwell stated that DeBartolo was involved to some extent in the project ... Cozza has lost their "first mover" opportunity with their Vici project at 341 Grandview.

I've been watching/following all new plans for Mt. Washington and this one seems like it might actually move forward as all permits have been secured.

[PA Pride]

^Oh, good work Flyingdog; That's interesting to hear. Do you happen to know of the name of Debartolo's company or if it has a website or anything?

Also, What does the first mover opportunity mean to the Vici; Is it delayed or on hold or cancelled now?

Thanks for contributing!



EDIT: By the way, here is that agents personal website that has a little bit more info on the Vista Grande and a better quality rendering of the same pic:

http://www.sydniejones.com/current-listings.asp?listing_id={5419211D-7756-485F-8BFD-73EC5E82981E}

[cdc]

Okay, cdc you got me. However, at least I did not opt for the Waterfront GE like a lot of the East Enders have. My hatred of the Sq Hill GE is more about the over crowding than anything- it is not suburban snobbery.

Actually, I've found that the Waterfront GE is often overcrowded too,
especially on weekends. I don't like going there either. But I don't
think that the East Enders who opted for the Waterfront did it because
of suburban snobbery (after all, they do actually live in the City).

I'll agree with EG that the Sq Hill GE has character. But not in a
good way...



Speaking of character, this week's City Paper's feature article is on
development in East Liberty. It isn't up on the web site yet, but the
paper copies are out (at least in Oakland).

[PA Pride]

a promising article in the Post-Gazette today. Sounds like a very good idea:


City to study neighborhood development investment
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A Philadelphia-based consultant will start a study of city of Pittsburgh neighborhoods today, with the goal of providing detailed data and guidance on development investment.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl introduced The Reinvestment Fund at a press conference that announced the start of the $35,000 study funded by the city, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Surdna Foundation.

"We have to ensure that we are investing our limited resources wisely," said Mr. Ravenstahl. TRF's data will allow the city to rebuild "using hard data, instead of politics" to distribute limited funds.

Ira Goldstein of TRF said his organization will drive through every neighborhood, talk with community advocates, and comb data on housing, vacancies, abandonment, foreclosures and more. That "allows us to comprehend what's really going on" in neighborhoods.

That data will help local leaders answer a host of questions, he said. "In what way should [development] money be spent? Is that money for demolition? Is that money for infill housing? Is that money for a preservation program?"

Community development leaders gushed.

"This is exactly what the city needs," said Kate Trimble, executive director of Lawrenceville Corp. "You need data to drive decision making. . . . You have less [money] to do more with, so you need to base decision-making on hard facts."

TRF's work is expected to be completed in January.

[FlyingDog]

^Oh, good work Flyingdog; That's interesting to hear. Do you happen to know of the name of Debartolo's company or if it has a website or anything?

Also, What does the first mover opportunity mean to the Vici; Is it delayed or on hold or cancelled now?

Thanks for contributing!



EDIT: By the way, here is that agents personal website that has a little bit more info on the Vista Grande and a better quality rendering of the same pic:

http://www.sydniejones.com/current-listings.asp?listing_id={5419211D-7756-485F-8BFD-73EC5E82981E}

The guy I talk to within Cozza continues to maintain (as of July 2007) that they are hoping to be in the ground on both of their Mt. Washington projects - 341 and 1435 Grandview Ave. - by year end 2007. I have an email into him to see what's their update.

This Vista Grande project was somewhat of a surprise (to me) in that it appears to be moving forward before either of the Cozza projects, which have been repeatedly delayed for quite some time now.

[Evergrey]

Is 501 Grandview the lot across Ulysses St. from St. Mary on the Mount where the abandoned 2 1/2-story house with the two wrap-around decks is located? I assume that house would be demolished for this project.

news on SouthSide Works office buildings
http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/10/29/daily27.html?surround=lfn

car-sharing services merge (Flexcar and Zipcar)
http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/10/29/daily23.html?surround=lfn

[EventHorizon]

Onorato unveils $1B transit system plan

Article Link (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_535603.html)

By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato this afternoon unveiled a $1 billion plan to connect Oakland, Downtown and the airport corridor by light rail.

The proposal was a key recommendation of the Transportation Action Team, which Onorato formed in March 2006 to address short- and long-term transit goals in the region. The system, which would connect the second and third busiest business districts in the state, would be funded through federal transportation dollars and public/private partnerships, officials said.

"While we fix the current fiscal crisis at Port Authority ... we are also focused on the next phase for transit in the region," Onorato said.

[PA Pride]

^It only makes sense for something like that, but will it happen? I have to wonder...

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_535662.html

Soffer plans 'lifestyle center'

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, November 1, 2007


Plans are moving forward for the next phase of the Soffer Organization's SouthSide Works development, with a marketing effort under way for a 160,000-square-foot office building facing the Monongahela River.
The Quantum V building is part of a redesign of a riverfront block that will be home to an upscale hotel and condominium tower, conference center, Hofbrauhaus restaurant and other residential developments.

"We're excited about the opportunity to market not only a corporate office building, but an incredible lifestyle center abundant with amenities unmatched anywhere in the region," said Jack O'Donoghue, commercial real estate broker with Grant Street Associates Inc.

