[Evergrey]

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.

"Improving" Oakland to the detriment of Pittsburgh schoolchildren. Schenley is one of the better-performing high schools in the city and it's architecture and location both contribute to its unique and rich learning environment. The city needs high schools like this... not grim fortresses like Peabody. A recent study just identified five Pittsburgh high schools as "dropout factories"... yet we're gonna close one of the four high schools that are doing comparatively well.

As for a proposed re-use of Schenley... student housing would be a terrible idea. Students are slobs... we don't need them trashing an architectural landmark (Pitt recently killed Club Laga and the Upstage to build student housing in that Forbes Ave. building). We need a private developer so this valuable property can get on the tax rolls. This would be an awesome opportunity for luxury condos in an area where there is high demand (just look at the success of Metropolitan Shadyside on Neville). Condos in an architecturally-stunning historic landmark a short walk from Pitt and the heart of Oakland... adjacent to the beautiful Schenley Farms residential district... would fly off the shelf.

credit: SchultzLabs
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/151628336_fa2813fa8f_o.jpg

[xyagentguy]

We need a private developer so this valuable property can get on the tax rolls. This would be an awesome opportunity for luxury condos in an area where there is high demand (just look at the success of Metropolitan Shadyside on Neville). Condos in an architecturally-stunning historic landmark a short walk from Pitt and the heart of Oakland... adjacent to the beautiful Schenley Farms residential district... would fly off the shelf.

I was thinking the exact same thing. Surely we aren't the only ones? Maybe someone will take notice.

[PA Pride]

I like your idea for Schelnley high school, Evergrey. That is a great building. I bet it will get snapped up for conversion by developers very quickly if the public school system does put it up for sale.

[tooluther]

Sorry guys, I don't think so on the SHS to Condo Idea

1. That's a tough building layout to cut up into meaningful living space
2. The abatement costs and cost to bring base building up to spec are prohibitory.
3. THEN you have to add in the high cost of construction
4. And we haven't even added in purchase price yet.

Real Estate may be "location, location, location"...but recently its also "holy crap, how did this project end up costing so much"

I hope I have to eat my words, but that's just how I see it now.

[themaguffin]

Considering how much the Cork Factory cost, I would say this isn't viable. It's a wonderful building that must find a great use if not for education. Maybe one of the universities will use it? I know that will keep it off the taxes, but still....

[Brentsters]

Although Laga is now residential, and some students may live there, Pitt is not the owner of the building and it's not offered as university-affiliated housing. Plus I'm sure the rents are so high I doubt undergrads live there. More likely grad students and professionals.

[EventHorizon]

Steelers, Pirates, casino reach agreement on traffic

Friday, November 02, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Casino developer Don Barden has reached agreement with the Steelers and Pirates on an estimated $16 million in traffic improvements around the proposed North Shore casino that could allow for a casino ground-breaking by the end of the year.

Allegheny County Judge Joseph James announced the agreement late this morning. He was assigned to work with the parties after the Steelers and Pirates sued to block casino construction due to traffic concerns.

Under the agreement, an overhead pedestrian walkway will be built from the proposed light rail transit station --- to be built at the current site of the Carnegie Science Center's SportWorks facility -- across Allegheny Avenue to Heinz Field. That walkway is expected to be built before the casino or the LRT station is finished.

The improvements also will include lane controls and signs at the West End Bridge and West End Circle, which will be one of the primary access points to the casino.

The cost of the work will be shared by Mr. Barden, the Steelers, and city, Allegheny County and state governments.

The sports teams agreed to drop their legal challenge.

Judge James said he sensed the parties were close to an agreement and called a meeting Monday that included people from each organization that could finalize a deal. That included Steelers' President Art Rooney II; new Pirates' President Frank Coonelly; Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato; Yarone Zober, a top aide to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl; and John Estes, former chief of staff for Gov. Ed Rendell who is now assigned to the governor's Philadelphia office.

Judge James said the governor's office played a particularly important role in reaching the agreement.

Mr. Barden said the agreement should clear the way for construction to begin once the city approves final design for the casino complex. The major hang-up there is the visibility of a huge parking garage behind the casino building.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07306/830639-66.stm

[xyagentguy]

I wish I knew who to contact to add my own encouragement for this, I doubt it would ever happen. I think it would be so great for Pittsburgh, one of the "greenest" cities in America to have the world's first "green" casino.

:( Alas..

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_535837.html

Majestic Star Casino pressured to go green
By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 2, 2007

A coalition of architects and design experts are urging casino owner Don Barden not to "squander Pittsburgh's best piece of property" where his Majestic Star Casino will sit on the North Shore.

The Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition on Thursday said its seven member organizations -- such as the Carnegie Mellon University Urban Lab, Sustainable Pittsburgh and the Green Building Alliance -- believe the casino will become "obsolete as soon as it opens" if it doesn't meet national green-building standards.

Another concern is the $490 million casino's disjointed appearance along the Ohio River: The 12-story parking garage will rise three stories above the casino's highest point, which city planners contend would break up the continuity of the riverfront.

"Why should we accept anything less than the best project here? Why would we?" said Anne Swager, director of American Institute Architects in Pittsburgh. "The first thing people look at are our rivers."

Bob Oltmanns, a Majestic Star spokesman, declined to comment yesterday on the Civic Design Coalition's concerns.

Rebecca Flora, director of the Green Building Alliance, acknowledged the 3-year-old coalition can't make Barden change his casino's design.

But it can raise alarms with the hope of pushing city residents and the Pittsburgh Planning Commission to demand changes.

"We don't want schedule pressure to say, 'Oh well, build whatever you want there,' and then end up with something that we all think, 'What were we thinking?' You know, like building a new jail on a riverfront," Flora said.

Anne-Marie Lubenau, executive director of Community Design Center of Pittsburgh, said a more aesthetically pleasing casino that incorporates green building features will attract businesses to the North Shore and increase its taxable real estate value.

"We think good design is good business," Lubenau said.

Lubenau and Flora have written to Barden offering consulting services and financial support if he agrees to make his casino a certified green building, which would be the first such casino in the nation.

Barden responded that he doesn't intend to seek certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. That's mainly because the casino will allow patrons to smoke, which the council prohibits.

One Pennsylvania casino announced yesterday it will have a nonsmoking section of the casino floor for patrons. Officials with Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Pocono Mountains said the policy took effect early this week and all casino restaurants are nonsmoking.

Tom Halloran, special counsel to Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority, said city officials have made "some tentative progress" in negotiating possible design changes to Majestic Star's casino and parking garage design.

He would not elaborate, but said the Planning Commission has the authority to reject the casino's design if commission members don't like it.

The Planning Commission is scheduled to receive a briefing on the casino's shell design Nov. 13, Halloran said. A public hearing is set for Nov. 27 and a vote could happen Dec. 11, but votes on the building's shell already have been delayed by months.

Majestic Star officials have said it will take 16 months to build the casino from the date of a groundbreaking.

[Evergrey]

Although Laga is now residential, and some students may live there, Pitt is not the owner of the building and it's not offered as university-affiliated housing. Plus I'm sure the rents are so high I doubt undergrads live there. More likely grad students and professionals.

My apologies. I had heard Pitt purchased the Laga building, but my information was obviously wrong. Thanks for the clarification.

...

As for Schenley... I respect tooluther's opinion (as he actually knows a thing or two about this stuff)... and will not pretend to be an expert on the insides and outs of Schenley... but there are huge locational advantages for Schenley and the vice-president of Grubb & Ellis himself said that Schenley could make a good condo project. A number of historic school buildings in the Pittsburgh area have been or are in the process of being converted to residential, including a school in Bellevue, a couple Catholic schools in SouthSide, Pink schoolhouse in Strip District, a rather large school in Deutschtown, etc. It seems that a structure built for classrooms can make for a nice conversion into apartments or condos. Schenley is a massive structure, larger than any of the previously converted school buildings, but I believe it could make a successful residential conversion if the economics are right. It is truly one of the masterpieces of pre-war architecture in the city. The rooms are blessed with an abundance of natural light. The structure is strong and built to last. The curved ends could probably end up as some luxurious penthouses. There are interior courtyards... it's not like this is some big monolith. The swimming pool and gymnasium could potentially be attractive amenities for buyers... or they could possibly be used for community use or a private gym (they are located in an 80s annex). I'm not sure what could be done with the auditorium in the center of the building though... a performance art space perhaps? I really think Schenley sits on what is probably one of the Top 5 spots in the city for a large-scale residential project. It is so perfect... and would also fulfill the vision for the high-density Baum-Centre Corridor. The spot is close to work for a lot of potential tenents, close to universities and hospitals, close to tons of shopping and restaurants, close to major parks and beautiful vibrant neighborhoods, close to public transit and major city arteries, close to arts and culture. There are two proposed residential towers just a couple blocks down the street along Centre... which is evidence of the promise of this area for new multi-family housing.

Roosevelt's $64 million figure for asbestos removal and mechanical upgrades could potentially be a bit high.. as speculated by many opponents of his Schenley closure agenda. Architectural firm Astorino pegged a "essentials" remediation and mechanical upgrade at half that figure... $32 million. But $32 million just for asbestos removal is still about $4 million more than the construction of Falbo's 82-condo 151 FirstSide Downtown, for example. Schenley is a big building... I'm not sure how many condos you could fit in there... but you could probably fit quite a few into that triangular structure. I'm confident you could charge a pretty penny for condos in this buildling. The Metropolitan Shadyside, located a few blocks away on Neville, sold most of its 42 units priced between $500k-$1million before construction was completed... so there is a market for high-priced units in this area. This is a very desirable spot and a landmark buildling that will not be torn down... if a private developer with deep pockets (perhaps from out-of-town like the Chicago developer that did the Cork Factory) can crank out enough high-priced units to overcome the substantial asbestos cost in addition to conversion costs to make this profitable... it could be an amazing project. Oakland is the nerve center for the region's future economic growth... if that asbestos cost wasn't hanging over this... a condo conversion would make so much sense. I do not want to see Pitt taking this over... and I don't want to see it turned in to student housing (although students do need some more quality on-campus housing). Try St. Terminal is a good buildling to give over to students... Schenley would be wasted. But it would probably be a lot easier for a deep-pocketed non-profit like Pitt to take this over than a private developer.

http://www.post-gazette.com/images3/20060222ho_schenley_450.jpg

Here's an article on Schenley from architecture critic Patricia Lowry from last year:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06053/658849.stm

[BMikeSci]

Re: Schenley HS

My guess is there is already a deal; otherwise the school would reopen.

[Smoker]

I don't trust Pitt with anything worth keeping. They made the Syria Mosque a parking lot.

[Evergrey]

I don't trust Pitt with anything worth keeping. They made the Syria Mosque a parking lot.

Actually, UPMC outbid Pitt (yes, they're not the same thing) for the Syria Mosque ($10 million in 1991) and promptly demolished it for a parking lot.

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/20010904lowry0904fnp3.asp (another Patricia Lowry article)

[PA Pride]

I tend to agree with Evergrey that the Schenley School leans more towards economically viable for a conversion as opposed to not. Developers can get a pretty penny with beautiful old historical buildings and Oakland does not have enough high end units considering all the money that flows through Forbes and Fifth.


About the Syria Mosque; I never heard of that. That sounds pretty sad that they tore that down and then never used that land for anything. That's a good way to get a lot of people pissed off at you.

[hyperion1110]

I know this may sound heretical in a forum such as this, but I am strongly against "yuppifying" this building. I know the current mantra is "condo conversion, condo conversion!", but that would be a serious misuse of Schelney. If the Pittsburgh Public Schools cannot repair this school on its own, it should be retained for an educational use. I reiterate that it would be perfect as an academic complex of the University of Pittsburgh. Remember, folks, that, although tax-exempt, our universities are the economic engine of this region's present and future. Pitt especially needs room to expand, and its return on investment is beyond contestation. That being said, I would like to see a partnership between Pitt and the Pittsburgh Public Schools. For its part, Pitt would pay for the repairs and upgrades of the building (which it could afford many times over). In return, it would gain an invaluable resource for its School of Education to enhance its research and understanding of inner city and secondary education, much in the same way the Falk School does for preschool and primary education. It would also enhance the local education landscape, thus feeding more qualified students into Pitt (or any other university). The school district would save a high school, and make available to its students the resources of one of the largest research universities in the world. Far from diminishing Schenley as a high school, such a partnership would enhance the lives and education of inner city students (many of whom are minorities) incalculably.

In no way, under no circumstances, should Schenley be converted into something as trite as a condo project.

[PA Pride]

^I think people would just rather see it used for SOMETHING rather than possibly get bulldozed... That's the appeal for condos from this board.

But yeah, your plan sounds very good but unfortunately we don't live in an ideal world. Who knows though...

[Evergrey]

That Pitt/PPS partnership an innovative idea, Hyperion. Maybe you should pitch it to Pitt. Otherwise, I don't think Pitt just swooping in and turning Schenley into another university academic building would be the best use. I am a big proponent of getting this prized property on to the tax rolls as opposed to tax-exempt Pitt stretching its tentacles out more (it's the state government's fault that this is such an issue in the first place [lack of PILOT program for NPOs; municipal hyper-fragmentation]). I think cramming a few hundred "yuppies" in that building would be a great way for Oakland (and by extension, Pittsburgh) to reach a "tipping point". You have an extremely important location that would be highly valued as a place to live. This could generate a huge amount of tax dollars for the city (and the struggling school district). The City already has 1/3 of its property tax exempt (compared to like 1/10 for Mt. Lebanon, for example). Pitt is a huge economic engine and cultural/educational institition for the region... but the region does not provide essential services to Pitt... the City of Pittsburgh does... and the City receives peanuts in return for providing these services to Pitt's tax-exempt empire.

