[edncc1701d]

On a completely different note, this may be snooze news for many, but this is actually a big deal I think.

Tiffany & Co. is opening their first store in the Pittsburgh market next year at Ross Park Mall.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_542255.html

It seems that many of the destination retailers, that were in various plans over the years, to provide the foundation for downtown redevelopment are choosing to make their Pittsburgh presence in Ross Park Mall and the South Side Works. Will this limit Downtown's future as a retail center? Who can be the destination retail downtown now? Can small boutique stores (Chic) do the job and can they afford downtown?

[AaronPGH]

Personally, I could care less if downtown is a retail center. It is a business center, and as long as they keep building condos, I'll be a happy camper. I'm afraid that if it ever became a huge one, it could affect the thriving retail in southside/shadyside/east lib. I would love it if they could have pulled these bigger retailers away from Ross Park though, that's for sure.

[Johnland]

Yeah, pretty much my feelings too.

It's a bit better than what Riverlife came up with:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200712/20071209nextpage_riverlife2_500.jpg

vs.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/2007-MSC-a.jpg
Tribune-Review

You just know you're going to end up with crap when you've completely lost track of renderings being this one vs. that one vs. that one vs. that one vs.... I mean, come on, if it's so bad they have to start saying how about this, how about this , how about this...you just know it's gonna be shit. We weren't born yesterday.

All I can say is, that if Pittsburgh must now be on par with Gary, Ind. (how special, how unique), then that damn hulking park box had better bring in tons of cash to the city - and I mean tons of cash. That peice of shit had better damn well pay for itself in cold hard dollars for pissing away the intrinsic value of the views the city is about to lose.

[Evergrey]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/mccschm1212.aspx

Downtown Pittsburgh's Piatt Place welcomes McCormick & Schmick's


On Dec. 13, McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant will open at Downtown’s Piatt Place. The 8,400 square-foot restaurant, Pittsburgh’s second location, joins the Capital Grille in bringing new dining options to Downtown.

With 30 varieties of fresh seafood, from Alaska halibut to New Zealand grouper, McCormick's includes four dining rooms, a variety of seating options and locally-inspired artwork and interiors. Equally inviting is its $1.95 bar menu boasting half-pound cheeseburgers and steamed mussels. With a new twist on age-old mixology, McCormick’s serves up classic cocktails like Irish coffees and lemon drops.

“We've always had an affinity for downtown urban enviornments. A great downtown is the heart and soul of a city. Several downtowns are starting to rebirth in terms of mixed-use and we believe Pittsburgh is at the tipping point of that,” says Doug Schmick, who founded McCormick & Schmick's in Portland, Oregon in 1979. “It’s a good a time to be here. We're on the edge of great things. Capital Grille just came in; you'll see a lot more high-quality restaurants and retail and obviously the downtown living component.”

Slated to open in 2009, the $65 million Piatt Place will feature 65 condos, 180,000 square feet of offices and 50,000 square feet of retail. “To have two of the best restaurants in the U.S. in your building is something unmatched in the city. You can live, work, park and play—it’s a turnkey opportunity,” adds Lucas Piatt, with Millcraft Industries, who says that 35% of the units are pre-sold.

Downtown-based Strada is designing Piatt Place; contractor is Turner Construction.

Writer: Jennifer Baron
Source: Doug Schmick, McCormick & Schmick's; Lucas Piatt, Millcraft Industries

[jkl96c]

I love this.

[PA Pride]

“Several downtowns are starting to rebirth in terms of mixed-use and we believe Pittsburgh is at the tipping point of that,” says Doug Schmick, who founded McCormick & Schmick's in Portland, Oregon in 1979. “It’s a good a time to be here. We're on the edge of great things. Capital Grille just came in; you'll see a lot more high-quality restaurants and retail and obviously the

What a positive observation! I completely agree with this statement and I am happy that out of town business owners are taking notice of this trend.

[Evergrey]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/dcnr1212.aspx

Allegheny County projects receive $2.7M as part of $39.4M DCNR funding

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2090/SEA_300.jpg

A total of $2.7 million for Allegheny County projects was released on Dec. 6 by the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). The funding is part of a $39.4 million package designed to help revitalize communities and protect natural resources statewide.

Two of the largest awards went to the Urban Redevlopment Authority and Sports and Exhibition Authority for the further development of Pittsbrugh’s urban green spaces. Upcoming work on the $10.5 million South Shore Riverfront Park will involve constructing a stage and water feature, completing ADA access and installing park furniture and utilities.

Plans for the $8 million Convention Center Riverfront Park call for new docks, plaza space and trails connecting the Strip District and the Point. “It’s to make the area between the roadway and river more useable and create access to the river,” says Mary Contoro with the Sports and Exhibition Authority. Funds will also be used for new greenery, benches and lighting. Contoro, who expects designs to be completed by LaQuatra Bonci Associates by the summer of 2008, says the project will take eight months to construct.

A number of projects involving outdoor amenities in Allegheny County also received grants, including $200,000 for improvements to Hartwood Acres Mansion, $80,000 for the redevelopment of Library St. in Braddock and $162,000 to build a soccer field and walking trail in Green Tree Borough Park. Pine Township Community Center will use $250,000 to construct exercise facilities and the Port Authority of Allegheny County was awarded $200,000 to build Gateway Station Plaza.


Writer: Jennifer Baron
Sources: Mary Contoro, Sports and Exhibition Authority; Christine Novak, DCNR

Image courtesy of Sports and Exhibition Authority

[AaronPGH]

^ It's about time this got moving! Awesome! :cheers:

[UrbaniDesDev]

Finally some word on the Convention Center Waterfront! I was hoping it would be ready for the 250th (along with the Mon Wharf). It is a vital link to the existing Allegheny Riverfront and the trail to Lawrenceville. Good to see it is atleast happening

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_542291.html

Downtown project might get break

By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 12, 2007


The Urban Redevelopment Board on Thursday will consider whether to retool three financing agreements for Millcraft Industries' Downtown developments.
The board will consider subordinating the remaining $2 million that the developer owes the city for Piatt Place, the upscale multi-use project that Millcraft is developing in the old Lazarus building at Fifth Avenue and Wood Street.

By taking a back seat to other creditors on the project, the URA will permit Piatt Place to refinance its debts under federal New Market Tax Credits, URA general counsel Don Kortlandt said.

Brian Walker, chief financial officer for Cecil-based Millcraft, said the refinancing is part of ongoing efforts to reduce debt service and improve efficiencies at the development. Walker said it is unrelated to the subprime mortgage crisis that has roiled credit markets worldwide.

"In order to be truly successful, creative financing techniques are critical, so you can capture the economic benefits of projects and keep costs low," Walker said. Millcraft is negotiating to use those credits for its planned conversion of the vacant G.C. Murphy's buildings into apartments and shops.
Walker said the 65 Piatt Place condos, priced from $300,000 to $1.4 million, are 35 percent occupied. Commercial developments include The Capital Grille and online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant is to open Thursday.

The URA board also will consider revising financing with Millcraft for Piatt Place parking spaces in the Oliver garage, and for the environmental remediation of the GC Murphy building, Kortlandt said.



Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com or 412-320-7886.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07346/840920-52.stm

Hill District residents: No deal, no arena

In meeting with planning commission, they again demand a community benefits agreement between Penguins, city and county

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

No arena without a deal was the battle cry of some 50 Hill District residents and their supporters yesterday, as they urged the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission to hold off on giving the Penguins approval to build until there's a written agreement with the community in place.

Penguins officials used a commission public hearing on their arena master plan to tout what they pitched as a unique design featuring great views of the playing surface and, through multiple glass features, of Downtown. That feature, though, was thrown back at them by Hill residents.

"There is no glass viewing of the Hill," said the Rev. Glenn G. Grayson Sr., of Wesley Center African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. "I want some glass on that side," he said, so Penguins officials will look out every day and see whether their arena helped revitalize the Hill.

The commission took two hours of testimony -- roughly one hour each from the Penguins and community representatives -- before recessing until Jan. 14. Then it'll hear more testimony, and may vote on the arena master plan.

The commission is supposed to approve or reject the plan based on the proposed $290 million arena's function, impact on the city and on neighboring properties, infrastructure needs and effects on traffic. Hill advocates argued that the plan was not consistent with existing plans for the neighborhood, would cause traffic tie-ups and would turn their neighborhood into the arena's parking lot.

Mostly, though, they demanded that a community benefits agreement between the team, the neighborhood, the city and Allegheny County be signed before approval of the plan. Such an agreement has been a subject of discussion since April, when Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato agreed, in principal, to a contract outlining how the arena and community would interact.

Yesterday, Carl Redwood of the One Hill Community Benefit Coalition said his alliance wants development funding, first dibs on jobs for Hill residents, a grocery store and community center, more park space and input into a neighborhood-wide plan.

The Penguins have agreed to some of that, said Ron Porter, a senior consultant for the team. The team backs a supermarket, a community center and jobs for Hill residents.