O'Donoghue, who is leading the leasing effort, represented American Eagle Outfitters Inc. in a leasing transaction for its headquarters at the SouthSide Works.

Since July, American Eagle has moved about 400 workers from its former headquarters in Marshall to the Quantum II office building along Hot Metal Street at the SouthSide Works. It plans to move hundreds more in about two years when another building under construction, Quantum III, is expected to be completed.
Plans for another office building, Quantum IV, have yet to be announced.

Preliminary plans for the Quantum V building include 30,000-square-foot floor plates, with nine-foot ceiling heights, said a news release from Grant Street Associates. Those plans may include retail on the first floor.

Construction won't start until an anchor tenant is secured, O'Donoghue said.

Among the tenants said to be looking for space in the marketplace include the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, Equitable Resources Inc. and the Blatner Brunner advertising firm, according to area real estate officials.

Several other developers are proceeding with plans for projects near the SouthSide Works:

• Trammell Crow Co., a Dallas-based subsidiary of CB Richard Ellis Inc. of El Segundo, Calif., is building a $31 million, five-story building at Hot Metal and Sidney streets that will be the headquarters for construction company Dick Corp.

• Pittsburgh developer Ralph A. Falbo Inc. plans to build a $14 million, 40-unit condominium along South Water Street, east of the Dick building. Design is under way, and the construction is expected to start in the spring.



Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07305/830172-28.stm

Zipcar swallows Flexcar in car-sharing business

Thursday, November 01, 2007
By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Two car-sharing services that entered the Pittsburgh market within months of each other this year have joined forces in a merger that could jump-start their nascent industry.

In a deal that closed at midnight, Cambridge, Mass.-based Zipcar, bought Seattle-based Flexcar for an undisclosed sum. The new company, which will keep the Zipcar name and headquarters, will have more than 5,000 vehicles and 180,000 subscribers in 48 cities.

Flexcar brought car-sharing to Pittsburgh in May with a fleet of 19 vehicles in Downtown and Oakland that members could rent by the hour. Zipcar began serving Pittsburgh in August with two vehicles on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University, the alma mater of its president and chief executive officer, Murrysville native Scott Griffith. Mr. Griffith will be chairman and CEO of the new company, while Flexcar CEO Mark Norman will be president and chief operating officer.

Pittsburghers have embraced the car-sharing concept. Shortly after Flexcar's arrival, City Council agreed to purchase $10,000 of rental time of the company's vehicles. VisitPittsburgh, the tourist promotion agency of Allegheny County, also enrolled as an organizational member. And by the end of September, the company's fleet had grown to more than 50 -- a benchmark that took several years to reach in its environmentally conscious hometown of Seattle.

"We think the high growth lies ahead of us," Mr. Griffith said, projecting that the combined company would have "up to 2 million members in the long term."

Locally, Mr. Griffith said, the only direct impact of the merger will be the rebranding of Flexcar vehicles and reworking their technology to make them available to Zipcar members.

Zipcar and Flexcar, both founded in 1999, operate in similar ways. Members can reserve a car either online or by phone. When they go to pick up the car at a designated location, waving a membership card over the windshield unlocks the doors, allowing the member to retrieve the car key inside. At the end of the reserved time, the member returns the car to the parking spot and replaces the key.

Elwin Green can be reached at egreen@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1969.

[cdc]

In other news, Pittsburgh Public Schools continues in its attempt to abandon Schenley High... the most architecturally stunning building in the system... due to asbestos removal costs.


I think PPS is doing the right thing by proposing to close Schenley.
$45.5 million is a lot of additional money for a school district that
already has so many other more pressing problems to deal with.



more details from today's trib:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_535644.html

"We fully realize what a valuable building it is," Roosevelt said. "It is a building that we would love to save, but at what cost?"

...

Renovating Schenley, Miller, Reizenstein and Milliones would cost the school district $94.8 million, Roosevelt said. Closing Schenley and creating the four 6-12 schools would cost $49.3 million, he said, a $45.5 million savings over the plan to keep Schenley.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/binary/92cd/web44.jpg


http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A37791

NOVEMBER 1, 2007

At Liberty to Speak

After a half-century of having decisions made for them, East Liberty residents have a say in the future of the city's "second downtown"

BY VIOLET LAW

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/binary/bd57/44_0011_cover_andrewbutchertechkids.jpg
Andrew Butcher of GTECH (center) helps neighborhood kids build a fence. GTECH, a nonprofit, is helping plant biofuel crops in East Liberty.


Nearly three years ago, one dolly load at a time, Alethea Sims carted off 20 years' worth of belongings from the East Mall, the federally subsidized high-rise she'd made her home for two decades. Sims was among the 300 residents living in the complex, one of three high-rise apartment buildings that had come to define East Liberty's skyline.

"It was home to me," recalls Sims. "People looked out for each other. It was like one big family."