Of course... my first choice is for Schenley High School to remain Schenley High School (or Hyperion's partnership idea). The "urban renaissance" that is going on in America is largely attracting the empty nester and the childless young professional. The middle class family continues to flee urban cities due to terrible public schools. Closing a comparatively high performing high school like Schenley would further diminish Pittsburgh Public Schools' reputation.

[BMikeSci]

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.

Regarding the trucks in Oakland, do the police ever hand out tickets here? Everyone seems to speed. If the city needs more money, I recommend enforcing traffic laws rather than raising taxes. Of course that means working. BTW, I was in the subway yesterday. All the garbage cans were welded shut to keep terrorists from leaving bombs in them. I know that the city has spent a bunch of money defusing leftover lunches, but does that mean that the trash is going to end-up in the gutter? I mean, there hasn't been a real bomb found, and now the trash cans are being welded shut. Duh! If we really want to do something to reduce terrorist targets, why not get all that toxic waste, etc. off Neville Island.

[hyperion1110]

Perhaps referring to yuppies was the wrong idea, Evergrey. I suppose I am more against the gentrification of Pittsburgh than anything else, a la Philadelphia. That city tends to have no real middle class; there are either extremely poor or extremely wealthy people. Against such a trend, I'd like to see Pittsburgh adopt a more middle of the road approach to development.

As far are someone developing the building, I think we can rest assured that something will be done with it. As many of es here have rightly remarked, it is an amazing building with an amazing location. I'll be intrigued to see what will be done with it. Nevertheless, I, too, would lament the loss of a well-performing city high school like Schenley.

As for the traffic in Oakland, I don't know much that can be done about it in the near-term. I don't think they ticket very much at all. Then again, just stopping someone of Fifth or Forbes would be a traffic nightmare. LRT is the way to go in Oakland. For the price of the North Shore Connector, we could have built light rail to Oakland and probably Squirrel Hill/Shadyside as well.

[UrbaniDesDev]

I found these pics of the Syria Mosque. I vaguely remember it. I remember I peeked inside as a child. I snuck in because I was so in awe of the whimsical facade. It had 3 balconies and was one of the most ornate buildings I had ever seen. I remember the shock the people had. No one could believe this had happened. Pitt proposed all these plans and told the city how it absolutely needed this to grow. Nothing ever happened...PARKING!

I remember the furor it caused when Pitt razed it. It rallied the people of Pittsburgh much like the razing of Pennsylvania Station did in New York City. It was tantamount to razing Heinz Hall. I believe this was the impetus for the creation of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the creation of the theater district. This building sacrificed but it paved the way, making sure that nothing like this would happen again on such a scale.

This is where most of the large concerts were held in the 60s & 70s. I believe it is where the Pittsburgh Symphony played. No one ventured downtown back then. This was the center, the heart of Oakland. There was a great battle over it, protests and such, which is why they immediately razed it so they would not be told to halt their plans. It really left a bad taste in my mouth about Pitt and it's lack of conscious or any regard for Pittsburgh community. I don't believe that has changed either. Bette Middler even showed up saying it was one of the grandest theaters she had ever performed in. The pics do not even do it justice.

Mosque on far left. It really was the center of Oakland and this block showed must have been one of the most beautiful in the world!
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SyraiMosque4.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SyraiMosque.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SyraiMosque2.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SyraiMosque3.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SyraiMosque5.gif

Thes statues flanked the entrance and drew me in
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SyraiMosque6.jpg

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07308/831040-53.stm

Long-delayed housing project expected to begin next spring

Sunday, November 04, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Construction of the Federal Hill housing development, delayed since its groundbreaking almost a year ago, should begin by spring, said Joan Kimmel, the Central Northside Neighborhood Council's representative on the project.

At the November 2006 groundbreaking, officials predicted the first six townhouses would be finished by spring. But the extent of water and sewer work called for additional public money, delaying construction until September.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority's then-executive director, Jerome Dettore, said last spring that as more planning became necessary, "it became clear public funds were needed."

The Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority in June approved spending $400,000 toward the project.

There are no current holdups, according to PWSA spokesman Mike Lichte. He said Michael Baker Engineers is preparing a design package for use in bidding out contracts for the water and sewer work. The Central Northside Neighborhood Council expects to close on the first six properties with the URA by the end of the year, Ms. Kimmel said.

The Federal Hill plan of 60 homes, 40 condos and a smattering of apartments predominantly on Federal Street also will fill in around gaps along some connecting side streets.

Ms. Kimmel said the neighborhood council has received many calls from interested buyers. Once construction is under way, S&A, the builder, will have a real estate trailer on site, "and the neighborhood council will make sure they are seeking clients broadly," she said. "Credit counseling will be available."

Diana Nelson Jones can be reached at djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626.

[PA Pride]

Oh My God, Urbandesdev!!! I am not usually a huge preservationist but that is a SHAME!! THat is an amazing building... I had no idea it was so nice and so important. What a horrible shame....


That actually makes me a little sick to my stomach....

[hyperion1110]

It is a shame about the Syria Mosque. My dad often talks about how wonderful the Barry Manilow concert was he saw there in the 70's :haha:

[tooluther]

Real quick back to Schenley...One of the things that made Try Street, Cork Factory, and Heinz Lofts move forward was the Historic Tax Credit (as well as various preservation easements in the latter two). Those credits are only available for for-rent or commercial properties.

So, I think a great use (assuming the high school is 100% a no go) would be for a private developer to put in lab and research space and then get a master lease from Pitt or UPMC. That way the construction cost could be justified on the front end (given how rough capital markets are right now) and the building would go on to the tax rolls for the first time ever.

UPMC should really start adopting this model anyways. If they have a for-profit real estate arm to own their buildings they wouldn't have to worry about paying into the non-profit contribution system because all that real estate would be on the tax rolls. This is the way Highmark owns 5th Avenue Place through Standard Property Company.

[Evergrey]

Real quick back to Schenley...One of the things that made Try Street, Cork Factory, and Heinz Lofts move forward was the Historic Tax Credit (as well as various preservation easements in the latter two). Those credits are only available for for-rent or commercial properties.



That's also what's moving Piatt's G.C. Murphy conversion forward... I believe there is an expiration date after a few years where the for-rent units can be converted to condos.

Speaking from a purely emotional standpoint... I think lab/research space would be a huge missed opportunity for a potential re-use of Schenley.

Lab/research space can look like this:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/bridgesidedesign.jpg

But there is only one Schenley... and it should be a knockout project.

[Johnland]

All this about the Syria Mosque has dredged up ghosts of Pittsburgh's mistakes past. I remember being so outraged that it was torn down and replaced with nothing. You can see that happening in the 40's, 50's or 60's, but not the 90's. Awfully heavyhanded and ignorant blunder.

[BMikeSci]

My guess is that UPMC will develop SHS.

[Evergrey]

My guess is that UPMC will develop SHS.

or turn it into a parking lot (like UPMC's "redevelopment" of the Syria Mosque)

btw, I can't believe there are virtually NO photos of the Syria Mosque available on the internet... just old postcards

[EventHorizon]

^Here's some older ones...

http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/getimage-idx?view=image;entryid=x-84.62.29;viewid=1024985.TIF;cc=cma;c=cma;quality=2
http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/getimage-idx?view=image;entryid=x-9119b.xxiv.3.sh;viewid=9119BXXIV3SH.TIF;cc=shourek;c=shourek;quality=2
http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/getimage-idx?view=image;entryid=x-msp117.b009.f07.i03;viewid=PPS1923.TIF;cc=pps;c=pps;quality=2
http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/getimage-idx?view=image;entryid=x-msp285.b002.f37.i01;viewid=ACCD0164.TIF;cc=accd;c=accd;quality=2
http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/getimage-idx?view=image;entryid=x-1996.69.178;viewid=1002333.TIF;cc=cmaharris;c=cmaharris;quality=2

[AaronPGH]

Holy crap! What a stunning building! I can't believe the city let that get town down!

[UrbaniDesDev]

EventHorizon you must have scoured the net. I couldnt find any pics.
Thanks
Im not sure that the bottom one is actually at the Syria Mosque

[EventHorizon]

EventHorizon you must have scoured the net. I couldnt find any pics.
Thanks
Im not sure that the bottom one is actually at the Syria Mosque

No, not the net .. .just my hundreds of bookmarks that I keep letting get unorganized! lol
They're from this site: Historic Pittsburgh (http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/) -- Just go to 'images' and then just search for any image.

The Bottom photograph is described as being - 'outside of the Syria Mosque'
See here: Masons (http://images.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/i/image/image-idx?sid=64905b4901f756056cafc33f53d324a0;xc=1;g=imls;q1=syria%20mosque;rgn1=ic_all;size=20;lasttype=boolean;view=entry;lastview=thumbnail;subview=detail;cc=cmaharris;entryid=x-1996.69.178;viewid=1002333.TIF;start=1;resnum=13)

[B4burgh]

I just have one random question, What happened to the sphinxs? Patricia Lowery, in her article states that they were taken away. If so where? It would be interesting if to see if UPMC has them stashed away somewhere.

[PA Pride]

UPMC done fucked up with that teardown.....

[Evergrey]

I would really like to see some modern photos of Syria Mosque... 70s/80s and in color... but they seem to be amazingly non-existant on the web.

Anyways... here's an article on some progress in long-battered New Kensington... a city of 14k in Westmoreland County along the Allegheny River... just past Oakmont and Lower Burrell. Its downtown is almost completely vacant... very depressing... some buildings are falling down... but you can tell it was amazing at one time. The downtown commercial streets are very intimately-scaled... I imagine it was a vibrant place to shop at one point.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07308/831014-52.stm

Putting the 'New' back in New Kensington

Sunday, November 04, 2007
By Cindi Lash, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200711/20071104vwhcnewken101_500.jpg
Post-Gazette photo
New Kensington Councilman Tom Guzzo, left, Mayor Frank Link, center, and Councilman John W. Regoli Jr. are trying to fight blight and revitalize their central business district. They see progress -- buildings have been condemned and will be demolished for new structures.Like so many other former mill towns in Western Pennsylvania, New Kensington has struggled to reinvent itself since 1971, when Alcoa closed its original riverfront plant complex that once provided jobs, revenue and community identity.

Population shrank nearly in half, from 26,000 in the early 1970s to about 14,000. Businesses moved to malls or suburban commercial strips. Buildings that housed them decayed.

Tax revenues shrank. Crime rates surged to the point that municipal leaders joked grimly that the only way the Allegheny Valley city attracted attention was in news reports of shootings on its seedier downtown streets.

But six years after launching an aggressive campaign to combat crime, enforce building codes, find new uses for vacant properties and recruit businesses, leaders and residents of the Westmoreland County town are seeing results that buoy them about prospects of resurrecting their struggling downtown.

"It's a really exciting time for New Kensington," said council member and native Tom Guzzo, 47.

"[Older] people here still remember the heyday, when you couldn't find a parking spot Downtown. Will we do that again? I don't know, but there are a lot of wonderful things we can do and are doing."

What's new

In recent months, New Kensington leaders have watched a contractor put finishing touches on a stylish new apartment complex for senior citizens where an eyesore of an abandoned school once stood.

They've seen ground broken last month for a new branch of Westmoreland County Community College. They expect the $6 million education and career link center will create more than 700 jobs and spur coffee shops, bookstores and complementary businesses to seek space in nearby buildings.

They've also kicked off the second $1.1 million phase of a plan to revitalize the down-at-the-heels Fifth Avenue corridor, where the community college development will be located.

Existing businesses have expanded and a diabetes center and MRI suite moved into the Alle Kiski Medical Center.

Perhaps most encouraging of all, city leaders have begun fielding calls from light industrial companies and commercial developers interested in finding new uses for rundown but serviceable buildings. They're cajoling those firms to move downtown or into the adjacent, privately owned Schreiber Industrial Park, which hugs the river where Alcoa once manufactured cookware and other aluminum items.

"For us to go from zero calls to someone interested in property is a whole big step. Now we're getting calls all the time," said Mayor Frank Link, who has been in office six years. "One of our biggest problems now is finding space for people who want to come in."

Mr. Link said he ran for office in 2001 with other candidates for City Council who shared a determination not only to lure jobs but to address increasing problems with drug-related crime and deteriorating buildings downtown. Community surveys showed that the primary concern of residents was crime.

"We definitely had a perception problem," he said. "There was a perception that you came to New Kensington for drugs, for violent crime and not much else. We had a lot of pieces to put together to get this puzzle completed."

Cleaning up

City leaders put together a plan that called for doubling its residential building code enforcement staff, hiring a private firm to enforce codes in residential buildings and directing those workers to take a sharply different, assertive approach of alerting property owners and members of a landlord-tenant organization to get into compliance -- or else.

"Six [or] seven years ago, you might drive through New Kensington and see a car up on blocks ... or a washing machine on a porch," said council member John W. Regoli Jr. "You will not see any of that today. Nobody got a pass."