"Any kind of community investment that calls for direct funding of community activities with money at this point is out of the question," he said.

He said talks haven't "been adversarial," and added that the team wants a benefits agreement -- and commission approval -- next month.

Hill advocates, though, accused the team of offering only "a lot of flatter, a lot of puff and fluff," in Mr. Grayson's words.

Some said they feared that they could end up with no concrete promises, leading to another arena that, in their view, does nothing for the rest of the neighborhood.

"The Penguins have been unresponsive to the Hill District's requests," said Marimba Milliones, board chairwoman of the Hill Community Development Corp. "We can no longer afford to let them just get by, not even one more step."

The arena push did take one tiny step forward with commission approval of the design of a new rectory for Epiphany Church. The old rectory is being demolished for the arena.

Rich Lord can be reached at rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07346/841001-85.stm

Barden breaks ground for city casino

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200712/20071212as_barden4_330.jpg
Andy Starnes/Post-Gazette
Casino owner Don Barden calls out "Gentlemen, start your engines" to heavy equipment operators taking part in yesterday's ground breaking ceremony on the North Shore. He was joined by singer Smokey Robinson, right, and Frances Glandney, Mr. Robinson's wife.

Don Barden shoveled away a year's worth of frustration and turmoil yesterday, breaking ground on a $450 million riverfront casino he vowed to make the flagship of his Majestic Star chain and a worthy rival to anything Las Vegas has to offer.

"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Mr. Barden bellowed, as heavy equipment rumbled to life on the cool, gray morning to begin a "pretty tight" 16-month construction schedule to get the North Shore casino open in April 2009.

The groundbreaking, on 17 acres between Carnegie Science Center and the West End Bridge, came 356 days after Mr. Barden, on his birthday, captured the state license to operate the lone Pittsburgh slot machine casino.

That, in retrospect, might have been the easy part. For the last year, Mr. Barden has fought off a court challenge to the award by the two losing bidders and tangled with Carnegie Science Center and the Steelers and Pirates over traffic issues. And he's engaged in an ongoing battle with the local design community over the size of the 3,800-space parking garage to be built directly behind the casino.

He also has changed financiers and one of the construction contractors.

Getting to this point, he acknowledged, was "a long, difficult road."

"Nevertheless, it's over now. We're under construction. To hear the beautiful sound of machines in the background is so lovely," he said.

Nearly 200 people packed into a white tent at the casino site to commemorate the moment. They included Motown legend Smokey Robinson, an investor in the project, and former Steelers star Jerome Bettis, whose mother, Gladys, has a small stake in the casino. A busload of Mr. Barden's family members and friends came from Detroit.

Three members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board -- Chairwoman Mary DiGiacomo Colins, Sanford Rivers and Kenneth McCabe -- also took part, as did Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.

Mr. Barden's Majestic Star project is the second of four stand-alone casinos in the state to get under way. The Mount Airy Resort and Casino in Monroe County opened in October, but the two Philadelphia casinos have been stalled by litigation and community opposition.

During his remarks, Mr. Barden pledged to make his steel and glass complex a "first-class, world-class gaming facility," with a gambling floor that "rivals any major casino in Las Vegas," first-class restaurants and the "finest of materials" and interior decor. There will be "substantial space for public access" outdoors, including a boardwalk, 1,200-seat amphitheater and terraces.

"Unlike everything in Las Vegas that's all concentrated toward the inside to keep you there, ours is open, with windows and light and beautiful colors. I think you'll be very proud with what we're planning for Pittsburgh," he said.

Nonetheless, while Mr. Barden billed the day as a "celebration," the continuing controversy over the size of the garage, nearly twice the height of the casino, loomed prominently.

Mr. Barden was particularly incensed about a garage drawing produced by the Riverlife Task Force as part of an opinion piece that ran in Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He said the task force "distorted the facts" in portraying the garage as running the length of the casino and being nearly five stories above the casino.

The renderings he unveiled yesterday show the garage, in a view from the Ohio River, running from the center of the casino to its west end, with only three stories visible. A second view, from Mount Washington, shows more of the garage, both in length and height.

Mr. Barden said the casino and garage compare favorably with Heinz Field, which he said was 156 feet in height.

"This is a good design on the riverfront. The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Is the stadium a good design on the riverfront? Just compare the two. That's why it's so ridiculous. The precedent has already been set," he said.

"In terms of height you have a 156-foot structure. You have exposed steel, exposed concrete and everything else. I've gone to great lengths to make ours decorative and attractive and aesthetically beautiful and I've been criticized. How ridiculous."

Later, at a city planning commission briefing, Michael Stern of Strada, a casino architect, said the garage "fits into the skyline" with Heinz Field, the science center at 90 feet, and the Sports & Exhibition Authority parking garage and Del Monte building, each at 105 feet.

In response to criticism, Mr. Barden will install decorative screening on the south side of the garage, facing the river, under an agreement reached last month with Mr. Ravenstahl and Mr. Onorato. Architects also have stained the concrete so it's a "warm tan," not plain, but they have not changed its size.

Lisa Schroeder, executive director of the Riverlife Task Force, said she was pleased to see the architectural treatments to integrate the garage and casino. But she also stood by Riverlife's drawing, saying what you see depends on the angle from which you're looking at the garage.

"Every angle will be a slightly different proportion," she said.

"It is the scale and the massing and the height of the garage relative to the casino that's been our concern," she added, "so that's what we'll want to look at now that a package of drawings and scale of elevations has been submitted."

The casino is expected to employ more than 1,000 people once it opens, and generate $240 million a year in tax revenue for the state and $10 million a year each for the city and the county. It also will contribute $7.5 million a year for 30 years to help fund the arena for the Penguins and other events.

During construction, about 4,000 people will be employed at one time or another. Mr. Barden said all of the construction help will be union workers and at times, crews may work double shifts to get the job done in 16 months.

Demolition and excavation work will begin immediately. By April, the casino superstructure should start to become visible.

In yesterday's ceremony, Mr. Barden received from gaming board members the actual state license that authorizes him to open the casino. He paid a $50 million fee for the framed sheet of paper.

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

[chiaroscuro]

You just know you're going to end up with crap when you've completely lost track of renderings being this one vs. that one vs. that one vs. that one vs.... I mean, come on, if it's so bad they have to start saying how about this, how about this , how about this...you just know it's gonna be shit. We weren't born yesterday.

All I can say is, that if Pittsburgh must now be on par with Gary, Ind. (how special, how unique), then that damn hulking park box had better bring in tons of cash to the city - and I mean tons of cash. That peice of shit had better damn well pay for itself in cold hard dollars for pissing away the intrinsic value of the views the city is about to lose.

If it's close to that second rendering, I'll be satisfied. Not necessarily thrilled, but pretty satisfied. It's a casino (actually a slots parlor) and a garage, afterall.

Didn't Barden buy adjacent land too?

[Grego43]

xyagentguy, here's the only images I've seen of the metal screening:
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1037/panels1zz6.png
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8725/panels2db9.png

Look closely at these renderings...just like every other damned casino, this craptacular edifice effectively walls off the surrounding neighborhood. They want all money spent to be spent inside their complex. If I recall, the only public outdoor areas will be on the river side, so any future development on the North Shore will face the ass end of the garage and its fortress-like walls. What a clusterf*ck!

[hyperion1110]

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but why don't they spend the few extra dollars and dig a bigger hole in the ground for the garage??? That way, it can have the same number of spaces and not be taller than the casino. I mean, I know it will cost more money...but would it be prohibitively expensive? I doubt it!

[Evergrey]

Look closely at these renderings...just like every other damned casino, this craptacular edifice effectively walls off the surrounding neighborhood. They want all money spent to be spent inside their complex. If I recall, the only public outdoor areas will be on the river side, so any future development on the North Shore will face the ass end of the garage and its fortress-like walls. What a clusterf*ck!

Actually, the surrounding neighborhood is already walled off with the clusterf*ck of elevated freeways that surround this site.

[Evergrey]

Maybe I'm just an idiot, but why don't they spend the few extra dollars and dig a bigger hole in the ground for the garage??? That way, it can have the same number of spaces and not be taller than the casino. I mean, I know it will cost more money...but would it be prohibitively expensive? I doubt it!

water table

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_542329.html

Pitt OKs $70 million in building renovations

By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 12, 2007


More than 12,000 faculty and staff members at the University of Pittsburgh will be able to relax and work out in a new club and fitness center as part of a proposed $20.2 million renovation of the former University Club.
Pitt's Property and Facilities Committee on Tuesday approved the renovation of the club at 123 University Place in Oakland among nine projects totaling $66.9 million. The club was built in 1923.

"We bought that building in May 2003 primarily because we were able to negotiate a favorable purchase price of $3.1 million for which we got a 90,000-square-foot building and 1 acre of land in the heart of the university campus," said Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran.