But if the building Sims had lived in was a community unto itself, it was also vilified as both a symbol and a cause of the neighborhood's downfall. After straddling Penn Avenue for decades, East Mall was the target of a gleeful paintball game in which city officials participated to celebrate its imminent destruction. Since the 17-story structure was reduced to rubble, in 2005, its disappearance from the skyline has opened up not just new vistas, but new possibilities for an area once hailed as the city's second downtown.

For the building's long-time residents, feelings about the future are mixed. On one hand, they are encouraged that the neighborhood where they've lived through times thick and thin is now being rediscovered -- by chain retailers, grass-roots businesses like the Shadow Lounge and area restaurants, and now by housing developers and new residents. Still, they wonder what their place will be amidst the new activity.

"Some of the places they're bringing are sort of expensive for low-income people. We know where we could afford to shop," says another long-time resident Dolores Morris, a widow living on Social Security.

Like Sims, Morris was displaced from East Mall after two decades there. She was temporarily relocated to nearby New Pennley Place in the spring of 2005, and is awaiting the construction of new housing for those displaced by the demolition of the high-rises. But whatever reservations Sims and Morris may have about the future are outweighed by their enthusiasm. Both are waiting to move back into the new housing planned for the East Mall site.

"It's nice to see it to be active again," Morris says, "because it was a ghost town."

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/binary/713b/44_0005_cover_lee.jpg
Alethea Sims, standing outside the door of a more recent addition to the neighborhood

In a heyday that spanned the first half of the 20th century, East Liberty was both a starting point for new arrivals and an entertainment and shopping mecca. One end of the neighborhood was dominated by the bustling thoroughfares of Penn and Centre avenues and Broad Street. The other was buttressed by densely populated streets, such as Mellon, St. Clair and Euclid, which connect to the nearby predominantly residential neighborhoods of Friendship and Highland Park.

The Penn Circle area surrounding East Liberty Presbyterian Church was said to be the state's third-largest shopping district, after Philadelphia's Center City and Downtown Pittsburgh. What Pittsburghers now know as Motor Square Garden was once a thriving marketplace and, later, a site for sporting events and other entertainment. Sims was born and raised in nearby Larimer, but has fond memories of Christmas shopping in East Liberty as a kid.

Old-timers can readily rattle off the names of the many cinemas that lit up the streets through the night: Sheridan, Enright, Cameraphone. Gene Kelly, who grew up in the neighborhood, was a regular marquee name. Today, the only surviving theater space, Kelly-Strayhorn, has been renamed partly after him; the other names live on as breakfast menu items at Anthom, a neighborhood diner.

Like many other urban neighborhoods, East Liberty had been inhabited by a succession of immigrants. By 1930, it was principally an Italian neighborhood, though with a rising black population: According to Lives of Their Own: Blacks, Italians, and Poles in Pittsburgh: 1930-1960, the area was 70 percent Italian and 20 percent black at the time. And while there were ethnic tensions in such neighborhoods throughout the city, Lives of Their Own notes, "The degree of peaceful interaction that existed ... prior to the 1930s has been underestimated."

Still, tensions worsened over the following decades, and "white flight" began to accelerate. During the 1950s, one representative census tract went from under 14 percent African American to 54 percent black.

And as the suburbs boomed, East Liberty business owners felt the threat of suburban malls looming. In 1960, city officials, already preoccupied with renewal efforts in the predominantly black Lower Hill District and elsewhere, decided to try their hand in East Liberty. With the federal government paying for the bulk of the estimated $60 million cost, the bulldozer was set in motion.

By the time demolition was complete, nearly half of the 254 acres that made up East Liberty's commercial heart and residential blocks had been flattened.

To remake a neighborhood seen at the time to be choked with slums and mom-and-pop stores, the planners made bold strokes. Streets that connected the tight-knit residential blocks to the main thoroughfare, Penn Avenue, were amputated. A pedestrian mall was installed. Fronting the mall, and serving as a signpost for the remade neighborhood, was the fortress-like East Mall, with its 17 stories of apartments for moderate-income families towering over the traffic on Penn Avenue. A traffic circle was configured to contain the then-sprawling shopping area within the more concentrated bazaar the mall was meant to be.

The conventional wisdom is that East Liberty was the victim of a top-down process with no citizen input. The truth, though, is somewhat more complex.

In comparison to -- and in part because of -- the notorious razing of the Hill District, East Liberty's redevelopment featured an increased emphasis on historic preservation. That's one reason the Kelly-Strayhorn Theater -- the former Regent Theater, built in 1914 -- still stands. Renewal efforts also provided for green spaces along traffic dividers and elsewhere, and benches were dispersed throughout the mall.

Moreover, "the now much-maligned East Liberty project was the first to involve extensive citizen participation," urban historian Roy Lubove wrote in his two-volume Twentieth-Century Pittsburgh.

The citizens who participated, however, were a highly select group. The neighborhood was represented by the East Liberty Citizens Renewal Council, which Lubove hails as the "first of its kind in Pittsburgh," while conceding that because it was "[d]ominated by neighborhood business and institutional interests, it was not a 'grass roots' organization." The council was controlled by local merchants and bankers, and was headed by Herbert Mansmann, who owned a department store bearing his name.