With neighboring Arnold, New Kensington also joined the federal Weed and Seed initiative, promoted a veteran officer, Chuck Korman, to head the police department and sought help from state police and other law enforcement agencies to boost patrols, investigate drug traffic and reduce drug sales and other crime. Neighborhood watch groups knocked crime down further, Chief Korman said.

The 118 major crimes reported between July and September were a 35 percent decline from the 180 major crimes reported during the same quarter last year, the chief said. Less serious crimes also declined, from 192 reported during that quarter last year to 156 this year. The last homicide was in June 2006; the last shooting also occurred last year, he said.

"Things don't happen overnight, but there is real progress here," the chief said. "Now we have to convince people from outside [the city]."

Finding the funds

City leaders also have drawn on the ideas and energy of Kimberly A. McAfoose, the can't-sit-still executive director of New Kensington's Redevelopment Authority.

Under her direction, the authority has successfully sought federal, state and private funding and grants and has condemned, purchased and demolished buildings that were too tumble-down to save. It found new housing in stable residential neighborhoods and first-time homeowner programs for residents of those squalid structures.

To recoup demolition costs, the authority placed liens on some properties and cleared land for more productive uses, particularly in areas zoned for light industrial uses sought by numerous developers and companies. It brought in university students and private firms to develop streetscape plans and obtained an Enterprise Zone designation, making businesses eligible for tax credits or special financing.

An early success, Mr. Regoli said, was a deal brokered for construction of the Valley Sports ice rink and athletic complex in Falcons Park. The $4.6 million complex opened in 2003 and began drawing outsiders to the city.

As one of New Kensington's chief cheerleaders, Ms. Mc-Afoose continues to match potential businesses with available properties.

She enthuses about New Kensington's schools, parks and hilltop residential neighborhoods, its proximity to Route 28, the Pennsylvania Turnpike and other roads recently widened to four lanes or improved and the future prospects for a commuter train link to Pittsburgh.

Ms. McAfoose is so committed to her vision for an invigorated New Kensington that she paid repeated visits during construction of the neatly landscaped stone headquarters of Geo-Solutions Inc., an environmental equipment company that was first to build on property cleared during the Fifth Avenue renewal project.

During another recent drop-in stop, she nixed a "really crappy" terra-cotta shade of paint for hallways in the soon-to-be-completed 40-unit Ridge Avenue Senior Apartments, which already has more than 100 applications from would-be tenants.

Among her latest favorite projects: finding occupants for the former home of a Tile City store on Fifth Avenue, the former Dattola theater a block away and a stately Art Deco-trimmed building off Freeport Road that once housed Alcoa's laboratory.

She and other New Kensington leaders acknowledge that plenty of work lies ahead, particularly along Fifth Avenue, where some sagging buildings are sinking into their cellars and others are boarded up and plastered with condemnation placards.

But they are heartened by the response they're receiving from once-apathetic residents who now are eager to join volunteer street clean-up programs and from out-of-town developers who, not that long ago, wouldn't return their calls.

"My mother and father were from Braddock and it makes you so sad to just drive down those streets, where it's all [boarded] up and just awful," said developer Steve Kubrick, 46, who moved from Churchill to his wife's hometown of New Kensington 18 years ago. After working on the Ridge Avenue senior complex, he's now helping woo others like him to New Kensington.

"We brought people in [in October] and they're licking their chops. These buildings are beautiful, well worth saving," Mr. Kubrick said. "There's a lot of potential."




Cindi Lash can be reached at clash@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1973.
First published on November 4, 2007 at 12:00 am

[Smoker]

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m151/Smoker_03/syria1.jpg

The new Syria Mosque along Rt. 28 in Cheswick. It's an awful
looking structure for being of fairly recent construction.

photo: http://www.syriashriners.org/

I searched on Google for a long time and only came up with
two old black and white photos of the original Syria
Mosque. One was of the sphinx only and the page it was on
made it clear you could only view that pic on their site.
There must be something in the Shriner's rituals making it
unlawful to publish original photos?

[Grego43]

I just have one random question, What happened to the sphinxs? Patricia Lowery, in her article states that they were taken away. If so where? It would be interesting if to see if UPMC has them stashed away somewhere.


It appears Smoker found them in his last post of the "new" Syria Mosque. They appear in the older photos to be a memorial of sorts...names are inscribed on the pedestals.

[xyagentguy]

New Kensington was one a gorgeous and bustling town with great shopping, boutiques, theaters and food. It was one the most premier cities in the entire metro area at one time. You couldn't even find parking places downtown. It is so sad what has happened to the town, but hopefully it will revitalize. There is no reason at all it couldn't be like a waterfront. Some of the store fronts and city streets are beautiful.

[hyperion1110]

I think Smoker discovered where the sphinxes went.

[GeneW]

Holy crap! What a stunning building! I can't believe the city let that get town down!

From what I remember, UPMC (not Pitt) bought the property at midnight and had the bulldozers going at 6:00AM the next morning. The city didn't have time to do anything and before anyone even knew what was happening, the building was rubble. It was really one of the ugliest events in Pittsburgh during the time that I've lived here. UPMC couldn't have acted more arrogantly through the whole thing. The fact that it's still a small surface parking lot 15 years later just rubs salt in the wound.

[MayDay]

Sorry to digress - the amazing central chandelier was also taken from the former Syria Mosque and put in the new building:

http://www.syriashriners.org/imagelib/sitebuilder/misc/show_image.html?linkedwidth=560&linkpath=http://ran3750.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/.pond/ballrm2.jpg.w560h420.jpg&target=tlx_new

"My dad often talks about how wonderful the Barry Manilow concert was he saw there in the 70's"

The Cure (April '87 - one of my favorite early birthday presents), Love & Rockets, the Pixies... yeah, it was an amazing place for a concert.

[BMikeSci]

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m151/Smoker_03/syria1.jpg

The new Syria Mosque along Rt. 28 in Cheswick. It's an awful
looking structure for being of fairly recent construction.

photo: http://www.syriashriners.org/

I searched on Google for a long time and only came up with
two old black and white photos of the original Syria
Mosque. One was of the sphinx only and the page it was on
made it clear you could only view that pic on their site.
There must be something in the Shriner's rituals making it
unlawful to publish original photos?

Actually, I find this to be an attractive building. Of course, it doesn't compare to the old mosque, but what the heck. With current costs for construction, I'm guessing it would cost about $150 million to duplicate the old building.

Anyway, let's give the devil his due. On its own, this is not unattractive. I like the roof, the symmetry, and the landscaping. It looks like a nice little elementary school, church, or some such place.

[hyperion1110]

It looks like my idea about the PPS partnership with Pitt's School of Education is going to be realized, after a fashion. Where does this leave the Schenley building???

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07309/831202-298.stm

Excerpt from the article:
"The district hopes the new Hill District school, to be located in the former Milliones Middle School building, will operate in cooperation with the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

Officials want it to serve about 400 students who now attend Schenley because it's their neighborhood school. Also assigned to the new school would be about 180 middle-grade students from nearby Pittsburgh Miller PreK-8 and Pittsburgh Vann PreK-8, and students from other neighborhoods would be admitted as space allows."

[Smoker]

I just have one random question, What happened to the sphinxs? Patricia Lowery, in her article states that they were taken away. If so where? It would be interesting if to see if UPMC has them stashed away somewhere.

http://www.bplonline.org/Archives/moretti/Sphinx.htm

There is a black and white pic here and a bit of description. It does not say where they ended up. The newe mosque, or Syria Shrine, claims to be decorated with many tems taken from the old Mosque. Maybe they have them? Why all the mystery?

[Smoker]

Actually, I find this to be an attractive building. Of course, it doesn't compare to the old mosque, but what the heck. With current costs for construction, I'm guessing it would cost about $150 million to duplicate the old building.

Anyway, let's give the devil his due. On its own, this is not unattractive. I like the roof, the symmetry, and the landscaping. It looks like a nice little elementary school, church, or some such place.

The inside is more attractive although not a big deal. I drive by it often. From the road all you see is a solid red brick wall running the length. That's mostly what I find unattractive.

I think the front is just ok. Landscape-wise it isn't well done nor cared for.

[BMikeSci]

It's certainly not great architecture. I've only seen the one photo, which looked ok. The windows are obscured by the trees, so it is hard to judge. The decorative square darker bricks gave it some design pizzaz. But I've never seen all four sidesl so I can't judge anything beyond the photo. Given Murphy's Law, it probably sucks:-)

[xyagentguy]

If this insight is accurate, this is not good news..

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07308/830745-28.stm

Sunday, November 04, 2007
By Harold D. Miller

The unemployment data for September released last month showed that for the eighth month in a row, the unemployment rate in the Pittsburgh Region had decreased from a year ago.

In fact, the Pittsburgh Region has had one of the largest decreases in the unemployment rate this year among the top 40 regions in the country. The average unemployment rate here between January and September of 2007 was 4.4 percent, compared with 5.1 percent during the same nine months in 2006.

That's really good news, right? Unfortunately, "no" -- as it turns out, it's exactly the opposite. The unemployment rate in the Pittsburgh Region has been decreasing not because people are getting jobs, but because people are leaving the work force, and many of them may be leaving the region altogether.

Many people believe that the unemployment rate is the percentage of the population that doesn't have a job. But it's actually the ratio of the number of people who are looking for work divided by the "labor force," and the labor force is defined as the number of people who are either working or who are looking for work.

Every month, the labor force changes size because people either start looking for work or stop looking for work.

This means there are two different reasons the unemployment rate can go down. One is that people who are looking for work find jobs. But the unemployment rate also will go down if people who can't find jobs give up and/or move away, i.e., if they leave the labor force entirely.

What's happening in Pittsburgh? The Pittsburgh Region is one of only three regions in the country where unemployment has decreased primarily because people left the labor force, rather than because of an increase in employment. Comparing the first nine months of 2007 and 2006, the number of unemployed people in the Pittsburgh Region decreased by 8,100, but the number employed increased by only 2,200.

The primary reason for the decline in unemployment was that the number of people in the Pittsburgh labor force decreased by 5,900 (a 0.5 percent decrease).

In contrast, Dallas saw its unemployment rate drop by an amount similar to Pittsburgh's -- from 5 percent in the first nine months of 2006 to 4.3 percent in the same period in 2007. But there, the labor force increased by nearly 36,000 (a 1.2 percent increase), and employment in Dallas increased by more than 56,000, enough to reduce unemployment by more than 20,000 and still absorb the 36,000 new workers who joined the labor force.

In fact, the Pittsburgh Region has had the largest percentage reduction in labor force this year of any of the top 40 regions in the country. That's why we've had such a large decrease in the unemployment rate. It's hard to know the reasons, but anecdotal evidence suggests that many are giving up and going elsewhere.

It's not surprising if they're discouraged -- there were only 3,000 more jobs in the Pittsburgh Region in September than a year ago, a growth rate of only a quarter-percent, and we still have 5,000 fewer jobs than we did in 2001. Job growth in Pittsburgh was less than one-fourth the national rate and was slower than all of the top 40 regions except for Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Providence, R.I. And it's getting worse, not better.What's causing our slow growth? It's not US Airways cutbacks or a few major plant closings. The economic malaise cuts across almost every sector of our economy. The most likely causes are an uncompetitive state business climate and insufficient support for entrepreneurship.

And unless we fix those things, we can expect to lose more of our labor force in the months ahead.

[Wheelingman04]

That was a pretty depressing article.:(

[UrbaniDesDev]

New Ken...
imagine if towns like New Ken would have received the millions of dollars in help that boondoggles like Pittsburgh Mills Mall, down the river, received from the government. The misguided priorities of living in a throw-away society. Pennsylvania is covered, east to west, with some of the most charming cities and towns. I venture to say more than any other state. They are being squeezed out of the financial picture due to ever sprawling townships and big corporate priorites like useless malls. These small communities can not compete within the structure that exists. Slum lords getting section 8 funds have destroyed our old towns and neighborhoods with no relief in sight. We will continue to throw good money after bad to new infrastructure for sprawling roads and highways to accomodate new construction while our core continues to rot. Nothing will change as long as millionaire developers continue to get the handouts. The current laws are stacked against them

[Evergrey]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/ssw1107.aspx

160,000 sf Quantum V office complex next up for 34-acre SouthSide Works


Soffer Organization is planning Quantum V, the latest addition in its 34-acre SouthSide Works.

The 160,000 square-foot office building will feature five, 30,000 square-foot levels and offices with nine-foot ceilings.

Part of the redesign of a block along S. Water St. that will also feature a 140-room, five-star boutique hotel, for-sale condos and Hofbrauhaus, Quantum V will be constructed near South Shore Riverfront Park.

"The first floor can be a traditional office layout or signature restaurant with riverfront dining. We're in the process of pre-leasing right now," says Steven Kasunich, with Soffer. Plans call for up to 30,000 square feet for first-floor retail.

"Retail is doing very well here; we're ninety-eight percent occupied on the retail level. For some merchants, Pittsburgh is their best location. We're ninety-five percent cccupied as far as offices, and we have 84 units of lofts and flats that are well leased," says Fulton, describing SouthSide Works. Soffer is currently evaluating design proposals for Quantum V.

“We'd like to get a headquarters type of lease in there before we break ground,” says Scott Astorino with Grant Street Associates, the project’s leasing agent. The commercial real estate firm will market Quantum V, secure an anchor tenant and handle ongoing leasing. Grant Street Associates recently represented American Eagle Outfitters in the relocation of its headquarters to SouthSide Works’ Quantum II complex; the retail giant will also occupy Quantum III as part of the expansion of its corporate campus.