The basement through the fifth floor would be renovated into a 4,000-square-foot club for faculty and staff, a 4,000-square-foot fitness center, an 18,000-square-foot conference center and banquet facility, a 4,000-square-foot kitchen, a coffee shop and 8,000 square feet of offices.

The fifth through eighth floors would be leased to Family House, which provides housing for hospital patients and their families.
Pitt officials have not yet set a fee schedule for membership in the club.

"Anybody with a Pitt faculty or staff relationship is eligible to join," said university spokesman Robert Hill.

Pitt's Budget Committee will consider the project Thursday for inclusion in the university's 2008 operating and capital budgets. The club renovation is expected to be finished by the end of 2010.

Among other major projects, the Property and Facilities Committee approved spending:

• $2.3 million for building a Wall Street-style financial analysis laboratory in Mervis Hall for the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.

• $16.8 million for expanding the Mascaro Sustainability Initiatives in the Swanson School of Engineering.

• $3.25 million for converting the second-floor library of the former Old Engineering Hall into modern labs for nanoscience research.

• $5.5 million for renovating the fourth floor of Chevron Hall.

• $4.4 million to improve the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems on the first floor of Langley Hall.

Money for all of the projects will come from the state, university reserves, borrowing or donations.

John T. Delaney, dean of the Katz School, said Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne universities, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania have financial analysis labs. However, he is arranging for finance faculty to adjust their curriculum so that their classes are based in the new lab.

"If you don't use it in your curriculum, it's like having one of those rooms with furniture with plastic covers on it," he said. "You need to use it. It can't be something you just see."



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

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07346/841114-100.stm

Council favors Bakery Square tax incentive

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh City Council today tentatively approved a subsidy for the Bakery Square redevelopment project in Larimer, despite concerns from a union that wants to represent hotel workers on the site.

If today's tally holds in a final vote Monday, it will be the final approval needed for $10 million in tax-increment financing, or TIF, aid to the $113 million retail-office-housing-hotel project. The school board and Allegheny County Council have already agreed to give up most of the future tax dollars generated by the project in order to finance the aid package.

Half of the aid would go toward a parking garage on the site, while the rest would go for road and infrastructure improvements at Bakery Square and in nearby Penn Circle in East Liberty. Bakery Square is the former Nabisco bakery.

"This project needs to move forward," said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl after the vote. "It's great for that community. . . . I really believe it will be a shot in the arm."

Union UNITE-HERE has argued that the subsidy should be withheld until developer Walnut Capital and prospective hotel operator Concord Hospitality Inc. agree not to oppose unionization of the hotel. The union cites a 1999 ordinance requiring that city-aided hoteliers try to come to terms with unions that want to negotiate on behalf of their employees. The unions, in turn, give up the right to strike, and disputes must go to binding arbitration.

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority designed the TIF area to exclude the hotel, even though it is to be built atop shops that are part of the subsidy.

"We're concerned that council didn't appear to be respecting its own ordinances," said Sam Williamson, district director for UNITE-HERE. He said the union will contact council members before the Monday vote to try to win them over.


...


http://www.bakery-square.com/

the video is awesome (parking! parking! parking!) and there's tons of renderings and photos

[hyperion1110]

water table

Good point. Then again, I'm still confused as to why the garage needs to be ten levels.

[PA Pride]

http://www.bakery-square.com/

the video is awesome (parking! parking! parking!) and there's tons of renderings and photos



Parking, parking and MORE PARKINGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahhaa..

That project looks really good though. Nice video post Evergrey.
The only thing I don't like about it is the whole center of the development is a flat parking lot. I feel like it's a shitty centerpiece. But any development is good in that part of town.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07347/841290-53.stm

Fineview housing development back on track

Thursday, December 13, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200712/20071213bw7bi00kd7_500.jpg
Bill Wade/Post-Gazette
The Nunnery Hill townhouses in December 2005.The Fineview Citizens Council has commitments to finish its Nunnery Hill housing development on Meadville Street, more than two years after its contractor abandoned the job.

With Tai + Lee Architects back on board, an infusion of $100,000 from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development and a $55,000 bank line of credit, the nonprofit council expects to hire a new contractor by spring for construction to begin by summer, said Tony DiPardo, treasurer and housing chairman for the council.

Fineview is a North Side hilltop neighborhood that is home to roughly 1,700 people.

Nunnery Hill, a seven-townhouse plan named for an academy operated by Flemish nuns in the 1830s, started five years ago to fill in blighted spaces. The fifth townhouse sold in May, said Mr. DiPardo.

With porches, back decks and built-in garages, they all sit on one side of Meadville Street, with views of Downtown and the North Side. Across the street, on the edge of a steep wood, two concrete slabs have been forlorn reminders of the lapsed development.

"They have been eyesores for us, and we have tried to keep them maintained," said Mr. DiPardo.

When John Castellano, doing business as Angel Contracting, gave up on the job in May 2005, he cited costs beyond the council's budget and sewer line complications. The hillside properties also were burdened by liens.

The projected cost today of the two remaining houses has jumped to $180,000 to $200,000, said Mr. DiPardo. The first five each sold for $150,000, with deferred second mortgages from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

All have three bedrooms in about 1,600 square feet of living space, with integral one-car garages, decks and pergolas.

The Fineview Citizens Council has three more properties lined up for construction after completion of the Meadville Street slabs, said Mr. DiPardo. One is an existing home that needs to be renovated.

It will then turn its attention to the hilltop owned, but no longer occupied, by WPXI-TV.

The council has gotten support from the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh to begin studying potential uses of the hilltop, with $20,000 from the URA to market the potential use.

"We don't want a contractor buying that site thinking he can build a massive structure without community input," said Mr. DiPardo.

"We would be willing to partner with a developer" who would honor the feasibility study's recommendations, he said.

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07347/841302-85.stm

URA trims Fifth Ave. property prices

Knocks $190,000 off store, other sites; restaurant opening

Thursday, December 13, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority is cutting the price of the old G.C. Murphy's store and other Fifth Avenue properties by $190,000 in the sale of the buildings to a Washington County developer.

URA board members are expected to vote today on a proposal to cut the sales price of the six properties from $2.5 million to $2.31 million in modifying the deal reached a year ago with Millcraft Industries.

It is one of three matters the URA will consider today relating to Millcraft's two major Downtown projects: conversion of the Fifth Avenue buildings into fitness, retail and residential space in the $32 million Market Square Place project, and the $70 million rehab of the Lazarus-Macy's store at Fifth and Wood Street into shops, offices, and condos.

The actions will coincide with today's grand opening of the second restaurant, McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant, in the former Lazarus-Macy's store, now known as Piatt Place. In August, the Capital Grille steak house opened.

Millcraft is receiving the break on the sales price to account for roughly $200,000 in historical tax credits it lost when the URA undertook the cost of removing asbestos and other hazardous materials from the old Murphy's building, said Don Kortlandt, URA general counsel.

The remediation will cost the URA about $1 million, with roughly $750,000 of that reimbursed from the state.

Initially, Millcraft had contemplated doing the remediation, with the cost of the work being subtracted from the $2.5 million purchase price for the properties. The remediation costs also would have counted toward the tax credits.

That would have left the developer with a net cost of $2.3 million for the purchase and the clean-up. The URA is now cutting the purchase price to reflect that, since the tax credits aren't available to Millcraft.

Brian Walker, Millcraft chief financial officer, said the city still ends up ahead in the deal. He said it would have received $1.5 million in the sale of the building had Millcraft undertaken the remediation. Now, with the state help, it will get about $2 million, even with the discounted sales price.

"This was a way to keep the project on time and on budget," he said.

Over a four-year period, the URA paid $3.83 million to acquire the buildings.

The URA also is proposing to assume from the Pittsburgh Parking Authority a $1.72 million obligation owed by Millcraft for the purchase of 43 parking spaces in the Oliver Garage for Piatt Place. Millcraft will pay off the amount as it sells spaces in the garage to condo buyers.

It also is asking board members to modify a $2 million mortgage with Millcraft as part of the Lazarus purchase so the developer can take advantage of the New Market tax credit program. It calls for the URA to subordinate its interest to other creditors in the project.

So far, Millcraft has leased three retail spaces in Piatt Place -- two to the restaurants and one to the TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. Lucas Piatt, Millcraft vice president of real estate, said he also is working toward an agreement with another retailer he would not identify.

He said he is starting to see signs of life in the downtrodden Fifth and Forbes corridor some two years after Millcraft bought the Lazarus building.

"It's becoming an actual viable business and commercial destination," he said. "This is exactly what we thought would happen as businesses come to town and start to prosper. It's going to create a positive atmosphere for all."

So far, Millcraft has sold about 35 percent of the 65 condos at Piatt Place. The condos are priced from $320,000 to more than $1 million.

The developer plans to get started on the Murphy's conversion in January. The site will be the future home of the Downtown YMCA, street-level shops, and 46 upper-floor apartments. The complex should be finished by January 2009.