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/binary/733b/44_0000_cover_eastsidedevelop.jpg
A tenant lounge at Fairfield, East liberty's next-generation housing development

Perhaps not surprisingly, the resulting project was a sort of citified mall complex: a pedestrian center with benches for shoppers, anchored by major retailers like Sears, and surrounded by what planners hoped was an auto-friendly circulation pattern. That vision was combined with a housing plan that was in accord with the precepts of post-war modernism -- which dictated that tall, monolithic buildings were the way to improve housing conditions for the masses.

"It was an attempt to make a livable neighborhood," says Bob Pease, chief of the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority in the 1960s and architect of East Liberty's renewal.

"Based on market analysis [at the time], we did the best we could with the knowledge that we had," Pease now says. "I'm never afraid to say we made a mistake.

"The high-rises were very successful in the beginning," Pease recalls. "Occupancy rates were high."

So were expectations. The high-rises epitomized what a 1970 Pittsburgh Press report called East Liberty: "a laboratory for experimenting with new ideas and the developing methods of urban renewal."

During the 1960s, high-rise living was still a novelty here. Pittsburghers might have been accustomed to living in houses perched on hilltops, but never in buildings more than a few stories above ground.

And they didn't necessarily take to it. In 1980, when she was 27 years old, Sims had dreamed of having a house of her own. Instead, she and her mother ended up moving into a 16th-floor apartment in East Mall. "It was months before I could look out the window," recalls Sims.

An engineer by training, Pease placed his faith in a good plan. But while the road patterns looked good on the drawing board, the circular roadway and its radial one-way feeder streets soon confounded even those who frequented the area. The new traffic pattern, as a Pittsburgh magazine article noted in December 1983, made sense only when viewed from above.

But the project "did not cause the decline of [East Liberty's] business district, as often claimed," Lubove contends. Rather, it "hastened [decline] by wrapping the area in a confusing mall and arterial road configuration. Neighborhood business districts were probably undermined less by renewal, however ill-conceived, than by the emergence of suburban shopping malls, as well as substantial depopulation, poverty and crime."

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/binary/7d68/44_0001_cover_newresidences.jpg
Fairfield, a new mixed-income housing development

Still, in trying to compete with suburban shopping malls, planners made the mistake of trying to turn a city neighborhood into one.

Moe Coleman, who as a social-work student worked in the field in East Liberty in the 1960s, was a community organizer when land acquisition and relocation began. He's now a professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh.

"The [planners], with their suburban and middle-class values, didn't understand a way of life that has merit to it," Coleman says.

Once again, East Liberty is becoming "a laboratory for experimenting with new ideas" about urban redevelopment. But this time, the approaches being devised are intended to reverse the mistakes made during the last experiment.

Now, the process is not just about bringing businesses back, but also putting heads together.

"The vision of East Liberty is being crafted in this process," says Nathan Wildfire, of East Liberty Development Inc. (ELDI), the community group responsible for the neighborhood's redevelopment.

While it may seem as though the latest round of renewal happened overnight, the process of soliciting community input has been going on for a decade. In concert with residents and other stakeholders, ELDI hatched a community plan for the area in 1999.

Some changes had already begun by that point. The pedestrian mall, once thought to be the modern innovation that would revive business, was undone in the early 1990s. Once-closed streets were reopened, facilitating car traffic that the original renewal effort had shunned.

The 1999 plan extended that work: broadening the mix of businesses, reconnecting the residential streets to Penn Circle and linking residents to jobs and training opportunities in the area.

To be sure, the change began slowly. Among the first of the new arrivals was Home Depot, which moved into the area in 2000. The trend really took hold when the organic-food grocery chain, Whole Foods, moved in along Centre Avenue. The success of Whole Foods, which marked its fifth anniversary in October, began to attract an influx of businesses serving a similar clientele. Mosites Corporation, the developer who lured Whole Foods to the area, used the market's success to attract an influx of businesses serving a similar clientele. Over the past two years, a spa, an upscale wine store, Borders

Books & Music and Starbucks Coffee all cropped up within barely a block of Whole Foods, as part of the EastSide complex.

Now that "green" design is all the rage, East Liberty's redevelopment plans increasingly incorporate environmentally friendly initiatives. Last spring, in a residential section of East Liberty known as Mellon Orchard, a pilot project was launched by the U.S. Green Building Council. The project aims to test sustainable development strategies. Just a few blocks from Penn Circle, biofuel crops are being planted in vacant lots. In-fill housing prototypes are being designed to restore the original character and dwellings of the residential blocks. Certain streets will be resurfaced to eliminate run-off. Traffic islands and thoroughfares will be landscaped with low-maintenance and drought-resistant plants.

"The community plan of 1999 is responsible for what's happening now," says Wildfire. Now, with most of the original goals met, "It's about time for the people in East Liberty to contribute to an aligned vision again."

http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/binary/1381/44_0006_cover_eastlibchurch.jpg

In June, ELDI kicked off the community planning process by convening quarterly meetings of residents, business owners and social-service providers. Those who attend are encouraged to join various task forces, which focus on different aspects of neighborhood redevelopment. The task forces are on workforce, youth engagement, safe neighborhoods, housing, community health, small businesses, commercial core, and parks and recreation.