Writer: Jennifer Baron
Sources: Chris Fulton and Steven Kasunich, Soffer Organization; Scott Astorino, Grant Street Associates


Image of Quantum IV courtesy of Soffer Organization

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2085/grantstreetassoc_300.jpg

[PA Pride]

^Wait a minute; so that rendering is the unbuilt Quantum 4 but the article is announcing a 5th office building that doesn't have a rendering yet? Is that right?

[PittPenn 03]

If this insight is accurate, this is not good news..

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07308/830745-28.stm

While there most certainly is some if not a lot of truth to this article, to say that the 10,000+ USAirways job losses (not to mention the lost business/jobs from these USAirways job losses) is not a factor I think more than slightly discredits this guy's opinion. What is the statistic - every three jobs creates another job? So it is safe to say an additional couple thousand jobs were lost or not created from all of USAirways cuts. How many companies decided not to relocate here because we lost our flights to Europe and other direct flights? I am no expert, but if it were not for the screwing of Pittsburgh by Usair we most certainly would be in positive territory on a much stronger footing (all other factors staying the same).

[BMikeSci]

Cany-Rama closes

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/seate/s_536814.html

It's a shame that the powers that be haven't stepped-up to help find a spot for this downtown tradition. As the city morphs into whatever, it's government officials and development groups should do their best to keep those establishments that are good, decent, and that somehow help define the PGH experience. Keeping good businesses in the downtown will add value to real estate. It is ironic that the city steps up to subsidize projects that may never materialize, but ignores the good businesses that are already here and struggle to remain.

[PA Pride]

^I loved Candy-rama... I used to buy candy there at least a couple times a week when i went to school downtown. The store at the corner of Wood & Fifth.

[Johnland]

^I loved Candy-rama... I used to buy candy there at least a couple times a week when i went to school downtown. The store at the corner of Wood & Fifth.

I used to work downtown in the early 80's. There was a GNC on just about every other block and they sold health food to go. I was always in there for yogurt, or the sprouts and cream cheese on a bagel. The old Bank Center had a GNC. Remember that place? It was a maze of retail. That's probably why it closed, but I loved it. There was a big coffee shop across from Kaufmanns on Smithfield that was always crowded. And it seems half the drug stores ran the whole width of the block and had entrances on each street, which made for great convience - go through a drug store, buy something, and go out the other side and be one your way of foot in no time. Pittsburgh was great for being on foot.

The passing of the Candy-rama is just another incremental change towards the new Pittsburgh. While I certainly welcome upscale things, I really think it's the middle and lower retail that feeds the life blood of a lively downtown. The city needs a huge number of small establishments and a few large ones.

[PA Pride]

^Yeah, that sounds about right.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_536823.html

Plans move forward for luxury condos in Mt. Lebanon

By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, November 8, 2007


When Lisa Perrone was thinking about moving from Cincinnati nine years ago, she found Mt. Lebanon listed among the best places to raise a family and chose a home.
"I love this town. I love Mt. Lebanon," Perrone said Friday as ground was broken for the development that will include her new condominium.

Washington Park Condominiums, located at the corner of Washington and Bower Hill roads, will offer two- and three-bedroom luxury condos with six different floor plans. The 40 units are priced from $380,000. The complex will include 14,000 square feet of retail space.

Construction is expected to get under way in March, said Michael D. Heins, chief financial officer for the developer, Zamagias Properties. The project has a 16-month construction schedule.

That will allow Perrone time to put her home in Virginia Manor up for sale next May and give her a year before she moves.
A plan to use tax dollars for the project stirred controversy when opponents didn't think tax monies should be used for turning lanes and other portions of the project.

"Everybody finally came together," Heins said.

The Mt. Lebanon commissioners joined the school board in approving a $6.1 million tax break to Zamagias to allow the $42.8 million project to proceed.

That tax-increment financing allowed money that would have been paid as property taxes to be used for infrastructure improvements. The Zamagias project calls for the addition of 50 public parking spaces; a new park, plaza and bus shelter; and road improvements along Bower Hill Road.

An independent financial analysis by Janney Montgomery Scott said the amount of money pledged by the school board and municipality was reasonable because it represented new income, rather than an existing revenue source, and would not impact their budgets.

The report said that when completed, the assessment of the 1.71-acre site will increase $845,000 to $37.3 million and generate $20.7 million in tax revenue over a 30-year period.

"It's been a roller-coaster ride," developer Michael Zamagias said. "But we knew we had to raise the bar to an incredible height because of the community."



Craig Smith can be reached at csmith@tribweb.com or 412-380-5646.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07312/832144-53.stm

Developer plans hotel for South Oakland

Thursday, November 08, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Harmar developer is poised to add to its bulging portfolio of hotels in the Pittsburgh region.

Kratsa Properties has been selected by the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority to build a hotel at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland.

The URA board is expected to vote today to sell Kratsa a 1.2-acre site along Technology Drive, near the Bates Street and Second Avenue intersection, for $300,000 an acre and to accept the developer's proposal for the construction of the hotel, which would include a restaurant.

Kratsa was one of two developers to submit proposals for the hotel. Kyra Straussman, the URA's director of real estate, said the Kratsa proposal was "more complete" than the one submitted by Acquest Development Inc. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., which developed Erie's Bayfront Convention Center and an accompanying 203-room Sheraton Hotel.

She said Acquest wanted more time to study the hotel project.

Kratsa owns and operates 14 hotels in the region, including a 125-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites at the South Side end of the 10th Street Bridge and a 198-room Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel next to PNC Park on the North Shore.

The developer also is building a 115-room SpringHill Suites Hotel on URA-owned land on the South Side, near the UPMC Sports Performance Complex. It also is working on a 180-room Residence Inn by Marriott on the North Shore near the Pirates' ballpark to complement the SpringHill Suites hotel.

With action today, Kratsa plans to begin the franchising, design and financing process for the new full-service five-story hotel immediately. It hopes to formally acquire the site by August and plans to open the hotel in November 2009.

Ms. Straussman said the development will be privately financed.

The new hotel is part of a major expansion of the technology center that could include the construction of three garages and as many as five office buildings on about 30 acres. The expansion includes the $46 million Bridgeside Point II project, a 150,000-square-foot lab and office building being planned by The Ferchill Group of Cleveland.

The hotel will be only a stone's throw from the Hot Metal Bridge, which takes traffic over the Monongahela River to the South Side in the vicinity of the SpringHill Suites hotel Kratsa is building.

Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07312/832202-28.stm

Specter, other Pa. lawmakers issue a public rebuke of US Airways CEO

'Half of what was said couldn't be printed in a newspaper'

Thursday, November 08, 2007
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter yesterday delivered a stern public scolding to US Airways' top executive after a heated meeting in his Washington office, saying the airline had broken repeated commitments to the Pittsburgh area with huge cutbacks and layoffs.

"It was not a satisfactory meeting," a grim Mr. Specter told reporters as he stood afterward alongside US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker. "There are grave concerns from the Pennsylvania delegation about what US Airways has done in Pittsburgh."

Sen. Bob Casey and nine of the state's House members joined Mr. Specter, a five-term Republican, for the closed-door session. Each took turns berating Mr. Parker and other airline officials for planning a new round of cuts in the region, including the elimination of 450 local jobs and the shifting of 500 local pilots and flight attendants to new locations.

"This was the most unbelievable meeting I've ever sat through," said Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills. "Half of what was said couldn't be printed in a newspaper."

By the beginning of next year, US Airways will have 68 daily flights and 1,800 local employees, down from highs of 542 flights and 11,995 people in September 2001.

The latest announcement came last month, just weeks after Mr. Parker told union officials that US Airways was not planning any additional reductions in the region.

Mr. Parker, who joined US Airways after the company's 2005 merger with America West Airlines of Tempe, Ariz., said he came to the nation's capital to explain his business perspective to Pennsylvania lawmakers. He cited the high cost of fuel and the loss of $40 million in revenue in Pittsburgh over the past year.

"We're deeply committed to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania," he said. "We still are the largest airline in Pittsburgh. We generate more revenues in the state of Pennsylvania than we do in any other state. We've worked very hard to be good corporate citizens, to be good employers and we'll continue to do that."

Lawmakers rejected his arguments, saying that fuel costs are high across the country, not just in Pittsburgh.

They also argued that other airlines, like Southwest, have seen expansions in the region. According to Mr. Specter's office, 10 of Pittsburgh's 12 airlines saw significant increases in the number of passengers they served from August 2006 to August of this year.

Meanwhile, US Airways has been profitable.

"I know times change and I know a company is in business to make money," Mr. Specter said. "Well, US Airways made $475 million the first five months [of the year]."

The senator looked for confirmation from Mr. Parker, who said quietly, "Yes."

Mr. Specter shot back: "He's a good witness on one point at least."

The 20-minute news conference, which took place in the lobby of the senator's office, had the feel of a tense hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Mr. Specter chaired up until this year. He repeatedly interrupted Mr. Parker, who spoke quickly and stuck to a series of talking points.

Mr. Specter was especially furious about reports that US Airways is threatening to abandon a proposed flight between Philadelphia and Beijing if the Pennsylvania city allows Delta Air Lines to use a terminal that handles both domestic and international traffic.

The senator called the airline's actions "extortion." Mr. Parker said US Airways was concerned that the move by Delta could interfere with plans to expand its international operations in Philadelphia.

Mr. Specter also outlined some of his work over two decades of trying to accommodate the needs of US Airways in Pennsylvania, including the 1992 opening of the $1 billion Pittsburgh International Airport.

"[Former Sen.] John Heinz and I worked our fingers to the bone to get that hub airport there," Mr. Specter said. "And suddenly it goes up in smoke."

Mr. Parker said past commitments from the airline were made by a different leadership and couldn't be applied in today's business climate. Pittsburgh's airport, he said, is a remnant of the outdated "hub-and-spoke" system of air travel, which can't compete with low-cost airlines that fly directly between cities.

One of those airlines, Dallas-based Southwest, plans to add at least two more Pittsburgh flights next year as US Airways retrenches. It is already the airport's second-largest carrier.

Yesterday, it rolled out a new set of "business select" fares that are $10-30 higher than the carrier's current top fares but allow elite travelers to board sooner, receive extra frequent flier miles and a free drink.

The change is part of a larger Southwest strategy to court business travelers. Southwest is also changing its boarding process by assigning each traveler a place in line, and it is updating gates at more than 60 airports, including Pittsburgh International, with stainless steel columns and flat screen televisions.

Mr. Parker said US Airways would always be Pittsburgh's largest carrier.

"OK, write that down," Mr. Specter told reporters.

"That is our hope," Mr. Parker said.

Mr. Specter responded: "That's different."

Staff writer Dan Fitzpatrick contributed. Jerome L. Sherman can be reached at jsherman@post-gazette.com or 202-488-3479.

[hyperion1110]

I can't understand how USAir is not, in some way, legally liable for maintaining operations at PIT. I mean, the new airport terminal was built for them. What's more, they actually ASSUMED a good chunk of the debt of building the thing! All that aside, though. There is no way that it is cheaper to from Charlotte to Europe (given the geometry of the earth and shear distance), and the skies over Megalopolis are incredibly dangerous, and heavily delayed. What's more, PIT is actually a better airport than Philadelphia, with more and longer runways, LOTS of room to expand, state-of-the-art terminal, and the Airmall (had to throw that one in).

What is this madness that they cannot be profitable in Pittsburgh? It's bullshit, quite frankly.

Whatever happened to Pittsburgh's Allegheny Air???

[Grego43]

I can't understand how USAir is not, in some way, legally liable for maintaining operations at PIT. I mean, the new airport terminal was built for them. What's more, they actually ASSUMED a good chunk of the debt of building the thing! All that aside, though. There is no way that it is cheaper to from Charlotte to Europe (given the geometry of the earth and shear distance), and the skies over Megalopolis are incredibly dangerous, and heavily delayed. What's more, PIT is actually a better airport than Philadelphia, with more and longer runways, LOTS of room to expand, state-of-the-art terminal, and the Airmall (had to throw that one in).

What is this madness that they cannot be profitable in Pittsburgh? It's bullshit, quite frankly.

Whatever happened to Pittsburgh's Allegheny Air???

US Airways is not liable because 2 days before emerging from bankruptcy protection they rejected various leases at PIT...the sneaky bastards. There definately is a lot of blame to go around for the dismantling of the PIT hub:

-high per passenger costs relative to PHL & CLT
-shrinking population base at PIT, althought PIT's O&D is higher than CLT
-shitty management at US
-US failure to counteract LCC (low cost carriers) eating into their high-yield bread & butter routes, not only at PIT but also in feeder airports Harrisburg, Dayton, Canton/Akron

[BMikeSci]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07312/832202-28.stm

Specter, other Pa. lawmakers issue a public rebuke of US Airways CEO

'Half of what was said couldn't be printed in a newspaper'

Thursday, November 08, 2007
By Jerome L. Sherman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter yesterday delivered a stern public scolding to US Airways' top executive after a heated meeting in his Washington office, saying the airline had broken repeated commitments to the Pittsburgh area with huge cutbacks and layoffs.