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

[Black-n-Gold]

water table

Even if you don't hit the water table, underground spaces can cost almost twice as much as above ground ones - and the above ground ones already run about $20,000 each!

[designer3d712]

Look at all the Millions of dollars he is pumping around the area. Everyone wants money to revitalize their neighborhoods. He has to build a pedestrian bridge for the Steelers that's not really even that close to the Casino. With that said you get a garage that looks like it does. Isn't he also going to be paying cost over runs from the construction being delayed so many times? Like I said in a previous post, there is no justice given with those rendering.

[edncc1701d]

Is this something new for the SSW or just details regarding developments that have already been announced?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_542613.html
Development planned for South Side Works

By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 13, 2007

A Wexford-based company today will announce plans for a multimillion-dollar "live, stay and play" facility at South Side Works.

DOC-Economou president Phil Hugh said in a statement that the complex will feature a 140-room luxury hotel, 23 condos, including five penthouses, a spa/fitness center with indoor/outdoor swimming pool and 20,000 square feet of ground floor riverfront dining and retail shops.

DOC-Economou has built a similar project in Milwaukee. Called The Residences on Water, it is to open in spring 2008.

Bonnie Pfister can be reached at bpfister@tribweb.com or 412-320-7886.

[edncc1701d]

If both this and the China "silk road" flight get off the ground, that would be great news for PIT.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_542614.html
Pittsburgh on short list for international flights to Amsterdam
By Rick Stouffer
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 13, 2007

Pittsburgh International Airport is on a short list of airports by the Northwest Airlines-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines alliance' to offer nonstop service to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and connecting flights to more than 100 other destinations, the Regional Air Service Partnership said today.

The partnership is asking the region's top executives to write letters of support to Northwest President and CEO Douglas Steenland, stressing the need for international service at Pittsburgh International, how a nonstop flight to Europe is a traveler preference, and most important, pledging to use the Northwest/KLM service for transatlantic business travel.

"The letters would not be binding in a legal sense, but they are a necessary good faith demonstration by the business community to assure Northwest and KLM that we would support a Pittsburgh-Amesterdam flight," said Regional Air Service Partnership Chairman Dan Booker, in a letter to the British-American Business Council.

Rick Stouffer can be reached at rstouffer@tribweb.com or 412-320-7853.

[xyagentguy]

Is this something new for the SSW or just details regarding developments that have already been announced?
Geeze, I don't know. I wonder when the announcement will be, I guess maybe it's new news since they'll making the announcement today??

[AaronPGH]

That sounds like a new development to me.

[tooluther]

From what I heard last night at the Mc/Smi. opening, the new SSW project will occupy the hotel site on the Soffer master plan

[Brentsters]

This seems vaguely familiar, but I don't have the time right now to search back for it. The renderings make it look over 10 floors and the glass makes it look different than most of the other buildings there. should be nice

[edncc1701d]

I think it might be what was supposed to be the Aloft(?) Hotel... I guess we'll see. Here is the developer's website.
http://www.doc-corp.com/eng/

Here are the images from the Trib.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-13/2007-1213-ssw2-a.jpg
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-13/2007-1213-ssw1-a.jpg

[Evergrey]

I am assuming this SSW Works hotel is the same hotel that SSW envisioned a couple years ago. The rendering is included in UrbaniDesDev's "front page". It was originally pitched as a 13-story riverfront hotel (and apparently an aLoft?). I believe the condos were previously mentioned as well. This rendering is different from the new ones... and may have been a Soffer rendering instead of a DOC rendering.

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

So I think this announcement is just the evolution of that hotel that was proposed awhile ago. The new rendering appears to be somewhere in the 13-15 story range.

[themaguffin]

Wasn't Soffer trying to get a W Hotel at SSW?

[AaronPGH]

Wasn't Soffer trying to get a W Hotel at SSW?

It was an aLoft hotel, which is a new concept by W Hotels I believe. I'm not sure where they are slotting it though in comparison to the W's.

[Evergrey]

http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/12/10/daily35.html?t=printable

Thursday, December 13, 2007 - 4:02 PM EST

Hotel-condo project planned for SouthSide Works

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley

A key piece of the SouthSide Works' redevelopment plan is ready to fall into place.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday finalized plans to sell an acre of riverfront property at the SouthSide Works to DOC-Economou, a development firm with offices in Fort Myers, Fla., Chicago and Wexford.

DOC-Economou plans to develop a mixed-use complex comprised of a luxury hotel, condominiums and other amenities.

"The Soffer Organization has done a tremendous job in making the SouthSide Works what it is today," said Phil Hugh, a Florida-based principal of DOC-Economou and a western Pennsylvania native. "The addition of this live-stay-play development is the perfect complement, and it will be the only mixed-use complex of its kind in the region situated within an existing upscale lifestyle-and-entertainment landscape."

The complex will include a 140-room luxury hotel, 23 private residences, a 20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center with an indoor/outdoor swimming pool.

The complex is scheduled to open in the summer of 2009.

Damian Soffer, president of the Soffer Organization, which maintains development rights for much of the 34-acre mixed-use portion of the 123-acre former mill site, is hopeful the hotel will enhance the array of retailers, restaurants and office tenants his company has assembled at SouthSide Works.

"The arrival of this development to the SouthSide Works brings a new level of style and sophistication to the project," Soffer said. "The project will meet the expectations of business travelers, tourists, and residents looking for a wonderful new venue for business and pleasure."

The sale of the property by the URA to DOC-Economou represents an ongoing shift to a more diversified team of developers for the SouthSide Works, said Rick Belloli, executive director of the South Side Local Development Co.

Previously, Belloli said, Soffer was expected to develop and own the entirety of the 34-acre, mixed-use plan. But last year, American Eagle Outfitters acquired the 187,000-square-foot Quantum I office building that it now occupies as its administrative headquarters, as well as an adjoining parcel on which it is constructing a second building.

Belloli is pleased to see a crucial portion of the SouthSide Works' master plan going forward.

"We're interested in continuing the buildout of this very important piece of the SouthSide Works on the waterfront," he said.

DOC-Economou's project is planned for a parcel that will sit between a Hofbrauhaus Bavarian brewhouse to be built next year and two condo structures under development by the Soffer Organization that are expected to add more than 150 residential units.

Despite their location, Belloli said the SouthSide Works' riverfront parcels have faced market difficulties such as increasing construction costs and a softening real estate market.

"They are the most desirable parcels but that created its own series of challenges along the way," Belloli said.

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

[Johnland]

[QUOTE=Evergrey;3224542]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07347/841290-53.stm

Fineview housing development back on track

Thursday, December 13, 2007
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200712/20071213bw7bi00kd7_500.jpg
Bill Wade/Post-Gazette

Great looking homes. I love the tall windows on the back.

[AaronPGH]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07348/841593-53.stm

YMCA to add second Downtown site
Plans to open location this summer in basement of U.S. Steel Tower
Friday, December 14, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The YMCA is bulking up its Downtown presence.

This summer, the Downtown YMCA will open a second location in the U.S. Steel Tower on Grant Street, converting a basement auditorium into a 15,000-square-foot fitness and wellness space.

The new location, announced by the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh during a donor appreciation event yesterday evening, marks another major move by the Y to expand its presence Downtown.

It follows the decision by the Y last May to sell its Boulevard of the Allies building and open a new facility in the old G.C. Murphy store as part of Millcraft Industries' $32 million Market Square Place project.

At the U.S. Steel Tower, the Downtown Y will team with UPMC, which is moving its headquarters into the city's tallest skyscraper, to operate a wellness center.

The new location will give the Y a presence close to city, Allegheny County and federal courts and government offices and many of the region's major corporations, including The Bank of New York Mellon and, of course, U.S. Steel. The branch also will be close to the Steel Plaza light-rail stop.

One of the goals is to get more people in the office buildings exercising, said John Cardone, executive director of the Downtown YMCA, a branch of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh.

Given the concentrated population, it "makes sense" to add the location, he said. The Y has found that people generally won't walk more than three blocks to an exercise program.

"If we can be in a good position to serve more people, in the end, it's going to make us healthier," Mr. Cardone said.

With UPMC, which will start moving in this spring, nearly 10,000 people will work in the U.S. Steel Tower alone.

"We're excited. This is something we tried to do for a long time. This is a great partner and it's going to be a tremendous amenity for the tenants of the building," said Andy Wisniewski, executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis and leasing agent for the property.

Mr. Cardone did not see the Grant Street location conflicting with the Y's new 38,000-square-foot facility in Market Square Place, which will open in early 2009. He said members will have access to both facilities and the same array of services.

Both sites will offer wellness facilities and cardiovascular and strength equipment and a number of classes and services, including smoke cessation, nutrition, obesity, weight management, physical therapy, and cardiac rehabilitation. Both will support Activate Pittsburgh programming.

The Market Square Y will have a pool; U.S. Steel Tower won't.