Participants are asked to identify the problems and areas of concern. In follow-up meetings they are expected to brainstorm for potential solutions, with an emphasis on "outside of the box" inputs, according to ELDI officials. Further, members of each task force are encouraged to draw up action plans and timelines for implementing such plans. Finally, each task force will elect a spokesperson to present its plan at the next community-planning meeting. The upshot, say Wildfire and other backers, is that urban planners no longer charge themselves with sole responsibility of prescribing solutions. Community planning is now of the people and by the people

And the people do have some concerns about the wildly trumpeted success of recent development. Too much of the shopping is expensive, they say, and too much of the housing is for rent.

"It's a little out of our reach," says resident Dolores Morris about the retail that has opened up in the area. "I would like to see something more down-to-earth," like the Sears store that dominated the neighborhood's retail scene in the 1980s. While Sears may not have been a destination store like Whole Foods, it did provide affordable clothing and other necessities to people in the area.

Residents also say they hope room can be made for more single-family for-sale housing -- the kind that was demolished during the city's first urban-renewal project, and never fully restored.

In the current redevelopment plans, the emphasis is on finding new homes for the former residents of torn-down high-rises who want to stay in the area.

East Mall and Liberty Park, a complex of low-slung homes and one high-rise, have come down. The area's only remaining high-rise, Penn Circle, will be vacated by the end of the year. So far, only the Liberty Park site has been rebuilt: It is now a 124-unit mixed-income rental development. Roughly two-thirds of its apartments were reserved for former high-rise residents; the balance, about 40 units, are market-rate units. The new development is named Fairfield, after an old street obliterated during the urban renewal. All of the affordable units, which housing officials say attracted nearly 1,000 phone calls, were quickly filled.

Most of the developments being planned so far are mixed-income rentals, a step up from merely warehousing the poor in restricted units. But Sims, a leader of a coalition of former high-rise tenants, says she'd like to expand the housing stock to include for-purchase homes.

"It'd be nice to see that kind of mix, something for everyone," says Sims. "That's what the East Liberty revitalization is about. Don't make another low-rent district."

Planners see the challenge.

"Are we building a community of two different classes in the same neighborhood? I don't think so," says Rob Stephany, who became deputy executive director at the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority this summer, after nearly 10 years at ELDI overseeing commercial developments.

Redevelopment officials are caught in a tough spot, however. "In East Liberty, the first move was several hundred units of affordable homes" for the original residents, says Stephany -- and almost none of those residents make enough money to buy their own homes.

Economics are also unfavorable on the supply side of the equation. The tightening of the home-mortgage market nationwide keeps developers and builders in a wait-and-see mode. A plan to build 84 condominiums inside the Highland Building, one of the Penn Circle area's most prominent structures, was recently scrapped. (According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the developer, the Zambrano Corporation, now plans to convert the building to office space instead.)

So for now, those looking to buy new homes -- and those who believe new for-sale housing will help anchor the area -- must look elsewhere.

When she was looking to buy a small house last year, Hilary Brown had hoped to find something affordable in East Liberty. She was disappointed and ended up purchasing a two-bedroom in Lawrenceville for $62,000, half as much as what she found listed in East Liberty.

"People want to buy into the neighborhood," says Brown, who is the outreach and events manager at the Union Project, a nearby converted church space which provides meeting space and other resources to community-rebuilding efforts. "There are not enough options for people to come in and buy to fix up the homes."

But ELDI, city officials and the developers involved say they're not about to repeat the mistakes of the past. That resolve is revealed in the code name of the development plans: called "nabru lawener" -- "urban renewal" spelled backward.

"That's what we're trying to do," says Mark Minnerly, a developer with Mosites Company, which oversees EastSide. "We had to laugh, because no one can say [the codename]."

After Minnerly and Steve Mosites Jr., owner of Mosites Company, brought Whole Foods to the neighborhood, they recognized they would have to keep at it. "We knew we had to do more to be successful, not one- or two-shot deals," says Mosites. And each of those deals requires considerable patience. With EastSide, for example, the developers moved slowly -- over a half-dozen years -- to acquire 14 parcels of land needed to build the complex along the Baum Boulevard corridor.

But moving slowly can be a good thing. "Urban renewal to me is characterized by huge sweeping moves," says Minnerly.

Instead of breaking up street grids, Minnerly says, this redevelopment is about reconnecting. This ethos is embedded in the name "EastSide" itself. Some in the community, Minnerly acknowledges, suspect the name is an attempt to erase the negative association people may have with East Liberty. But the developers, he says, see the name reflecting their attempts to reconnect East Liberty with more-prosperous Shadyside. In fact, the developers are currently awaiting state approval to build a pedestrian bridge over railroad tracks and the East Busway, so that visitors can walk over from the trendy boutiques of Ellsworth Avenue.

"Part of the appeal about East Liberty is the authenticity of the place," says Stephany. The trick, he says, is to restore the commercial core while keeping the feel intact. The inherent weakness of urban renewal lies in the incontrovertible fact that the intricate social fabric of a neighborhood, once ripped apart by the bulldozer, cannot be mended by the best-laid plan. This time, Stephany and others are confident that they're doing things the right way.