"It was not a satisfactory meeting," a grim Mr. Specter told reporters as he stood afterward alongside US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker. "There are grave concerns from the Pennsylvania delegation about what US Airways has done in Pittsburgh."

Sen. Bob Casey and nine of the state's House members joined Mr. Specter, a five-term Republican, for the closed-door session. Each took turns berating Mr. Parker and other airline officials for planning a new round of cuts in the region, including the elimination of 450 local jobs and the shifting of 500 local pilots and flight attendants to new locations.

"This was the most unbelievable meeting I've ever sat through," said Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills. "Half of what was said couldn't be printed in a newspaper."

By the beginning of next year, US Airways will have 68 daily flights and 1,800 local employees, down from highs of 542 flights and 11,995 people in September 2001.

The latest announcement came last month, just weeks after Mr. Parker told union officials that US Airways was not planning any additional reductions in the region.

Mr. Parker, who joined US Airways after the company's 2005 merger with America West Airlines of Tempe, Ariz., said he came to the nation's capital to explain his business perspective to Pennsylvania lawmakers. He cited the high cost of fuel and the loss of $40 million in revenue in Pittsburgh over the past year.

"We're deeply committed to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania," he said. "We still are the largest airline in Pittsburgh. We generate more revenues in the state of Pennsylvania than we do in any other state. We've worked very hard to be good corporate citizens, to be good employers and we'll continue to do that."

Lawmakers rejected his arguments, saying that fuel costs are high across the country, not just in Pittsburgh.

They also argued that other airlines, like Southwest, have seen expansions in the region. According to Mr. Specter's office, 10 of Pittsburgh's 12 airlines saw significant increases in the number of passengers they served from August 2006 to August of this year.

Meanwhile, US Airways has been profitable.

"I know times change and I know a company is in business to make money," Mr. Specter said. "Well, US Airways made $475 million the first five months [of the year]."

The senator looked for confirmation from Mr. Parker, who said quietly, "Yes."

Mr. Specter shot back: "He's a good witness on one point at least."

The 20-minute news conference, which took place in the lobby of the senator's office, had the feel of a tense hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Mr. Specter chaired up until this year. He repeatedly interrupted Mr. Parker, who spoke quickly and stuck to a series of talking points.

Mr. Specter was especially furious about reports that US Airways is threatening to abandon a proposed flight between Philadelphia and Beijing if the Pennsylvania city allows Delta Air Lines to use a terminal that handles both domestic and international traffic.

The senator called the airline's actions "extortion." Mr. Parker said US Airways was concerned that the move by Delta could interfere with plans to expand its international operations in Philadelphia.

Mr. Specter also outlined some of his work over two decades of trying to accommodate the needs of US Airways in Pennsylvania, including the 1992 opening of the $1 billion Pittsburgh International Airport.

"[Former Sen.] John Heinz and I worked our fingers to the bone to get that hub airport there," Mr. Specter said. "And suddenly it goes up in smoke."

Mr. Parker said past commitments from the airline were made by a different leadership and couldn't be applied in today's business climate. Pittsburgh's airport, he said, is a remnant of the outdated "hub-and-spoke" system of air travel, which can't compete with low-cost airlines that fly directly between cities.

One of those airlines, Dallas-based Southwest, plans to add at least two more Pittsburgh flights next year as US Airways retrenches. It is already the airport's second-largest carrier.

Yesterday, it rolled out a new set of "business select" fares that are $10-30 higher than the carrier's current top fares but allow elite travelers to board sooner, receive extra frequent flier miles and a free drink.

The change is part of a larger Southwest strategy to court business travelers. Southwest is also changing its boarding process by assigning each traveler a place in line, and it is updating gates at more than 60 airports, including Pittsburgh International, with stainless steel columns and flat screen televisions.

Mr. Parker said US Airways would always be Pittsburgh's largest carrier.

"OK, write that down," Mr. Specter told reporters.

"That is our hope," Mr. Parker said.

Mr. Specter responded: "That's different."

Staff writer Dan Fitzpatrick contributed. Jerome L. Sherman can be reached at jsherman@post-gazette.com or 202-488-3479.

So long as people want to fly through Pittsburgh, there will be an airline that wants the business. If US Air wants to leave, fuck em. Southwest, I'm sure, would love their business. Why doesn't PGH partner with SW airlines? Then we would own part of the business and we could build our own fleet and services to support our own infrastructure. Boycott U S Air; then we can buy the planes from U.S. Air as they go broke. Fuck US Airways!

Let's end this stupid corporate welfare.

[BMikeSci]

Grego,

I like your tagline: Impunity is an open wound in the human soul.

Here here!

[PA Pride]

Mr. Parker said US Airways would always be Pittsburgh's largest carrier.

"OK, write that down," Mr. Specter told reporters.

"That is our hope," Mr. Parker said.

Mr. Specter responded: "That's different."


Haha... Senator Spector gettin into it!


I think Pittsburgh International has the same future as our population base: They've been in decline, and there still is going to be more loss in the immediate future, but then it will slowly stabilize and then start an upward trend of growth at some point. When? No one is sure, but probably in the next 5-10 years.

[cdc]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07312/832202-28.stm

Specter, other Pa. lawmakers issue a public rebuke of US Airways CEO

'Half of what was said couldn't be printed in a newspaper'


What I find curious in all this is the PA lawmakers' focus on PIT. I
would argue that USAir has hurt both major airports in PA by
drastically decreasing traffic at PIT and increasing the traffic at
PHL to the point of overload. I've seen lots of complaints about the
overcrowding at PHL. USA today had an article a few days ago that said:

"The volume of late flights at the New York City area's major airports
--- John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and Philadelphia
which shares New York's airspace --- surged so much this year that it
swamped the entire aviation system, federal data show."
( http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-11-05-delays_N.htm )

See also "US Airways landed in a mess at Philadelphia Airport" ...
( http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05030/449585-28.stm ).


And the government delay stats don't really tell the whole story
because a flight is considered to leave "on time" if it pushes off the
gate as scheduled, even if it goes on to sit on the runway for an hour
to wait for a turn to take off. The airlines just add that dead
waiting time to the official schedule to keep things "on time." In
the NY airspace you end up with flights that only have 45 minutes of
actual flying time scheduled for double that time to account for the
runway waiting delays.

[tooluther]

Cany-Rama closes

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/seate/s_536814.html

It's a shame that the powers that be haven't stepped-up to help find a spot for this downtown tradition. As the city morphs into whatever, it's government officials and development groups should do their best to keep those establishments that are good, decent, and that somehow help define the PGH experience. Keeping good businesses in the downtown will add value to real estate. It is ironic that the city steps up to subsidize projects that may never materialize, but ignores the good businesses that are already here and struggle to remain.


They, and others did try and help. The simple fact is that their business model doesn't work on realistic rents...anywhere.

[hyperion1110]

US Airways is not liable because 2 days before emerging from bankruptcy protection they rejected various leases at PIT...the sneaky bastards. There definately is a lot of blame to go around for the dismantling of the PIT hub:

-high per passenger costs relative to PHL & CLT
-shrinking population base at PIT, althought PIT's O&D is higher than CLT
-shitty management at US
-US failure to counteract LCC (low cost carriers) eating into their high-yield bread & butter routes, not only at PIT but also in feeder airports Harrisburg, Dayton, Canton/Akron

I understand about the bankruptcy thing (which I agree is sneaky). But, what I don't get why the costs were higher per passenger here? Does it have to do with their obligations associated with the construction of the terminal? If so, wouldn't those costs have been discharged in the bankruptcy?

The idea that a corporation can just through it's financial responsibilities onto a community, and that community has no recourse, is completely insane.

[Grego43]

I understand about the bankruptcy thing (which I agree is sneaky). But, what I don't get why the costs were higher per passenger here? Does it have to do with their obligations associated with the construction of the terminal? If so, wouldn't those costs have been discharged in the bankruptcy?

The idea that a corporation can just through it's financial responsibilities onto a community, and that community has no recourse, is completely insane.

I should have added: shitty management at PIT. Yes, in part the high fees are due to construction of the new terminals built to US's specifications. I don't remember all the details, but before US jettisoned the lease agreements while in bankruptcy, they told the county and PIT management that the high landing fees & passenger charges at PIT were killing them. CLT & PHL were a fraction of the PIT fees and much more competitive. They threatened to cut traffic at their largest hub and divert that traffic to lower-priced CLT & PHL. Kent George, et. al called US's bluff...and the rest is history. Even now, with the latest increase in fees coming to PIT next year, PIT fees will now be nearly 4 times what they are in CLT and around 75% more than PHL! More than 20 million people/year were being pumped thru the airport at the time, less than 10 million this year.

As for the rest of your question, the debt load of the airport could not be discharged in US's bankruptcy because US is/was simply a tenant paying rent. The debt burden falls to the county, and its good citizens.

In a great example of Corporate Welfare, US was able to discharge their lease agreements and the associated costs, eventually flush about 11,000 jobs, and basically walk away from a $1Billion airport built for them ...go ahead and try to do that in a personal bankruptcy.

[Grego43]

Grego,

I like your tagline: Impunity is an open wound in the human soul.

Here here!

Thanks. Unfortunately, there seems to be quite a bit of Impunity around lately.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_537087.html

Transit-oriented housing development set for Green Tree

By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, November 9, 2007


One of the first transit-oriented residential developments in the Pittsburgh region may be located on a former driving range.
Experts say the concept allows residents of a community to abandon their cars and use public transportation or walk to get to work or shop.

The idea has inspired Lynn DeLorenzo's plan for housing project on a 26-acre site behind the Parkway Center office complex off McKinney Lane in Green Tree and Pittsburgh.

"We want to provide housing in an area close to public transportation, or within walking distance of the resident's place of employment and where they can shop, such as Parkway Center Mall," she said.

The Port Authority of Allegheny County has two bus routes -- the 36C (Greentree) and the 36D (Westwood) -- that service the area.
"Residents wishing to use the bus would have to walk down McKinney Lane to Greentree Road, although some routes include service in the Parkway Center Mall area," said Bob Grove, PAT spokesman.

PAT promotes the transit-oriented concept, which may also be developed in Castle Shannon, at its Shannon "T" station. This project, in the works for the past few years by Jim Aiello of JRA Development Group, would offer a mix of residential, retail and office uses and nearly double the 500 parking spots.

"It's the wave of the future," said Jim Dodaro, who has promoted the concept of transit-oriented development since joining the PAT board of directors 3 1/2 years ago.

Working with the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, the concept is attracting developers who are considering the Dormont Station site, Dodaro said. Also, transit stations in Mt. Lebanon and Moon are being considered, he said.

"We welcome developers interested in pursuing the transit-oriented community concept," Grove said.

DeLorenzo's plan is to design a high-density development -- still unnamed -- to contain about 300 units of townhouses, condominiums and flats.

In that way, more land could be made available for open space, she said.

All housing would be for sale, but prices are still to be determined, based on construction costs.

She hopes to attract young professionals who may not be able to pay the price of new condominiums Downtown but want to live close to the Golden Triangle.

Until construction costs are finalized, no estimate will be available on the development cost.

"We expect the development will be financed with private funds. At this time, we have no plans to seek public funds," she said.

DeLorenzo's SouthStar Development Partners acquired the property in March for $1.1 million from Greentree Parkway Associates II LP, a group headed by Frank Gustine of FWG Real Estate LLC.

Once a traffic study of the area is completed, probably after Thanksgiving, DeLorenzo plans to meet with residents of Hamburg and Springfield streets in Pittsburgh, the closest residential community to the site.

"I want to inform them of what we are planning and explain how we plan to improve the road and provide sidewalks where there are none," she said.

About 10 acres of the property are within the city; 16 acres are in Green Tree.

"We have held preliminary discussions with both the city of Pittsburgh and Green Tree," she said, "but have not filed any plan in either municipality."

The project will be developed under SouthStar Development Partners of Pennsylvania in partnership with SouthStar Development Partners of Florida. DeLorenzo of DeLorenzo & Co. LLC is the local partner.

Coral Gables-based SouthStar's primary activities include the analysis, financing, acquisition, planning and marketing of real estate sites for residential and commercial uses.

Developing projects is not new to DeLorenzo, who has been active in development organizations.

A resident of Moon, she is a member of the township's planning commission, and among her memberships are the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and the Allegheny Land Trust.



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


What is transit-oriented development?

It's a fast-growing trend nationwide that experts say could create more vibrant, livable communities. Also known as transit-oriented design, it is the creation of compact, walkable communities built around high quality transit systems, such as buses and subways. It could make possible a higher quality of life without dependence on a car for travel.
The Urban Land Institute, a Washington group that promotes real estate innovation, said transit-oriented development is "an approach to combat traffic congestion and protect the environment. ... Today, highways are out; urban transit systems are in."

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-11-08/1109brange-a.jpg
Lynn DeLorenzo envisions using transit-oriented residential development to turn this 26-acre site behind the Parkway Center office complex off McKinney Lane in Green Tree and Pittsburgh into a high-density development with about 300 units of townhouses, condominiums and flats.
Philip G. Pavely/Tribune-Review

[Evergrey]

Beechview's Broadway business district is a huge missed opportunity. It's quite pathetic, really. Also, Luna Square is finally dead.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07313/832482-53.stm

URA to pull plug on Beechview developer

Friday, November 09, 2007
By Gary Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority plans to retake Beechview property it sold several years ago to developer Bernardo Katz, who has been criticized in the neighborhood for failing to upgrade the Broadway Avenue sites.