Cost of renovating the U.S. Steel Tower space will be "significant," Mr. Cardone said, without giving an amount. He said costs would be shared between the Y and other partners.

Based on statistical benchmarks, he estimated that less than 10 percent of people who work in the U.S. Steel Tower and nearby locations are exercising.

He believes the Y could end up adding as many as 1,000 new members through the location. He expects to double current membership, some 2,000 to 2,500 strong, once the new facility opens in Market Square. The Y will close its Boulevard of the Allies location once the Market Square building opens.

[Black-n-Gold]

I am assuming this SSW Works hotel is the same hotel that SSW envisioned a couple years ago. The rendering is included in UrbaniDesDev's "front page". It was originally pitched as a 13-story riverfront hotel (and apparently an aLoft?). I believe the condos were previously mentioned as well. This rendering is different from the new ones... and may have been a Soffer rendering instead of a DOC rendering.

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

So I think this announcement is just the evolution of that hotel that was proposed awhile ago. The new rendering appears to be somewhere in the 13-15 story range.

That was a rendering prepared by Soffer they used to promote the site to a number of hotel operators (including W hotels). The final design was always going to be up to the architects selected by the hotel.

I think Soffer always said they were going after a "W-type" hotel, not necessarily one operated by W.

[UrbaniDesDev]

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

http://doceconomou.com/southsideworks/#void

$48M luxury complex planned
By Bonnie Pfister
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, December 14, 2007


Construction will begin this spring on a $48 million luxury hotel, condo and retail complex at the SouthSide Works, developers said Thursday.
Marshall-based joint venture DOC-Economou said it will develop an independent 140-room hotel, 23 private residences -- five of them penthouses -- and a spa and fitness center with that will feature an indoor/outdoor swimming pool, company principal Phil Hugh said.

The complex at the trendy South Side location will feature 20,000 square feet of riverfront retail space, a business center with meeting rooms and a two-story ballroom with views of the Downtown skyline.

"I can't tell you how excited we are," said Hugh, a native of Fayette County. "I've always been very passionate about Pittsburgh. When we heard that Mr. Soffer was looking for a hotel, we got on the phone right away."


The Soffer Organization is the developer of the five-year-old SouthSide Works on the 34-acre site of the old LTV Steel Co. plant along the Monongahela River. SouthSide Works features a movie theater, apparel shops, numerous restaurants and, increasingly, business offices.
Youth clothier American Eagle Outfitters Inc., which operates a retail shop there, in July moved its corporate headquarters to the SouthSide Works from Marshall and began moving half of its work force of about 650 to new offices in the complex.

That month construction company Dick Corp. said it, too, would move its headquarters to SouthSide Works from Jefferson Hills.

DOC-Economou was formed last month as a joint venture of Development Opportunity Corp., of Fort Myers, Fla., and Chicago-based Economou Partners, an architect and general contractor.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority's board of directors yesterday approved DOC-Economou's purchase of the nearly one-acre parcel. Purchase price is about $350,000, URA general counsel Don Kortlandt said.

The hotel-condo development fulfills The Soffer Organization's desire to enhance the "lifestyle" component of its development. It rents 84 apartments at 27th Street and East Carson Street.

"We've created a city within a city," said Damian Soffer, president of the The Soffer Organization. "This development brings a new level of style and sophistication to the project. It will meet the expectations of business travelers, tourists and residents."

DOC-Economou has built a similar project in Milwaukee. Called The Residences on Water along the Milwaukee River, it is scheduled to open in 2008 with a 121-unit Staybridge Suites franchise hotel.

Hugh said the SouthSide Works hotel will not be a franchise, but rather an "independent, 5-star hotel with a unique, trendy name" to be announced next year.

Hugh said the developers plan to build the complex to "Silver" LEED certified green building standards. Construction is to be completed by summer 2009, he said.



http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_542696.html

[UrbaniDesDev]

Hotel-condos-spa called last, best part of SouthSide Works
Friday, December 14, 2007
By Daniel Malloy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/SouthSideWorksHotel2.jpg

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh yesterday announced the sale of one acre of land in the SouthSide Works to DOC-Economou for development of a mixed-used complex that will feature a luxury hotel and condominiums, spa/fitness center, and event, office, and retail space.The $48 million coup de grace of the SouthSide Works complex is officially in the works.

The city Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday approved the sale of an acre of land to DOC-Economou for a mixed-use development containing a luxury hotel and condominiums, as well as a 20,000-square-foot spa. It is scheduled to open in summer 2009.

"This is the crowning jewel of the SouthSide Works development," said Phil Hugh, a principal of DOC-Economou.

The group has worked with the Soffer Organization, the primary developer of the former LTV Steel mill site, for 14 months on the project. URA originally purchased the site in 1993.

DOC-Economou, with offices in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Fort Myers, Fla., has built mixed-use developments around the country. But Mr. Hugh, who grew up in Fairchance, Fayette County, wanted to build in Pittsburgh and especially admired the booming "city within a city" at SouthSide Works.

The final steps were brokering a labor peace agreement with the hotel workers union and finalizing a parking plan. That paved the way for unanimous approval at yesterday's URA meeting.

"It's another great development right on the waterfront," said board chairman Yarone Zober. "We're all excited about that."

The development will boast "phenomenal views" of Downtown and the Monongahela or the South Side Slopes, Mr. Hugh said, from its 23 private condos and 140 hotel rooms.

In addition to the spa, the complex will have a two-story ballroom, an 18,000-square-foot events center, and 20,000 square feet of ground level space for dining and retail.

The 13-story structure will be at 27th Street across Tunnel Park from REI, directly on the riverfront.

"We were very happy with the process," Mark Delanna, vice president of development for Soffer, said at the meeting. "We always wanted a signature hotel. We had a perfect partner with the same vision and dream."

Also yesterday, the URA unanimously approved a $190,000 price reduction on the sale of the old G.C. Murphy's store and other properties on Fifth Avenue.

The amended price gives Washington County-based Millcraft Industries the property for $2.31 million, because it lost out on a tax break when URA took over the removal of asbestos and other hazardous materials from the site.


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07348/841584-28.stm

[UrbaniDesDev]

Downtown YMCA plans extension
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, December 14, 2007


The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh on Thursday announced plans to open a new fitness facility in the 64-story U.S. Steel Tower, Downtown's largest office building, on Grant Street.
The decision follows a June announcement by the nonprofit organization that it planned to close its Downtown Y branch on the Boulevard of the Allies and anchor a $32 million renovation of the vacant G.C. Murphy store on Fifth Avenue at the edge of Market Square.

"The impact the YMCA at U.S. Steel Tower will have on our community is huge," said John Cardone, executive director of the Downtown YMCA, a branch of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, in a statement.

"This location will allow us to reach out and engage all those who seek well-being of spirit, mind and body."

The new 14,000-square-foot facility, to be located on the below-ground concourse level of the U.S. Steel Tower, is described as a "new extension site" of the Downtown Y. It is scheduled to open by the summer 2008.
The new main Downtown Y is expected open in 2009 in space the nonprofit organization will lease at the Murphy structure and the neighboring former D&K retail store building.

The two buildings are being developed by Washington County-based Millcraft Industries Inc. as part of its Market Square Place project that will include retail stores, restaurants and apartments.

In November 2006, the YMCA disclosed to its nearly 2,500 full-time and 500 seasonal members that it planned to sell its seven-story headquarters building on the Boulevard of the Allies and seek another Downtown site.

That building remains on the market for sale.

At U.S. Steel Tower, the organization is partnering with UPMC Health Plan in the project, and the new site will feature a UPMC Health Plan Wellness Center.

The Y and UPMC will offer classes and services, including nutrition, obesity, smoking cessation, weight management, physical therapy, pre- and post-natal programming, older adult programs, and cardiac rehabilitation.

"Having a YMCA presence in two locations in the Downtown area demonstrates the commitment of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh to health and wellness and will be an integral part of the continued economic development of downtown and all of the Pittsburgh area," Cardone said.



Ron DaParma can be reached at



http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_542692.html

[PA Pride]

Hell yes!!!! That rendering is absolutely beautiful. This is what other cities are getting more of and Pittsburgh needs to have to feel young and exciting and to attract young urban professionals: Modern architecture, in a great location.
I can't see this project as anything less than SUPER for Pittsburgh. Think about all the Pgh residents as well as out of town visitors who will stay at this building, right next to the river, with views of downtown, a pedestrian bridge right next to it, southside nightlife 20 blocks long, 1 million new sq ft of high tech buildings across the river.... This is going to be such an impressive section of the city.

[UrbaniDesDev]

Check out this site for more pics of SouthSide Works Hotel
it wont allow me to capture the images
GREAT IMAGES!
It really seems to integrate the slope of the riverfront into its design and function
http://www.doc-corp.com/eng/port/page008/index.html

[xyagentguy]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07348/841667-336.stm

This was talked about once before, but I guess it's true, after all is said and done, and the casino's have made millions upon millions of dollars for the "tax relief fund" it will only save the Pennsylvania home owner between $200 and $300 dollars per year? Or will it be by INCREMENTS of $200 to $300 dollars per year?