"It shows that revitalization can be done without forcing out people. This is not an exclusive success, but an inclusive success."

[PA Pride]

East Liberty has really been having a lot of development... It seems to be quickly becoming the next hot city neighborhood.

[hyperion1110]

Here is the link to the pdf of the transit recommendations: http://www.alleghenycounty.us/news/2007/271031att.pdf

Speaking as someone who commutes to and from Oakland everyday, I can tell you without hesitation that LRT between Downtown and Oakland is something that MUST happen. Oakland is absolutely a mess M-F from 7 AM to 7 PM, and it's still not so great the rest of the time.

[xyagentguy]

Speaking as someone who commutes to and from Oakland everyday, I can tell you without hesitation that LRT between Downtown and Oakland is something that MUST happen. Oakland is absolutely a mess M-F from 7 AM to 7 PM, and it's still not so great the rest of the time.
I'm all for it!! I just wonder how many years will go by before anything bears fruit.

[Evergrey]

The 1.1 mile North Shore Connector entered the planning phase in the late 90s and will be completed in 2011. I wouldn't hold your breath for this envisioned transit fantasy (though it totally makes sense)

Concerning that 11-unit condo at 501 Grandview... I noticed the old house I was talking about has been demolished and there are renderings up for the new building.

[Johnland]

As a former Pittsburgher, it is so good to see signs of progress in East Liberty. I lived near East Liberty back in the 80's. It was always ok, but there was just nothing there. Penn Ave was desolate. There was no real retail or dining. It was just the place you went through on your way from Shadyside to Highland Park.

When you read the history of Pittsburgh, you realize that East Liberty was a pretty happening place for a long time. It was the 2nd largest retail hub for decades. The grossly misguided urban renewal plans of the 60's set in course a decades long decline.

With its prime East End location on mostly level ground, it holds a great geographical asset. It is adjacent to several important city neighborhoods - Highland Park, Shadyside, Point Breeze, Friendship, Garfield, Larimar and Homewood.

[BMikeSci]

Actually, I've found that the Waterfront GE is often overcrowded too,
especially on weekends. I don't like going there either. But I don't
think that the East Enders who opted for the Waterfront did it because
of suburban snobbery (after all, they do actually live in the City).

I'll agree with EG that the Sq Hill GE has character. But not in a
good way...



Speaking of character, this week's City Paper's feature article is on
development in East Liberty. It isn't up on the web site yet, but the
paper copies are out (at least in Oakland).

All I can say is thank god for Trader Joes.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07306/830496-28.stm

Real estate prices higher in some places

Neighborhood appreciation

Friday, November 02, 2007
By Tim Grant, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Homes in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are solid bets for long-term price appreciation, but a recent study of real estate trends in and around Pittsburgh concluded the hottest place to own a home is the South Side.

A report by graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business shows home values in South Side Flats and Slopes over the past 10 years have had the highest price appreciation in the city -- more than 10 percent annually.

Surprisingly, lower and central Lawrenceville, where homes vales have risen at a steady 8 percent each year, come in a close second place.

"A lot of people wouldn't think Lawrenceville has done that, but it's actually done very, very well," said John Sozansky, president of the Appraisal Institute's Metropolitan Pittsburgh chapter, which sponsored the study.

"They've really turned Lawrenceville around," Mr. Sozansky said. "They've cleaned up the streets. They have a nice thriving business district. There are businesses moving back into the Penn Avenue corridor."

While 10-year historic trends show steady, moderate home value appreciation of 2 percent to 4 percent throughout the region, growth and decline are very localized as far as neighborhoods are concerned.

Homes in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill have appreciated 5.7 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. But economically depressed city neighborhoods such as Lincoln-Lemington, Belmar and Homewood have either experienced no home value appreciation since 1997 -- or had declining prices.

"While there's no one cause to explain the economic challenges faced in these neighborhoods, crime and the flight of the middle class are chief among troubles to be dealt with before growth can be expected to return," the report said.

Allegheny County's annual residential price appreciation at 3.8 percent was the lowest among all surrounding counties, according to the study.

Meanwhile, Butler County appears to be the home of the next real estate gold rush, but there too the market is localized.

"Butler has gone up, but a lot of it is due to certain neighborhoods, like Cranberry Township," Mr. Sozansky said.

"The rest of Butler County is significantly slower in growth. There's virtually nothing happening in the rest of the county."

Overall, home values in Cranberry and Peters in Washington County have grown 5 percent every year over the past decade as more people have migrated to communities along transportation hubs.

One might expect strong development in Beaver County given its proximity to the airport, but the CMU research found high property taxes on new homes was a primary reason for the low development rates there. Beaver County real estate values as a whole grew 4.3 percent per year over the decade.

Tax flight also has played a role in lower income families leaving Allegheny County. But the population loss largely has been mitigated by higher income families moving to Allegheny County for better K-12 education in public and private schools.

The region's growth, according to the study, will take the form of single family homes with condominium development in Allegheny County serving as the exception.

The study, which was based on historical sales data from public real estate records and interviews with real estate professionals, concluded that outside the city of Pittsburgh, the greatest development will be in Butler County, followed by Washington County.