URA officials announced plans for the foreclosure action at a meeting yesterday where they also selected Kratsa Properties to develop a 142-room hotel in a new phase of the Pittsburgh Technology Center. The hotel, five or six stories, is expected to be under construction next year and open in the fall of 2009.

URA officials said they intended to foreclose on properties Mr. Katz acquired in 2004 and 2005 at 1600, 1601, 1602 and 1619 Broadway because he has fallen behind on loan payments and shown no progress toward redeveloping the properties. He received about $700,000 in URA funding for acquisition and development plans for the four parcels.

He eliminated two nuisance bars that were among the parcels, but community representatives said no other development has occurred and the rest of the business district is suffering from it.

"Mr. Katz has been a slum landlord and a thorn in the side to residents of Beechview for many years now," city Councilman Jim Motznik, who represents the area, told the URA board.

Mr. Katz, a Mt. Lebanon businessman who owns many additional properties in Beechview out of the URA's control, could not be reached for comment.

The south Oakland hotel is the latest in a series of similar projects by Kratsa, a Harmar firm that owns and operates 14 hotels in the region. General partner Bill Kratsa declined to identify which hotel chain would be on the site because the franchise agreement is not yet completed.

Kratsa recently opened a Holiday Inn Express and Suites on the South Side and Marriott SpringHill Suites on the North Shore, and has under development a SpringHill Suites on the South Side and Residence Inn by Marriott on the North Shore.

The new hotel has an estimated construction cost of about $15 million. The site will take up more than an acre, with Kratsa paying $300,000 an acre for the acquisition. It is one of multiple parcels the URA is developing in a new row of the technology center between the existing office buildings and Second Avenue.

Among other actions, the URA board:

• Signaled abandonment of a once-ambitious $115 million Bloomfield development called Luna Square by requesting that the city dissolve the Baum/Millvale tax increment financing district. Kratsa was also to be the developer of that project, which would have included a hotel, apartments, offices, shops and cinema, but it could not raise necessary financing.

• Will seek a $1.35 million grant from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assist in plans to upgrade South Side Riverfront Park around its boat launch area.

• Will provide $1.75 million to the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership for the group to combine with similar Heinz Endowments funding to develop a loan program for small-scale residential development Downtown. The program will be aimed at "gap" projects renovating the upper floors of buildings, aside from large projects already under way.

• Approved financing of seven new North Euclid Avenue and Hays Street homes to be developed by East Liberty Development Inc. The homes are to be marketed at $200,000 to $300,000, using green building techniques under a Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency pilot program, and a second phase of 10 homes is to follow.

Gary Rotstein can be reached at grotstein@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1255.
First published on November 9, 2007 at 12:00 am

[Evergrey]

uhhh...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07313/832466-52.stm

San Francisco architect wins contest to remake Allegheny Plaza

Friday, November 09, 2007
By Patricia Lowry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200711/20071109view_towards_childrens_muse_500.jpg
Andrea Cochran's vision for Allegheny Plaza.A San Francisco landscape architect has won the competition to make over the North Side's Allegheny Plaza with a child-focused design inspired by the history, form and ecology of Pittsburgh's rivers and riverbanks.

Andrea Cochran's plan calls for a green landscape bisected diagonally by a dry, undulating river of long, rectangular concrete pavers. Many of the design elements are modeled after the movement of water in waves, eddies and shallows. The concrete river, for example, will lap over the edges of the park onto the sidewalk.

Water in three states -- steam, water and ice -- also will play a significant role in the park, with a steam sculpture by Ned Kahn, 76 jets of water and a stage area that can be frozen in winter to make a skating pond.

The Children's Museum, which sponsored the design competition, views it as the necessary first step in replacing the existing multi-level concrete plaza across the street from the museum with a children's park that is green in both senses of the word, providing a lush and sustainable landscape.

The six competing design teams were given free rein in interpreting the park's sustainable aspects. The winning design uses recycled materials, permeable surfaces and, to power the park's lights, solar collectors in the wings of tall dragonfly sculptures. The park also is meant to be a learning lab for environmental education.

"One of our primary goals was to create a design that resonated with the museum, the surrounding neighborhoods and the region at large," Ms. Cochran said. "We believe that the park provides a wonderful opportunity to create a green space, and collaborate with artists to develop interpretive experiences that can teach sustainability and the history of the area."

The park also will accommodate open space for events, terraced seating and a flexible area for varied programming.

For children, Ms. Cochran's scheme will provide a backdrop for unscripted experiences of a river and its banks, with reclaimed locust planks suggesting driftwood making a path through meadow grass, and large boulders where the dry river meets the street. Artist-made renditions of craft that once plied the rivers, such as canoes, keelboats and flatboats, will be tethered to docks extending like fingers into the meadow grass. They'll be made of a nontoxic material that combines recycled plastic and reclaimed wood.

The winning design also features a phased plan to reconnect East Ohio and Federal streets through Allegheny Center.

The work is scheduled to be completed in fall 2009.

Ms. Cochran's 12-member firm, established in 1998, has been much praised (numerous design awards) and published (in Dwell, House & Garden and others), partly because it uses native plants in inventive, sustainable ways. Ms. Cochran also is chair of the San Francisco Arts Commission's Civic Design Committee.

The 10-member jury selected La Dallman Architects of Milwaukee as the second-place winner and landscape architect Paula Meijerink of Boston as the third-place winner. They were among six finalists whittled from a field of 25.

Architecture critic Patricia Lowry can be reached at plowry@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1590.


Allegheny Center is in desperate need of obliteration... and I'm all for reconnecting E. Ohio and Federal streets... but this article sounds like a bunch of new age touchy-feely baloney... but I'll have to learn more concrete details before passing judgment

[Evergrey]

good for Schenley backers.. I suspect the asbestos "threat" is exaggerated

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07313/832515-85.stm

Schenley backers loud, clear, in opposition to closing

Friday, November 09, 2007
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Schenley High School supporters last night interrupted, shouted down and ridiculed a Pittsburgh Public Schools' executive as he tried to explain the district's plan to close the building and disperse its students to three other locations.

Derrick Lopez, chief of high school reform, told the crowd of about 125 that the district doesn't believe it can afford $64 million in renovations to the landmark Oakland building.

The crowd didn't want to hear it.

Supporters disputed his report about extensive asbestos problems, suggested the district sell the administration building to help raise money for a Schenley overhaul and likened Schenley's dismantling to a family breakup.

Speaker after speaker cited a bond among Schenley students that transcends racial, socioeconomic and academic planes, fueling the school's record of academic and athletic achievement.

"There is something intangible that we are desperately trying to communicate to you tonight," said Mount Washington resident Sharon Brady, whose daughter is a junior at Schenley.

Ms. Brady said Schenley should be replicated, not "destroyed." Other supporters said they would try to raise money -- by selling pizza and baked goods, if necessary -- to save it.

Mr. Lopez, who joined the district in August, said at the meeting's outset that he wouldn't be able to counter the passion of Schenley supporters. The speakers in Schenley's auditorium quickly proved him right.

"Stop lying to the public. There is no asbestos crisis in Schenley," said Jet Lafean, the first audience member to speak.

Mr. Lafean and others said asbestos is present in many other district buildings, including the administration building where Superintendent Mark Roosevelt has his office. They demanded the opportunity to review the district architects' reports on Schenley.

The triangle-shaped school occupies a prominent location in Oakland's university and hospital corridor, something supporters say is crucial to success of the school's international studies program. Some speakers said they feared the financially strapped district sees the Schenley building as a cash cow and wants to sell it as soon as possible, something the district has denied.

Mr. Lopez cut off the discussion after about 90 minutes, saying he had to get home to his family. That statement brought a final round of jeers.

Schenley has about 1,100 students in grades nine through 12. It has two magnet programs that accept students by race-based lottery but also serves as a "neighborhood school" that enrolls some students because they live nearby.

Because of asbestos and other problems, Mr. Roosevelt two years ago proposed closing Schenley's building and moving the school, intact, to the former Reizenstein Middle School building in Shadyside. School supporters objected, and Mr. Roosevelt put the idea on hold for more study.

After a stairwell ceiling collapse last summer and a grim assessment from architects seven weeks ago, Mr. Roosevelt proposed closing Schenley at the end of the school year.

He recommended transferring about 550 students in Schenley's international studies/International Baccalaureate magnet to a new IB school for grades six through 12 at the Reizenstein building.

About 175 students in Schenley's robotics technology magnet would be given a wing at Pittsburgh Peabody High School in East Liberty.

The rest of Schenley's students would go to a new university-affiliated school at the former Milliones Middle School building in the Hill District. That school also would take in middle-grade students from nearby elementary schools and accept students from other neighborhoods, space permitting.

Mr. Roosevelt's plans, announced last week, are part of a series of initiatives for improving district high schools.

Mr. Roosevelt did not attend last night's meeting, irking some audience members. He previously said the high performance of international studies/IB students has masked more modest performance of robotics and general-enrollment students, and vowed to give the latter groups more attention in their new schools.

But supporters last night said the district could find other ways to shore up Schenley's programs. If the building must be closed, they said, the school should be moved intact as Mr. Roosevelt suggested two years ago.

"Why do we have to tear it apart?" said Point Breeze parent Janet Catov.

Schenley supporters reactivated the Web site -- saveschenley.netfreehost.com -- that they launched two years ago. Some alumni plan to hold a strategy session at 3 p.m. tomorrow in Room 326 of the Cathedral of Learning on the University of Pittsburgh campus.

The school board still must vote on Schenley's fate. Mr. Roosevelt said he was unable in two years' time to find money to renovate Schenley but would keep an open mind to funding possibilities.

Joe Smydo can be reached at jsmydo@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.

[tooluther]

TOD's are great...this idea in Greentree doesn't seam to be the best implementation of one however.

The idea for a mixed use development at Castle Shannon (and Dormont & Mt. Lebanon) T-Station(s)...ala Atlanta's MARTA station complexes is a much better implementation of the concept because it is situated directly on a major and highly serviced transit line.

2 bus routes which you have to walk a couple blocks to get to is just a housing development...BUT better to make the attempt than just another cookie cutter mcmansion development in Cranberry (where there should also be a TOD per my posts at elsewhere!)

[themaguffin]

I don't think has been touched on yet...?

Final piece set for Oakland planPittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley
After years of work, Guy Totino has landed the final piece of property he needs to create Oakland's first new apartment building in decades.

Totino's suburban Cleveland-based Polaris Real Estate Equities has reached an agreement with the Pittsburgh Parking Authority to acquire what is now a 26-space surface parking lot on a little more than an acre of land. Polaris has the lot under contract, as well as five nearby houses and the next-door offices of McKnight Development.

The developer plans a 17-story mixed-use project at the corner of Craig Street and Centre Avenue. It will feature what Totino described as the first new apartment building in the area in 30 or 40 years, called "The Chelsea," along with retail space.

Totino announced the agreement last week at a meeting of the Bellefield Area Citizens Association, which represents the span of Oakland that borders the Hill District and Bloomfield.

[hyperion1110]

I should have added: shitty management at PIT. Yes, in part the high fees are due to construction of the new terminals built to US's specifications. I don't remember all the details, but before US jettisoned the lease agreements while in bankruptcy, they told the county and PIT management that the high landing fees & passenger charges at PIT were killing them. CLT & PHL were a fraction of the PIT fees and much more competitive. They threatened to cut traffic at their largest hub and divert that traffic to lower-priced CLT & PHL. Kent George, et. al called US's bluff...and the rest is history. Even now, with the latest increase in fees coming to PIT next year, PIT fees will now be nearly 4 times what they are in CLT and around 75% more than PHL! More than 20 million people/year were being pumped thru the airport at the time, less than 10 million this year.

As for the rest of your question, the debt load of the airport could not be discharged in US's bankruptcy because US is/was simply a tenant paying rent. The debt burden falls to the county, and its good citizens.

In a great example of Corporate Welfare, US was able to discharge their lease agreements and the associated costs, eventually flush about 11,000 jobs, and basically walk away from a $1Billion airport built for them ...go ahead and try to do that in a personal bankruptcy.


Thanks for the info...that makes a lot more sense. It still blows, though.

[FlyingDog]

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.

here's a reply that I received from Cozza regarding an update on their Mt. Washington condo projects:

"We’re pretty focused on a major mixed use project in Monroeville that has demanded much of our attention over the past 6 months. It’s a large project that includes a 279 room hotel, 3 restaurants, an events center, a spa and a potential casino. Since our main business is freestanding drugstore development, the mixed use project in Monroeville is really acting as the risk asset in our portfolio.

As it relates to the condos, we have started the process of meeting with a number of potential buyers for pre-sales. We have also met with some potential equity partners for both Vici and Bella Vista over the past few months. Thus, we are trying to fully understand the return differential between doing presales and farming out part of the risk via an equity partner. That said, there is no firm start date on construction. We are about 90% complete for plans on both condo projects so once a path is chosen, construction can begin soon thereafter."

I expect to learn more about the 501 Grandview project next week.

[Evergrey]

Cozza is trying to get a gaming license for the defunct Palace Inn in Monroeville. It just barely meets the 15 mile distance requirement from the Majestic Star.

Maguffin: The Chelsea at Craig and Centre will have 300 apartments.