For example, by year two, will they save roughly $400 to $600?

This doesn't make any sense. $200 per year of "tax relief" is laughable. Truly and downright laughable.

[UrbaniDesDev]

Pittsburgh on short list for international flights to Amsterdam
By Rick Stouffer
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, December 13, 2007


Pittsburgh International Airport is on a short list of airports by the Northwest Airlines-KLM Royal Dutch Airlines alliance' to offer nonstop service to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and connecting flights to more than 100 other destinations, the Regional Air Service Partnership said today.
The partnership is asking the region's top executives to write letters of support to Northwest President and CEO Douglas Steenland, stressing the need for international service at Pittsburgh International, how a nonstop flight to Europe is a traveler preference, and most important, pledging to use the Northwest/KLM service for transatlantic business travel.

"The letters would not be binding in a legal sense, but they are a necessary good faith demonstration by the business community to assure Northwest and KLM that we would support a Pittsburgh-Amesterdam flight," said Regional Air Service Partnership Chairman Dan Booker, in a letter to the British-American Business Council.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_542614.html

[hyperion1110]

Hell yes!!!! That rendering is absolutely beautiful. This is what other cities are getting more of and Pittsburgh needs to have to feel young and exciting and to attract young urban professionals: Modern architecture, in a great location.
I can't see this project as anything less than SUPER for Pittsburgh. Think about all the Pgh residents as well as out of town visitors who will stay at this building, right next to the river, with views of downtown, a pedestrian bridge right next to it, southside nightlife 20 blocks long, 1 million new sq ft of high tech buildings across the river.... This is going to be such an impressive section of the city.

I completely agree!

And now, the dancing banana... :banana:

[PA Pride]

edncc1701d already posted two of the renderings here that were in the Trib article, but I just went on the developers website and copied/printscreened then cropped all three of the renderings they have. Here they are:

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

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

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

[PA Pride]

On another note, I was on the Millcraft Industries website today and found this interesting graphic that shows company headquarters within a two block radius of the Piatt Place mixed use bldg:


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

[EventHorizon]

edncc1701d already posted two of the renderings here that were in the Trib article, but I just went on the developers website and copied/printscreened then cropped all three of the renderings they have. Here they are:

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

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

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

I couldn't agree more with what's been said. That is a very handsome building!

[Black-n-Gold]

edncc1701d already posted two of the renderings here that were in the Trib article, but I just went on the developers website and copied/printscreened then cropped all three of the renderings they have. Here they are:

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

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

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

What is the difference between the top one and the bottom one, and what is that big gray thing behind the bottom one? Casino Parking?

Also, the developer's site states "This project is scheduled to open in the summer of 2008." Now that is an aggressive schedule!!!

[PA Pride]

^I have no idea why those two look different. The developers website has those three renderings lumped together as if they are the same thing. The first picture certainly is the best looking one.

And about the timeline; I think that is supposed to say 2009.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07349/841858-85.stm

Airport warehouses in works

Dallas-based developer to build up to 7 facilities

Saturday, December 15, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Allegheny County Airport Authority has reached a deal with a major developer to build up to seven warehouses on 90 acres near Pittsburgh International Airport, a move could have implications in the bid to build an "air silk road" for cargo with China.

Authority board members approved a development agreement with Dallas-based Trammell-Crow Co., doing business as TC NE Metro Development Inc., to undertake the work in phases over the next five years.

The development is occurring on what is known as the Northfield site in Findlay. It sits between an airport runway and Route 60.

It marks the first significant new development to occur on the authority-owned property since a cargo interchange was opened off Route 60 several years ago, said Randy Forister, the authority's senior director of development.

In the first phase of the project, Trammell-Crow will build one warehouse/cargo building totaling 90,000 to 150,000 square feet. The building will be built on speculation without a signed tenant, Mr. Forister said.

Before the construction can start, the authority will undertake $12 million to $13 million in site preparation work, including construction of a 3,000-foot road into the property. The site work is expected to start next spring and be completed by late next year or early 2009.

Construction of the building, estimated at $4 million to $5 million, will follow and should be completed in nine months. Additional buildings should go up about every 18 months, with a total of seven contemplated. The property sits in a foreign trade zone and is close to the airport's existing cargo hub.

"Trammell-Crow is doing things at airports across the country and really across the world. We're very happy that they're here," Mr. Forister said.

He said the development could have an impact on the region's efforts to develop an ongoing cargo relationship with China. The airport signed a letter of intent last month to explore the feasibility of a direct link between it and Xi'an Xianyang International Airport in China.

If an agreement is secured, "We've got this development already started and ready to go. So they'll be able to step right into the situation. It will be very beneficial to them. They won't have to wait for buildings or anything like that," Mr. Forister said.

The Northfield site is just one part of a major push by the authority to develop shovel-ready land near the airport. In September, the board approved a 29-year lease with Knepper Press for an 11.5-acre site in the Clinton Commerce Park to build a 100,000-square-foot printing shop.

Knepper is the second company to occupy the 240-acre Clinton site, which the authority began developing in January 2006. The Buncher Co. has a deal with the authority to build a 400,000-square-foot warehouse there.

Also yesterday, the authority board approved a contract up to $125,000 with TranSystems to help boost the region's bid to secure nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Amsterdam. Pittsburgh International is on a short list of airports under consideration by the Northwest Airlines/KLM alliance for the service.

Authority Executive Director Bradley D. Penrod said TranSystems will help collect data on the viability of the Pittsburgh area market.

Separately, the board awarded a three-year contract to Mr. Penrod as executive director. He replaces Kent George, who left for an airport job in Florida in October.

Mr. Penrod will be paid $185,000 a year, with annual reviews and possible adjustments based on performance. Mr. George was making $215,000 when he left.

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_542879.html

Standard & Poor's hikes Pittsburgh's rating

By Michael Hasch
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, December 15, 2007


Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said Friday he was pleased to learn that Pittsburgh's bond rating was raised by Standard & Poor's from the lowest investment grade because of improved finances that have led to a projected surplus for this fiscal year.
The New York-based debt rating firm raised the city's credit rating one level, to BBB from BBB-.

"The stable outlook reflects Pittsburgh's stable economy, which is experiencing limited but positive employment growth," according to a statement from Standard & Poor's.

Ravenstahl said the upgrade is based upon improved financial operations over the past two years and a projected surplus for fiscal year 2007.

"Today, the world's finest credit experts have told us, for the second consecutive year, that our responsible approach to financial management is paying dividends," he said.
Pittsburgh officials are projecting an $18.7 million surplus in the year ending Dec. 31.

"Although the city faces challenges in balancing its operations in the out-years, management is aware of the city's position and is building up reserves in advance of possible shortfalls," said John Sugden-Castillo, a credit analyst for Standard & Poor's.

Moody's Investor Service upgraded the city's credit rating 14 months ago and removed Pittsburgh from its watchlist of cities and companies whose ratings are likely to change. The removal makes Pittsburgh a more secure, attractive option for bond investors.

It was the first upgrade to the city's general-obligation debt by Moody's since March 2005, a few months after an oversight board signed off on a recovery plan to bring Pittsburgh back from the brink of bankruptcy.

"By driving down the cost of government, spending less and saving more ... we've been able to grow our savings account, proving to the world that we are an attractive city to invest in with a bright future," Ravenstahl said.



Michael Hasch can be reached at mhasch@tribweb.com or 412-320-7820.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_542863.html

Beer-and-pretzel restaurant plan revived

By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, December 15, 2007


Construction of the Hofbrauhaus at the SouthSide Works on the South Side might finally be ready to start.
The Soffer Organization and representatives of Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh will seek the approval of the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority at a URA board meeting in January.

Soffer is the developer of the SouthSide Works, while Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh would operate the German-styled beer and pretzel restaurant that will be built behind the Cheesecake Factory toward the Monongahela River.

If the URA gives its approval, construction could start in May and the facility could open by the first quarter of 2009, said Mark Dellana, Soffer's vice president of development.

"We will begin demolition of the existing foundation on the site for the Hofbrauhaus, and that should take about a month and a half," Dellana said. The property would then be turned over to Hofbrauhaus in May.
The development group has endured a series of setbacks that delayed the project, said Nick Ellison, a principal in Hofbrauhaus Pittsburgh along with Eric Haas.

Soffer officials announced plans for the facility in 2005, and in July 2006, Ellison and Haas said they hoped to have it open by the fall of this year.

Problems began when the federal government started to require companies issuing franchises to fully disclose their resources, similar to what is required when a company issues stock, Ellison said.

"It was difficult to get the State of Bavaria, owner of Hofbrauhaus, to make that disclosure," he said.

Meanwhile, Hofbrauhaus' option on the SouthSide Works site expired, and Ellison said the Soffer Organization began marketing the property before Bavaria finally agreed to provide the required information, he said.