The students did not examine every city neighborhood in detail, but the study suggested that the greatest appreciation in the city is expected to occur in higher risk neighborhoods with major projects under way, such as the North Side and Uptown, which will be home to the new casino and arena, respectively.

It does all boil down to the old real estate adage: Location, location, location.

Tim Grant can be reached at tgrant@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1591.

[BMikeSci]

Onorato unveils $1B transit system plan

Article Link (http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_535603.html)

By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato this afternoon unveiled a $1 billion plan to connect Oakland, Downtown and the airport corridor by light rail.

The proposal was a key recommendation of the Transportation Action Team, which Onorato formed in March 2006 to address short- and long-term transit goals in the region. The system, which would connect the second and third busiest business districts in the state, would be funded through federal transportation dollars and public/private partnerships, officials said.

"While we fix the current fiscal crisis at Port Authority ... we are also focused on the next phase for transit in the region," Onorato said.

Fantastic, but where are the details? Is this just a dream, or is there funding? Where will it be located, etc?

[Evergrey]

I am quite aware of the grim financial realities incurred by asbestos-hysteria at Schenley High. But the closure of this school will be a very tragic occurance for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_535857.html

Schenley High School shuttering on the table again

By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 2, 2007


Despite the asbestos in the nearly century-old Schenley High School, real estate officials see a market for it as a place to live or work.
"It's prominent. It's handsome, and it's close to institutions that have a lot of demand. It has market attributes that a lot of other schools don't have," said David Matter, president of the Downtown-based Oxford Development Co.

Matter made his comment Thursday, a day after city schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt proposed for the second time in two years that the school be closed.

Roosevelt cited the $64.3 million cost of removing the asbestos and making mechanical improvements as reasons for closing the school in June. Public hearings will be conducted Nov. 13 and 27, and the school board is scheduled to vote on the proposal in February.

Matter said he talked with Roosevelt a few weeks ago about the marketability of Schenley. Perhaps the school's greatest asset is its location in Oakland near the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and nearby universities.
"There are institutions that are likely to develop demand for the most appropriate use, which I think is multifamily housing," Matter said.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele declined to comment on the university's possible interest in buying the 91-year-old building.

Jason Stewart, vice president of Grubb & Ellis, a Downtown-based commercial real estate services firm, said the building is suitable for condos and offices. Like Matter, he likes Schenley's location.

"On the surface, the Oakland area is ground zero for our region's growth," Stewart said.

Jasmine Davis, 15, of the North Side is a cheerleader and a junior at Schenley. When she learned yesterday morning of the proposed closing, she was heartbroken.


"I don't want it to close," Davis said. "I want to graduate from Schenley."

Supporters of Schenley say they will battle attempts to put it on the market.

"We're fighting it, but we're trying to work with the school district," said Jet Lafean, 56, of Schenley Farms, a member of Save Schenley, a group that opposed the earlier attempt to shut down the school.

He said the group wants to tour the building and review the district's report on how much the renovation would cost.

"We think the figure's about half that from what we heard a year ago," Lafean said.

Roosevelt, however, stands by the estimate.

"You can do a less-expensive remediation that could come around $50 million," he said. "But we believe to save the building and do it right, the best estimate is $64 million.

Stewart considers Schenley's historic status -- it's listed on the National Registry of Historic Places -- as an asset, too. He cited the conversion of the Heinz factory on the North Shore into Heinz Lofts and the ongoing renovation of the former Nabisco Bakery in East Liberty into Bakery Square, an office and retail development.


Matter said a buyer could take advantage of tax credits available for renovating historic buildings.

Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation at Station Square, said any buyer must have the plans approved by the state historic preservation officer.

Given the district's estimate for fixing the building, Ziegler said he was not surprised the administration wants to sell it.

"But it certainly is a hallmark school building that many people know and respect," he said. "So we want to see the building retained, if not by the school board, by a serious developer."

Neither the real estate officials nor Roosevelt would estimate what the building could fetch on the market.

"I think there will be a purchaser for Schenley," Roosevelt said. "I think it will be a very modest price."



Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or 412-320-7828.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-11-01/1102pschenley-a.jpg
Jasmine Davis, 15, of the North Side, a cheerleader and a junior at Schenley High School, doesn't want the facility to close. "I want to graduate from Schenley," she said.
Keith Hodan/Tribune-Review

[Evergrey]

finally there may be new life for one of Downtown's most elegant structures

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_535882.html

Union Trust Building excites latest suitor

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 2, 2007


An investment group led by executives of the Mika Realty Group in Los Angeles said Thursday it hopes to complete the purchase of the historic Union Trust Building, Downtown, by the end of the month.
The group, which includes Michael Kamen, founder of the privately held company, and a business associate, Gerson Fox, also of Los Angeles, said it has plans to restore the grandeur of the block-long structure at 501 Grant St. that experts say is one of Pittsburgh's most architecturally significant buildings.

The purchase price has not been disclosed, but the building is assessed at $30.75 million, according to Allegheny County records.