A 41,000 sq. ft. gym Urban Active will locate in TIF-financed Bakery Square in E. Liberty. This is just a couple blocks away from the existing 55,000 sq. ft. Club One gym. The Bakery Square gym will have many of the same amenities as Club One. I don't like this at all... especially since the project is getting a TIF...

[EventHorizon]

Barden says groundbreaking for casino in 30 days

By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

North Shore casino developer Don Barden expects to break ground in 30 days after reaching an agreement on the facility's design in a private meeting today with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

The agreement, announced at an early afternoon news conference, calls for the casino's hulking garage to have decorative screening installed on the side facing the Ohio River and for a minimum of 25 percent of the casino to be nonsmoking. It removes the final hurdle from the proposed $450 million project.

Mr. Ravenstahl had said earlier this week that he would recommend against the design unless changes were made in the garage and at least part of the building would be nonsmoking. At the news conference, he said he is satisfied with the improvements and will recommend the planning commission approve the project.

Last week, Mr. Barden reached agreement with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates over potential traffic problems on the North Shore.

"Right now, it's full steam ahead," Mr. Barden said. He hopes to break ground within 30 days and open the casino in 16 months, April 2009.

City officials and others have expressed concern for several weeks about changes in the design of the casino that resulted in the 3,800-space garage at the rear of the site being substantially taller than the casino itself. The mayor also wanted the building to have nonsmoking areas so it would qualify as a "green" building, adding to the city's leadership in environmentally friendly development.

Although the size of the garage won't change, Mr. Barden agreed to a suggestion by the city's Contextual Design Advisory Panel to use screening on the most visible side of the garage. He initially rejected the idea because of cost that could add several million dollars to the project, but today he agreed.

Mr. Barden said the casino will have a high-quality design and in a jab at the Steelers said visitors would "see something more attractive than Heinz Field" when the project is done.

As far as smoking, Mr. Barden committed to nonsmoking areas in some part of the facility, but didn't promise it would be on the gambling floor. He said there would be a minimum of 25 percent of the building nonsmoking, but his spokesman said it could be as high as 70 percent.

The agreement ends a series of delays that have held up the only free-standing casino in Western Pennsylvania for nearly a year. First, losing applicants challenged the award of the license to Mr. Barden, leading to a court case he ultimately won. Then, the sports teams filed suit over traffic. Then, city officials complained about the design.

Mr. Barden said the delays have cost about $300 million in wages and taxes, about $1 million a day.

Early next year, Mr. Barden said, the casino would begin accepting applications for about 1,000 employees that will be needed to operate the facility.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07313/832593-100.stm

I look forward to seeing this 'masking' design change.

Barden is right about Heinz Field! It's very unattractive.:yuck:

[Evergrey]

I doubt "decorative screening" on one side of that garage-from-hell will do much... there will still be a mammoth 110 ft. garage visible from Mt. Washington

for reference... here's Heinz Field

http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/51801943.jpg

[PA Pride]

That garage is destined to be a horrible sight. Even with ONE SIDE (whoop-de-doo) decorated, that doesnt change the fact that it is two times the size of that average looking casino it will sit next to!!

[xyagentguy]

So the Trib and Post-Gazette claim part of the reason the mayor wants some of the casino to be non-smoking is so they can still get certified as a "green" building. So, is that going to happen? Don't you have to do a lot more than simply ban smoking in certain parts to get LEED certified? I know there are all sorts of regulations etc, the casino will employ them all?

I am HOPING so much that it can get green certification. This would be the world's first LEED certified casino.

*finger's crossed*

[Johnland]

I doubt "decorative screening" on one side of that garage-from-hell will do much... there will still be a mammoth 110 ft. garage visible from Mt. Washington

for reference... here's Heinz Field

http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/51801943.jpg

I'm pissed off and angry all over again about that garage. Naturally you'd expect some Philistine moron monopoly holder (casino owner) to go for the biggest, cheapest box possible to maximize his bottom line. But where in hell were the elected officials and other public policy gatekeepers on this one?? It's as if not a single damn one of them have any taste or sense of aesthtics. I guess Pittsburgh is just a national joke butt to be milked for all the state pork money any half clever jerk with a contract in hand to operate a casino and the pathetic government boobs who smoothed his way can get. You can't even say the urban environment has been dumbed down. That's too high a level for that garage and casino. This monstrous crap goes straight down to pure shit.

[Evergrey]

But where in hell were the elected officials and other public policy gatekeepers on this one??

We just had a mayoral election a few days ago... and let's just say Pittsburgh gets what it votes for.

[Rufus]

Will the T extension be accessible to the casino? It looks like it. I am pro-casino, but the state has gone about it all wrong from start to finish, not just in Pittsburgh but other locations. I agree the massive garage is a disappointment.

[Evergrey]

Yes, the T connection will be right across the street from the casino... which wasn't something that was planned by PAT... since the route was devised long before any discussion of gaming.

[UrbaniDesDev]

Transit Oriented housing... FINALLy. Why havent' they done more like this around the T stations at Castle Shanon etc??? They have never utilized the T line fully, or should I say fooly

I consider it a good thing that they stepped in at Beechview

Im glad to see some interest in Allegheny Square and thrilled they are still talking about extending Federal Street. This will be a great benefit to that area. My old nreighborhood.

[Smoker]

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

The LEED® Rating System
LEED® certification is based on a point system. The amount of points achieved will determine which level of LEED® certification the project is awarded. There are 69 possible points and four certification levels. Basic LEED® Certification requires 26 to 32 points; LEED® Certified Silver Level requires 33 to 38 points; LEED® Certified Gold Level requires 39 to 51 points; and LEED® Certified Platinum Level requires 52 to 69 points.

Below is a list of the categories and examples of required and possible points for each of the categories.

* Sustainable Sites (14 possible points total): Erosion and Sedimentation Control (required point); Site Selection (1 point); Urban Redevelopment (1 point); etc.
* Water Efficiency (5 possible points total): Water Efficient Landscaping, Reduce by 50% (1 point); Innovative Wastewater Technologies (1 point); Water Use Reduction, 20% Reduction (1 point); etc.
* Energy and Atmosphere (17 possible points total): Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning (required point); Minimum Energy Performance (required point); CFC Reduction in HVAC&R Equipment (required point); Renewable Energy, 20% (1 point); etc.
* Materials and Resources (13 possible points total): Storage and Collection of Recyclables (required point); Building Reuse, Maintain 75% of Existing Shell (1 point); Construction Waste Management, Divert 50% (1 point); etc.
* Indoor Environmental Quality (15 possible points total): Minimum IAQ Performance (required point); Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control (required point); Ventilation Effectiveness (1 point); Low–Emitting Materials, Adhesives & Sealants (1 point); etc.
* Innovation and Design Process (5 possible points total): Innovations in Design, Provide Specifics (1 to 4 points) and LEED® Accredited Professional (1 point).

http://www.agc.org/page.ww?section=Green+Construction&name=LEED+Green+Building+Rating+System#rate

[Evergrey]

ugggghhhhh....


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07314/832817-85.stm


'Full steam ahead' for North Shore casino

Barden to break ground in 30 days after settling design concerns

Saturday, November 10, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200711/20071110sm_barden02_500.jpg
Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, left, North Shore casino developer Don Barden, center, and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato are all smiles after announcing an accord yesterday on the casino's design.Don Barden plans to break ground on his North Shore casino in 30 days, after reaching agreement yesterday on design-related issues in a private meeting with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

The accord clears the final hurdle standing between Mr. Barden and the start of construction, nearly a year after the Detroit businessman was awarded the state license for the Pittsburgh casino.

"Right now, it's full steam ahead," Mr. Barden said at a news conference to announce the deal.

The agreement came four days after the Ravenstahl administration said it would urge the planning commission to reject the proposed design for the casino because of concerns about the massive 3,800-space parking garage to be built directly behind it.

Mr. Ravenstahl, Mr. Onorato, and others feared the garage, nearly twice the height of the casino, could affect views of the city skyline from Mount Washington, the West End, the Fort Pitt Bridge and other areas. The $450 million casino will be built on the Ohio River waterfront, just west of Carnegie Science Center.

The mayor also wanted Mr. Barden to build an environmentally friendly green casino and to prohibit smoking in at least part of the building.

As part of yesterday's deal, Mr. Barden will install decorative screening to the side of the garage facing the river to address concerns, but will not change the size or height of the structure or the casino itself.

Last summer, the city's Contextual Design Advisory Panel had recommended the use of screening and an increase in the height of a drum atrium, the casino's centerpiece, to mitigate the garage's impact.

Both were rejected by Mr. Barden at the time as being too expensive.

Under the agreement, Mr. Barden also has pledged to make more than 25 percent of the casino nonsmoking. His spokesman, Bob Oltmanns, said two-thirds to 70 percent of the building could end up being smoke free.

But whether any part of the gambling floor will end up that way remains to be seen. That, Mr. Oltmanns said, "hasn't been worked out."

While Mr. Barden insisted he would have a "green" building, he acknowledged that it wouldn't be LEED-certified unless the state Legislature acts to ban smoking in casinos throughout Pennsylvania.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, establishes strict standards for environmentally friendly construction designated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

To obtain a LEED certification, a building must either ban smoking altogether or prohibit it except in designated areas equipped with separate ventilation systems.

The Green Building Alliance and the Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition have been pushing Mr. Barden to get LEED certification. Rebecca Flora, executive director of the Green Building Alliance, could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Barden said his casino will feature the "Rolls Royce of air conditioning systems in the state of Pennsylvania" and will meet 32 of 33 qualifications needed for LEED certification, the lone exception being a smoking ban.

"But we're going to go as far as we can. There won't be smoking in our restaurants. There won't be smoking in our meeting spaces and other places in part of the casino," he said.

He did not know whether the no-smoking areas would be separately ventilated but added the casino "will achieve the goal of making it nonsmoking suitable."

Mr. Ravenstahl said he is satisfied with the commitments made by Mr. Barden and would recommend that the planning commission approve the design in the coming weeks.

"As a result of the agreements that Mr. Barden has made today, I feel comfortable that the two issues I had will be resolved and, therefore, we'll be supportive," he said.

Anne-Marie Lubenau, chairwoman of the Pittsburgh Civic Design Coalition, said it "was encouraging that some progress has been made" on the two design-related issues. But she added it was hard to comment further without seeing more detailed plans.

Mr. Barden had no updated drawings to show to highlight the changes that will be made to the casino and garage. But, in a poke at the Steelers, he said visitors will "see something much more attractive than Heinz Field."

He anticipates a 16-month construction schedule. If he breaks ground next month, that would put the casino's opening in April 2009, more than a full year beyond his initial estimate of March 2008.

For much of the last year, delays have held up the construction.

First, the two losing applicants for the casino challenged the award of the license to Mr. Barden, leading to a court case he ultimately won. Then, the Steelers and Pirates sued over traffic-related issues, followed by complaints by city and county officials about the design.

It wasn't until last week that Mr. Barden, under court mediation, reached agreement with the two sports teams to resolve the traffic issues.

"This has not been an easy process. This has been a lengthy process. We've had delays thrust upon us from many sources. But we've overcome all of those obstacles and now it's full steam ahead," he said.

By early next year, Mr. Barden hopes to start accepting applications and hiring for the 1,000 jobs to be available at the casino.

Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

[Johnland]

Decorative screening, and only one side!? Amazingly, it just gets worse. So the mayor actually realized the unique and priceless views of the city would be marred by the garage, but then said 'ok' to the licence holder's 'solution' of screens on the city-side? That's like planting rose bushes around a dump and expecting people not to notice the dump. This whole sickening venture just speaks volumes about the depth of Pittsburgh's slide into mediocrity. Just underscores the government's mindset that serious underlying economic problems can be 'quick-fixed' with huge, state-sponsored solutions like casinos. It diverts thought and energy away from real problems at hand - how to generate a better business climate that would keep more people from leaving the region, and even get more moving in. Rather than focusing on Pittsburgh's unique and amdirable assets - rich history, compact size, stunning architecture, miles of river front, etc, the state (ala Soviet Union) comes in and dictates solutions like gambling, awards licence to out of state person, then gives total free reins to the licence holder to build whatever piece of crap building he wants - the people and history of Pittsburgh be damned. How does this help the North Side? It's so close to several historic neighborhoods that have been slowly rehabilitating by sheer will of its residents. Then this gargantuan project it plopped down on thier border. Out of scale and out of character. A 3,800 car garage? Isn't that about the equivalent of 5 or 6 wal-Mart parking lots? I just see tons of cars projected for the streets in that neighborhood. I think they should've picked some nice exit off the parkway West near the airport for this thing.

Again, it just make make very disheartened that Pittsburgh is being run further into the ground by poor, poor leadership. For all the friggin money being spent, Oakland could've been connected to Downtown with lightrail as one possibility. That would've strengthened Oakland's job creation ability. From what I read, Oakland is a bright spot in the city for jobs. But it needs of the rough edges smoothed out to boost that ability even more. Get better transit to and from Oakland. Keep the infrastructure up to date. Work on cleaning up the areas that are suffering from neglect. Oakland is the place where young people often get their first experience of Pittsburgh. Make it a place that truly exhibits Pittsburgh as a viable city for living and working.