"We then offered 80 investors, through a private offering memorandum, the opportunity to invest in the project. We needed 30 but only 15 agreed," he said.


The project ran into another snag when the Pennsylvania Legislature in July allowed Allegheny County to impose up to 10 percent tax on the sale of alcoholic beverages to help pay for Port Authority operations, he said.

"We cancelled the project, but Huntington Bank's Cincinnati office agreed to provide us with a loan to move the project ahead," Ellison said.

The Hofbrauhaus will have space for about 1,000 customers and create 180 to 200 jobs.

It will be the third Hofbrauhaus in the U.S., Ellison said. The first was opened in 2003 in Newport, Ky., outside Cincinnati. The second opened in 2004 in Las Vegas.



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

[Evergrey]

In a city filled with beautiful historic structures... there are many opportunities for create re-use of buildings. Many of you are famliar with the church conversion trend here in Pittsburgh.... but banks are also a favorite target for conversions. I wonder if hyperion has been to the Vault...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/search/s_542261.html

Banks reborn as nightclubs, restaurants and a spa

By The Tribune-Review
Thursday, December 13, 2007


Back in the day, banks were built with a grandeur and strength in both material and design.
These magnificent shrines to commerce were built with tall granite columns, marble counters and brass cashier cages. The structures spoke of trust, reliability and permanence.

Fast-forward to the next century, and enter the world of credit cards, ATM machines and online banking.

The permanence of those banks as imposing buildings remains, but many have been renovated into new establishments, such as clubs, coffeehouses, condos, restaurants -- and even a spa.

Here are a handful found throughout the area -- and one with plans for the future.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carson City Saloon, South Side

You want a nightclub, you want a big, sturdy, solid building. Something that the bass from a Timbaland or Kanye West track isn't going to shake apart. So why not a bank?

Carson City Saloon inhabits a space built for the German National Depository in 1896. It also was a Mellon Bank, then a Citizens Bank. Typical for its time, the massively imposing, thick-walled neoclassical building conveys fortress-like safety and stability. It's an attractive structure, if not particularly festive or fun.

But inside, it has been totally transformed into a spacious, high-ceilinged cavern of sports, television and beer. One thing that remains from its bank beginnings is the giant, steel walk-in vault in the far back wall. Once, it probably served to reassure customers and intimidate potential robbers. Now, it's just another decoration on the wall between the kitchen and the digital jukebox.

Carson City Saloon, 1401 E. Carson St., South Side. Hours: 11:45 a.m.-1:45 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays, noon-midnight Sundays. Details: 412-481-3203.



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Perk Coffee Gallery, West End

The vault of a West End bank is now a treasure house of coffee, wraps, soups, sandwiches and an ever-changing selection of home-cooked entrees. New to the scene as of Nov. 17, Perk Coffee Gallery began serving customers in the safe deposit vault where generations of banking clients once stored their valuables.

Toni Herd, a Munhall resident and the owner of Perk Coffee Gallery, was looking for a space to open a coffee shop and art gallery that would become part of the West End's revitalization. An artist friend told her about this available space.

Constructed in 1927 for the West End Savings and Trust Co., the building had been subdivided into an indoor mini-mall for shops and a National City Bank branch office.

Herd fell in love with the tiny space, especially when she learned she could fill the adjoining vault with tables and chairs for her customers.

She offers homemade dishes such as macaroni and cheese or green beans and smoked turkey alongside the lighter options that include vegan wraps, red beans and greens salads. The $6.25 Saturday lunch special menu features smoked and barbecued ribs or chicken, collard greens or baked beans, a corn muffin and a choice of cole slaw or potato salad.

Right now, most of Herd's customers are people who work in the neighborhood. But there's a number of art galleries nearby, and the walls of Perk Coffee Gallery are lined with original artworks created by Herd and other local artists.

"I'm hoping the area will become a place (for artists and their customers) to hang out comfortably," she says.

Perk Coffee Gallery, 22 Wabash St., West End. Hours: 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Details: 412-773-1057.



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Rockwell's Red Lion Restaurant, Elizabeth

The building that houses Rockwell's Red Lion Restaurant in Elizabeth originally was built for the First National Bank of Elizabeth in 1906. The bank closed its doors permanently seven years later. The building housed a drugstore and a second-hand store and stood vacant until the Rockwell family purchased and renovated it, opening the restaurant May 14, 1980.

Framed old photos on the restaurant walls are a reminder of life in Elizabeth as far back as the late 1800s.

The restaurant is run by Orrie Rockwell Jr. and his children, Lynn McHolme, who runs the business office, and Orrie Rockwell III, who is the chef. The menu changes periodically to feature seasonal dishes. Chef Orrie's specialties include roasted duck with blackberry and black cherry demi-glaze ($21.95), salmon with blueberry glaze ($16.95) and chicken with apricot glaze ($14.95).

The restaurant will hold a Christmas wine tasting and dinner Dec. 22. Cost of the four-course meal is $40.

Rockwell's Red Lion Restaurant, 201 Second St., Elizabeth. Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays. Details: 412-384-3909.



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The Vault Coffee & Tea Bar, Brighton Heights

There are banks, and then there are savings and loans. The former typically is a marble-floored financial institution whose Doric columns and gilded ceilings radiate fiduciary gravitas. The latter is the bank's folksy cousin, with functional carpeting and color schemes that recall the Brady Bunch rec room.

It makes sense that The Vault Coffee & Tea Bar, a mainstay of the Brighton Heights business district, should take up residence in a former savings and loan. Its homely intimacy serves its quirky sensibility well.

You won't find a bank vault in The Vault -- at least not on the main floor. But you will enjoy spotting vestiges of its former life while you wait for barista Matt Haberman or owner Bradley Richards to make your espresso.

The small lectern where folks used to fill out deposit slips now holds napkins. Beneath a sign that proclaims "Today's Interest Rates" is a menu that touts stuffed grape leaves, Chicken Feta Mojo, bagels or toast. Another sign invites customers to "angry up" their usual cup of Joe with a shot of espresso.

The original office couches, where anxious customers waited for loan approval, now serve as posterior magnets in the small upstairs balcony. It's strewn with laptops and back issues of Spin. If the coffee doesn't wake you up, the loud blue walls will.

Customers Michele Knickerbocker and Michelle Ligon, both nursing students and moms, park themselves by the counter, where bank tellers reportedly served customers from behind bulletproof glass.

"I have two kids, and you can bring them here," Knickerbocker says. "People don't act annoyed that they're around."

The Vault Coffee & Tea Bar, 3619 California Ave., Brighton Heights. Hours: 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Details: 412-734-1935.



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The Sewickley Spa, Ligonier

Money-related puns abound with satisfied patrons at The Sewickley Spa, who often tell the owner that they got a wealth of a wonderful treatment with rich pleasures. Given that their pampering took place in a former bank vault, there's no better way to describe it, says Dorothy Andreas Tuel, owner of the Ligonier spa that is housed in a former Mellon Bank building.

"People really get a kick out of it," she says. "It's a conversation piece as well as a relaxing treatment."

Andreas Tuel -- who also owns The Sewickley Spa at Sewickley, and The Sewickley Spa at Wisp Resort in Maryland -- opened the Ligonier location in 2001. She says she was thrilled to discover that the Mellon Bank building was available, after looking around Ligonier for a new spot.

With plenty of open spaces, the bank building was easy to convert into a spa, she says. The building, with its granite columns, still retains some of its turn-of-the-century bank look, and some banking remnants -- like a $20 bill from the 1940s -- were found during the renovation. Inside the spa, visitors can get pampered with more than three dozen treatments, mostly skin and body therapy.

The Sewickley Spa, 112 N. Market St., Ligonier. Hours: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays, 8:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Details: 724-238-3878.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pittsburgh Engineers Building, Downtown

The former bank that now houses the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania was built in the heart of Pittsburgh's financial district, Downtown, at the turn of the last century by famed architect Daniel H. Burnham. He also designed the Flatiron Building in New York City and Pittsburgh's Union Station, now the Pennsylvanian, among many other buildings.

Members and guests of the Engineers' Society have the privilege of eating inside the bank vault during daily lunches. But you'll have to make friends with an engineer; unfortunately, the club dining room is not open to the public.



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Discovery & Interactive Science Center, Greensburg

A former Mellon Bank building in downtown Greensburg could become an interactive, hands-on science center if Douglas Lingsch and his wife, Mari-Pat, can make it happen.

The Bedford couple hope to open the Discovery & Interactive Science Center -- run as a nonprofit, similar to the Carnegie Science Center -- in the fall of 2008 or 2009.

The granite-block structure was built in 1928 for the Barclay-Westmoreland Trust Co. and has been vacant since Citizens Bank closed its branch in March 2005. In September, the Lingsches bought the vacant building for $258,000. Douglas Lingsch says it remains in good condition, and he anticipates spending about $1 million to convert it.