"We look at the Union Trust Building as a classic building that can't be duplicated," said Rick Barreca, CEO of Mika Realty, also one of the investors.

Plans are to continue using the 11-story, 800,000-square-foot structure as an office building and attract a mix of upscale retail tenants to the first level, he said.
"We think that is the highest and best use for it," Barreca said. "We're looking forward to bringing in some exciting retail to the first level, and leasing the office space to some very good tenants."

The Union Trust Building, which has been known as Two Mellon Bank Center, has been nearly empty since Mellon Financial Corp. -- now Bank of New York Mellon Corp. -- moved its personnel out of the structure in May 2006. A small number of mostly retail tenants remain on the first level, the largest being Lorrimer's clothing store.

"Several major office tenants and retail tenants already have expressed interest in the building," said Jeffrey Ackerman, commercial real estate broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, the firm commissioned to sell the building by the owner, Teal Rock 501 Grant Street LP, a partnership owned by Philadelphia-based Cigna Corp.

CB Richard Ellis will handle leasing and management of the building once the sale is completed, Ackerman said.

The investment group is working with two architectural firms on ideas for the building that would not disturb its historic character, Barreca said.

Mika's Internet site said it is the 13th-largest developer in the Los Angeles area, with some 5.9 million square feet in commercial real estate developed.

Barreca said Kamen has been involved in the commercial real estate business for more than 40 years and has specialized on "adaptive reuse" of older buildings, including conversion of office facilities to loft apartments.

One of Mika's projects was the Star News Building, an 80,000-square-foot building in Pasadena, Calif., that was renovated as a $20 million residential building. The project included installation of a 24-hour fitness club and other amenities in a 30,000-square-foot basement that used to house newspaper printing presses.

A current project is Victory Lofts, where the company is developing 102 residential units in a Cleveland building in the vicinity of the Cleveland Clinic, Barreca said.

"We are really enthused that it appears a very promising buyer is very interested in the building," said Arthur P. Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. He met Barreca recently when he was visiting the city.

"This is a developer who appears to have considerable experience with historic buildings and is particularly attracted to the Union Trust Building because of his positive feelings about the future of the Pittsburgh market and the extraordinary architectural quality of the building," Ziegler said. "I think he is going to treat it very well."

Barreca said the group is finalizing financing for the purchase with a bank, rather than go to the capital markets or Wall Street sources. Thus, he said, there should not be a problem with financing because of the mortgage crisis, which has played havoc with the national residential real estate market and impacted some commercial deals.

Securing financing was said to be a problem with the previous potential buyer, a New York investment group that included Houlihan-Parnes/iCap Realty Advisors of White Plains and J.J. Operating Corp. of New York City.



Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/images/video/2007_pdfs/GX-UTRUST-ch-11-02.pdf

[cdc]

Speaking as someone who commutes to and from Oakland everyday, I can tell you without hesitation that LRT between Downtown and Oakland is something that MUST happen. Oakland is absolutely a mess M-F from 7 AM to 7 PM, and it's still not so great the rest of the time.

agree, LRT would be great.

One thing that could be done to improve things in Oakland right now is
to get the police to start ticketing delivery trucks that park in
traffic lanes on Forbes Ave. Those trucks (UPS, FedEX, beer delivery,
etc.) often clog things up by reducing Forbes from 3 lanes 2 to. In
fact, a few days ago I got caught in a traffic jam that was caused by
two delivery trucks parked directly across from each other leaving
only one traffic lane open. Arg!


East Liberty: After reading the CP article, I stumbled across this
interesting five part series of articles from the PG back in 2000 that
are worth revisiting if you want a bit more historical depth on the
topic:

Part 1: The story of urban renewal
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000521eastliberty1.asp

Part 2: East Liberty Then - Initial makeover had dismal results
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000523intro3.asp

Part 3: The land that retail forgot
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000524elib3.asp

Part 4: East Liberty's dangerous reputation is major obstacle to development
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000525elib3.asp

Part 5: A matter of speculation: Investors eye land as other wonder if East Liberty will finally rebound
http://www.post-gazette.com/businessnews/20000526elib4.asp

Being relatively new to the area, I found that quite informative.
Things are definitely on the rebound. In retrospect, it is clear that
Home Depot was an excellent starting point. With all the old housing
stock around (my house is >100 years old) there is always repairs and
improvements that can be made. K-Mart would have been a mistake (too
downscale and the company has not been in great financial shape). I
think a Target would work (though it would likely draw off some of the
traffic that currently goes to the waterfront store). Whole Foods is
a clear success and likely the reason for the arrival of Market
District and Trader Joes. In fact, I would say East Liberty has been
transformed from nothing into the mecca for all grocery shopping in
the PGH area --- it is a tremendous improvement.

[hyperion1110]

Amen on the trucks in Oakland, cdc.

As far as Schenley High goes, while I think it is unfortunate that it will likely be closed as a high school, this is a perfect opportunity to improve that whole area of Oakland. I could see Pitt purchasing the building and converting it into laboratory or academic space (which it needs greatly), or even student housing. Alternatively, I think it would make for an interesting conversation to housing. Still, I think it's most suitable function would be academic, given its achitecture and campus-like orientation.