Pittsburgh has a legacy of big ideas that go over like lead balloons. It is as strong as ever. The obliteration of the Lower Hill resulted in the Civic Area. For 50 years, that has been a cold, barren hole in the city's urban fabric. It displaced thousands of people and tore away the Hill's connection to downtown. It never helped the Hill economically.

In other words, be real city with a real economy.

[BMikeSci]

That garage is destined to be a horrible sight. Even with ONE SIDE (whoop-de-doo) decorated, that doesnt change the fact that it is two times the size of that average looking casino it will sit next to!!

What I don't understand is how the design could change after the license award. Weren't the competitors bound to their plans? Doesn't Barden have to build the design he submitted? How is making changes now allowed? Why is it that the commission is allowed to not enforce the original agreement? Doesn't the gaming commission answer to the people? Isn't it the case that they must step in an insist that the original plan be built? Really, the license should be granted to someone who will abide by the original agreement. Does this state bid jobs that way too - give the job to the lowest bidder, but then pay double? I just don't understand how business is done in PA?

[BMikeSci]

I wonder if a private citizen or group (like Isle of Capri) could sue Barden for breech of contract on behalf of the state?

[xyagentguy]

Below is a list of the categories and examples of required and possible points for each of the categories.

* Sustainable Sites (14 possible points total): Erosion and Sedimentation Control (required point); Site Selection (1 point); Urban Redevelopment (1 point); etc.
* Water Efficiency (5 possible points total): Water Efficient Landscaping, Reduce by 50% (1 point); Innovative Wastewater Technologies (1 point); Water Use Reduction, 20% Reduction (1 point); etc.
* Energy and Atmosphere (17 possible points total): Fundamental Building Systems Commissioning (required point); Minimum Energy Performance (required point); CFC Reduction in HVAC&R Equipment (required point); Renewable Energy, 20% (1 point); etc.
* Materials and Resources (13 possible points total): Storage and Collection of Recyclables (required point); Building Reuse, Maintain 75% of Existing Shell (1 point); Construction Waste Management, Divert 50% (1 point); etc.
* Indoor Environmental Quality (15 possible points total): Minimum IAQ Performance (required point); Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control (required point); Ventilation Effectiveness (1 point); Low–Emitting Materials, Adhesives & Sealants (1 point); etc.
* Innovation and Design Process (5 possible points total): Innovations in Design, Provide Specifics (1 to 4 points) and LEED® Accredited Professional (1 point).
Wonderful! Thank you! Now the question is, will the casino meet the requirements??

[tooluther]

The article said the casino will meet 32 of the 33 LEED requirements...the only one being the non-smoking thing.

Can we please just pass that statewide ban and join the rest of the country?

[PA Pride]

^Actually, that would be pretty nice if we had the first Green certified Casino to go with our other collection of firsts.

[PA Pride]

Here is a Moon Township (airport area) construction update. I took these pics about 1 hour ago:

Right by my office (Howard Hanna Real Estate - West Suburban). Building a third and final office building at the airside business park. From the Pittsburgh business Times:
A California insurance company is taking steps toward anchoring a new 80,000-square-foot office building at Airside Business Park, potentially taking the last remaining site at the Moon Township park.

Balboa Insurance Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide Financial Corp., is considering consolidating its local operations at a three-story office building on the 2.5-acre site, said Bill Hunt, president of Uptown-based The Elmhurst Group, developer of the project.

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


And this used to be Cutler Hammer, but then Cleveland based Eaton bought it out a couple years ago, is building a 120,000 sq ft adddition.
from the Pittsburgh Business Times:
Eaton Corp., an industrial products manufacturer, is expanding its Pittsburgh-area operations.

The Cleveland-based company (NYSE:ETN) is planning a $24 million, 120,000-square-foot addition to its electrical business headquarters, which are based in Moon Township.

The company presently occupies a 140,000-square-foot building in Moon. The 120,000 square-foot addition will be built onto the current space.

The expansion is expected to add 30 jobs within three years to the company's existing 756-employee regional payroll.


Here is the current 140,000 sq ft building:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/IMG_6160.jpg

and here is ground moving next to it as part of the 120,000 new addition:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/IMG_6159.jpg

[Smoker]

http://megababy.com/statics/leedPts.jpg

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07315/832951-147.stm

Silence is deafening in airport concourses

Cutbacks by US Airways leave vast areas of Pittsburgh International's world-class facilities unused and quiet

Sunday, November 11, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200711/20071111smairport01_500.jpg
Steve Mellon/Post-Gazette
Travelers head to a security checkpoint at Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday.Kevin Tinta remembers the days, not too long ago, when his sandwich shop at Pittsburgh International Airport couldn't keep up with the crowds, when lines stretched down the concourse and he hardly had time to take a break.

Now, the few employees who work at Charley's Steakery, at the far end of B Concourse, can go eight hours without seeing a flight take off or land.

"A lot of times there's nothing for us to do," said Mr. Tinta, the manager.

The shop's plight is just one indication of the hard times that have befallen this once mighty hub. And it could get worse in January, when US Airways cuts another 40 flights and drops 18 of its 28 gates.

The cutbacks will leave the airline with 68 daily flights and 1,800 local employees, down from highs of 542 flights and 11,995 workers before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks dealt a devastating blow to US Airways and the entire airline industry.

Altogether, the 13 airlines now serving the airport offer an average of 227 daily flights, down from 633 in August 2001.

Nowhere are the changes more evident than on the A and B concourses, where US Airways once controlled all 50 gates.

Once crammed with vacation travelers and anxious business people hustling to make connections, both have gone from bustling to boarded up.

In A Concourse, yellow caution tape is strung across the entrances to several former US Airways gate areas. Wallpaper and logos have been stripped away and most monitors are blank.

A US Airways special services center has been closed. One day last week, the concourse had the feel of a wake, with the spacious aisles all but empty.

Visitors had no trouble hearing the announcements or the music coming from the airport's sound system. While it might have been tough to hear a pin drop, it was quite easy to pick up the high-pitched squeals of a video game coming from a bar.

At the end of A Concourse, a bank of five gates sits largely unused, the lone exceptions commuter flights to DuBois and Bradford/Jamestown. About 15 travelers waited to board.

It wasn't long ago that the gates harbored some of US Airways' biggest planes. Now they serve as a base for the airline's commuter flights. A turboprop idled on the tarmac, waiting to haul a handful of travelers to DuBois.

"It never was like this. This place used to be packed," said Stan Foster, sales and marketing manager for SGL Group, as he waited to board.

Abandoning A Concourse

In January, US Airways will abandon A Concourse altogether, where it once occupied all 25 gates, and consolidate what's left of its operations in B Concourse where it will keep 10 gates.

That will leave only Southwest Airlines, which started operations in Pittsburgh in May 2005, and its three gates on A Concourse. Twenty-two others will be empty.

The airport authority is still trying to determine what to do with those gates, spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said. One possibility is to relocate other airlines now operating out of C and D concourses to A, a move that would have been unthinkable six years ago.

"There's something bubbling and percolating in the planning process," she said. "It's not likely that that concourse is going to stay vacant for a lengthy period of time."

The gate consolidation could bring a shot of life to B Concourse, which has suffered much the same fate as A Concourse because of the repeated US Airways cutbacks.

While the first half of the corridor still brims with US Airways activity, the rest of it is dormant, much like a computer in sleep mode.

At the very end of B Concourse, five gates are empty and the monitors black. On this day, state officials are using one corner of the spacious waiting area to discuss assistance available to displaced US Airways employees.

It's the only sign of life.

A short walk away, Kyle McCusker, the lone employee staffing a Ben & Jerry's ice cream concession, said business has been extremely slow.

"By the end of the night, I'll probably be able to count the number of customers I had on my hands," he says.

In January, to save money, the airport authority plans to wall off the ends of the A and B concourses and close 27 gates.

Airport passenger traffic has fallen from a high of 20.7 million in 1997 to 9.9 million last year, due mostly a huge drop in connecting traffic. As US Airways has retrenched, abandoning its hub and spoke business here, pass-through traffic has plunged from a high of 13.9 million people in 1996 to 1.7 million last year.

With the cutbacks, airline costs have increased. The airport's per passenger cost has gone from a low of $5.98 in 2000 to $11.89 in September. It's a simple equation -- as fewer travelers come through the terminal, the per passenger cost increases.

Concession revenue from the award-winning Airmall has plummeted from a high of $89.9 million in 2001 to $65.3 million in 2005. It was $65.9 million last year. The number of stores has dropped from 110 (including those in the now closed commuter terminal) in 2001 to 99 in September.

Despite that and the many flight cuts, Jay Kruisselbrink, vice president of development for BAA Pittsburgh, the Airmall manager, said sales are still "very good" and actually "trending up over last year."

He acknowledged that some stores likely will be hurt when 27 gates are closed and the ends of the A and B concourses are walled off. But what overall impact that will have is hard to predict.

"We're hoping the impact in January will be minimal but time will tell," he said.

To some extent, the airport has been able to offset the losses by boosting its local traffic, spurred in large part by the success in recruiting low-cost carriers like Southwest and JetBlue to start service in Pittsburgh after US Airways dropped the airport as a hub in 2004.

In two years, Southwest has become the airport's second largest carrier, with 15.5 percent of all traffic.

Origin and destination traffic -- that is, the number of passengers not getting off connecting flights and getting on another one -- hit a high of 8.2 million last year. That in turn boosted parking and rental car revenues to a record $29.7 million and $82.4 million, respectively, producing this paradox: While the airport has lost more than half of its passenger traffic, the parking lots are full.

Mr. Kruisselbrink said what the industry calls origin and destination traffic is actually better for the Airmall than connecting because travelers have more time to browse, particularly given security measures that require them to be at the airport 90 minutes to two hours before flights.

With the shift away from US Airways, the airport's C and D concourses, traditionally slower than A and B, have become busier. On these concourses you will find upstarts AirTran and JetBlue along with legacy carriers United, Delta, American and Northwest.

Most of these airlines have posted gains as US Airways has cut. But despite those successes and more local travelers than ever before, they cannot come close to making up for the traffic that has been lost.

Still, Mr. Kruisselbrink said BAA has given no thought to pulling out of Pittsburgh. He says the airport will rise again.

"It's a fantastic facility," he said. "It's just a wonderfully designed building. It's got the best staff of any airport. It's situated perfectly. We don't have any air space issues. So yeah, I don't know how long it will take but this is going to be a viable airport for a long time to come."

Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on November 11, 2007 at 12:00 am

[AaronPGH]

I posted this on another forum, but I'll copy it over here because it's in line with the article Evergrey just posted.

I just flew non-stop from Cancun back to Pittsburgh this past Saturday afternoon. If you think the emptiness of the regular concourses of PIT are depressing, you should see what has happened to the customs and immigration level below C. I am talking abandoned machinery strewn everywhere, flat screens pulled out of the walls with wires hanging, baggage claims that haven't been used, empty check-in gates, wrong signs.......and they let it stay in this condition while funneling people through! It was one of the biggest customs stations I've been through, but they only had two lines open. We actually got in early....I was the first person to get to the international security screening point and I surprised them. They jumped up from a card table and were like "Look. People!" "The flight's early!". They had me wait five minutes while they turned on the X-ray machines and metal detectors. Really really sad. Talk about a ghost town. You seriously had to maneuver around old US Airways crap all over the place. It was like walking through someone's basement.

[BMikeSci]

The article said the casino will meet 32 of the 33 LEED requirements...the only one being the non-smoking thing.

Can we please just pass that statewide ban and join the rest of the country?

Banning smoking in public would be antithetical to the state's position on lungs - which is, if we protect people from smoking, we will have to blame asthma, cancer, etc. on coal mining and coal burning industries like US Steel. Smoking is just too convenient a dodge.

[Johnland]

I posted this on another forum, but I'll copy it over here because it's in line with the article Evergrey just posted.

I just flew non-stop from Cancun back to Pittsburgh this past Saturday afternoon. If you think the emptiness of the regular concourses of PIT are depressing, you should see what has happened to the customs and immigration level below C. I am talking abandoned machinery strewn everywhere, flat screens pulled out of the walls with wires hanging, baggage claims that haven't been used, empty check-in gates, wrong signs.......and they let it stay in this condition while funneling people through! It was one of the biggest customs stations I've been through, but they only had two lines open. We actually got in early....I was the first person to get to the international security screening point and I surprised them. They jumped up from a card table and were like "Look. People!" "The flight's early!". They had me wait five minutes while they turned on the X-ray machines and metal detectors. Really really sad. Talk about a ghost town. You seriously had to maneuver around old US Airways crap all over the place. It was like walking through someone's basement.

Oh, that is just sad. I just read the Post Gazette article and your post above. As a frequent traveller to Pittsburgh, I've seen the airport go from the old, crowded original terminal of the 80's to the new terminal that opened in the early 90's. Every year was busier than the previous. The AirMall was great. To think it has fallen so far down it very disheartening.

I'm getting tired of my own rant against the casinos, but it would think the airport situation should be a higher priority than gambling. All the money, planning, time and effort put into casinos should've been directed to toward the airport. The state, county and city should be developing a viable remedy. I don't know if that means running rail out to the airport from the city or what, but something better get more flights in and out of that place. As has been pointed out, Pittsburgh, long runways and none of the congested airspace issues plagueing the East Coast. From what I've read, the space over Wash DC to New York is literally packed. The FAA is considering flight caps on JFK.

My big concern is that airport is an asset now being grossly underutilized, which will drain money from the area.