The lobby of the former bank would be completely renovated, and a mezzanine floor would be added to create more exhibit space. The bank's two vaults -- whose 800- to 1,000-pound doors have glass panels exposing the gears -- would be part of the attraction.


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/1213-bank2-a.jpg
Typical for its time, the massively imposing, thick-walled neoclassical building conveys fortress-like safety and stability. But inside, it has been totally transformed into the Carson City Saloon, a spacious, high-ceilinged cavern of sports, television and beer.
Jasmine Gehris /Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/1213-bank1-a.jpg
The Carson City Saloon, South Side, inhabits a space built for the German National Depository in 1896. It also was a Mellon Bank, then a Citizens Bank.
Jasmine Gehris/Tribune-Review


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/1213-bankperk-a.jpg
Toni Herd, a Munhall resident and the owner of Perk Coffee Gallery, was looking for a space to open a coffee shop and art gallery that would become part of the West End's revitalization. An artist friend told her about this old bank.
Heidi Murrin/Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/1213-bankbright-a.jpg
A customer waits at the counter at The Vault Coffee & Tea Bar, Brighton Heights.
James Knox/Tribune-Review

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/1213-bankgbg-a.jpg
A former Mellon Bank building in downtown Greensburg could become an interactive, hands-on science center if Douglas Lingsch and his wife, Mari-Pat, can make it happen.
Tribune-Review file

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-11/1213-banklig-a.jpg
The Sewickley Spa, Ligonier, is housed in a former Mellon Bank building."People really get a kick out of it," says owner Dorothy Andreas Tuel. "It's a conversation piece as well as a relaxing treatment."
Sean Stipp/Tribune-Review

[Evergrey]

this is a couple months old... but it's a huge deal... it's a $60 million mixed-use development for Ambridge... an old river town about 15 miles west in Beaver County along the Ohio River across from Aliquippa... an Australian investor has begun site preperations in Downtown Ambridge

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07298/828172-57.stm

Reviving Ambridge

Long-vacant American Bridge office proposed as site for senior living complex

Thursday, October 25, 2007
By Brian David, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200710/20071025wamb1_500.jpg
Lake Fong/Post-Gazette
The interior of the American Bridge office building in Ambridge, which has been vacant for 25 years. Sewickley builder William Marra hopes to rejuvenate the site and convert it to housing for senior citizens.The town of Ambridge is proving that there are different ways to break from the past.

You can keep the structures, preserving what's good and strong from the past while growing new uses within that framework. That's what's happening in the south end where a Sewickley builder wants to convert the old American Bridge office building into a senior housing complex.

You can hang onto the past while preparing for something new. That's happening in the middle of town, where a new high school is on course to open in January next door to one built in 1918.

Or you can obliterate the past, clearing it away to make room for something new. That's happening in the northern end of the borough, where a development group led by an Australian businessman is demolishing industrial buildings in the first tangible phase of an ambitious rebuilding plan.

Along with a recently completed street-scaping that spruced up the town's historic district and a steady trickle of small businesses moving into the industrial district, these projects have a number of people believing things are on the upswing.

"This [town] could be reborn, and this would help get it reborn," William Marra said of his proposal for the American Bridge building.

As he sees it, if 77 people move from Ambridge-area houses into his building, that gives a sudden boost to the local supply of mid-priced homes. In that vision, the new school and new businesses would draw young families to those homes, pumping new life into the town.

His optimism is shared by the local leader of the Northern Ambridge Redevelopment Project, Bill Sutton.

"I think Ambridge is on the cusp of busting loose," said Mr. Sutton, who spearheads day-to-day work on behalf of Australian builder Rob Moltoni. "It has the potential to be the West Side of Pittsburgh, developing sort of the way the South Side did over the last 10 years."

Gene Pash is a believer as well.

"Ambridge is coming back," the chairman of the Ambridge Area Redevelopment Council said. "I see embers and sparks throughout the area."

The private, nonpartisan group recruits businesses to the Ambridge area's bountiful supply of industrial space and helps them tap into resources available for "brownfield" development, the reuse of contaminated industrial property.

Mr. Pash is a brownfield developer himself: He is president of Value Ambridge Properties, which owns and operates the Ambridge Regional Distribution and Manufacturing Center in the former Armco seamless pipe plant.

Ambridge is also home to the Port Ambridge Industrial Park, 122 acres of the former American Bridge site, and New Economy Business Park, another re-claimed factory, which is part of the Northern Ambridge project.

"Brownfields redevelopment of all these old buildings is the wave of the future," Mr. Pash said. A big advantage to it is that sewer lines, water, roads, even rail lines are already there. "These developments can use things our grandparents already paid for," he said.

Mr. Pash, however, is happy to see some of the industrial property being demolished; the Northern Ambridge developers have cleared the former H.H. Robertson property on 14th Street and will soon be in demolition on the area between 14th and 11th.

Mr. Sutton said that area will most likely be used for retail and business development -- to some degree a brand new downtown, built from the ground up with all modern considerations, like parking and building styles.

The rusting, collapsing industrial buildings that were there, and are still there in some places, served to break the town up, separating the Duss Avenue and Merchant Street commercial corridors and to some extent isolating the historic district around Old Economy Village.

"What this does is it moves some of the heavy industrial/blighted areas out of town -- out of the heart of our town," Mr. Pash said.

He sees that as a huge boon to the community as a whole.

"There's plenty of land here for businesses, but if it's in a place where you don't want to raise your children, it won't work," he said. "The community needs to thrive."

That's one reason the Northern Ambridge project has drawn attention. Another is the sheer scope of it: an estimated $60 million.

The Northern Ambridge project, first proposed in 2003, covers 60 acres bounded by 11th Street, Duss Avenue, 19th Street and Merchant Street, and includes the site occupied by Centria Inc., and New Economy Business Park, both of which are at the northern end of the project area.

Development in the heart of the town between 11th and 15th streets will be more dramatic, with most buildings demolished and the area put to new uses.

Mr. Sutton said the project's agents are closing on the last of five parcels. He expects demolition to begin early next year, with building starting on the H.H. Robertson property about the same time.

A tireless cheerleader for Ambridge and Harmony Township, Mr. Pash totes around a folder full of pictures of companies that have settled there in recent years, including several trucking firms, Avelli Concrete, Herr-Voss Stamco, Pocket Nurse and Ace Hardware.

As it happens, Mr. Marra was on his way to Ace Hardware when he saw a "for sale" sign on the American Bridge office building, to some extent demonstrating the domino effect that can push development ahead.

"There's no one big, three-block-long project," he said -- but there are more small projects than most people realize.

Mr. Pash hands out key chains with little mirrors and the message: Our town is a reflection of you.

He also puts signs up where development is going on, saying "Proud Past, Bright Future." The slogan is a successor to others the redevelopment council has used: "Life After Steel" and "Stronger Than Steel."

Will the good things happening in Ambridge be enough to prove those people right? It remains to be seen.

But Mr. Sutton is optimistic.

"I'm pretty excited about Ambridge right now," he said.

First published on October 25, 2007 at 5:49 am
Brian David can be reached at bdavid@post-gazette.com or 724-375-6816.


renderings begin on page 33
http://www.eswp.com/PDF/Bort%20Michael.pdf

[PA Pride]

^It will be interesting to see how this huge redevelopment in Ambridge will affect that towns fortunes.

[hyperion1110]

Evergrey, I have somehow managed to never go to the Vault. Everyone keeps saying how great it is, too. So, I guess I'm going to have to check it out.

[hyperion1110]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07351/842375-100.stm

Bakery Square financing approved

Monday, December 17, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh City Council today approved tax incremental financing to allow a developer to convert the former Nabisco bakery into a $113 million shopping, residential and hotel complex.

Council voted 7-1 in favor of the TIF, which will let developer Walnut Capital defer part of the money it would pay in property taxes and use it for debt service on the project. Councilman Jeff Koch voted no.

The project had generated controversy recently because the union UNITE HERE, which represents hotel workers, said a hotel that is part of the project should be covered under the special tax arrangement. If that were the case, the hotel under city law would not be allowed to oppose an attempt to organize workers there.

But the city Urban Redevelopment Authority ruled that the 120-room hotel is a separate project that would be built in the air space above the complex that would be covered by the TIF, so the special financing would not apply there.

The Bakery Square development along Penn Avenue in Larimer also would include a 990-space parking garage, 132,000 square feet of retail space, 153,000 square feet of office space and 38 residential units.


First published on December 17, 2007 at 11:49 am

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_543324.html

Living the high life Downtown

By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 18, 2007


Gateway Towers was Downtown's first major condominium building, and it's still the best, its residents say.
Built 43 years ago at the edge of Gateway Center, the Towers has a wealth of amenities -- a library; a fitness center with a sauna, shower and lockers; a billiard room; TV lounge; and a large meeting room with a kitchen. Businesses not only surround the building; they fill the first three of its 26 floors.

"Not only have I lived here for 20 years and found it the best building," Luigi Caruso said, "but now I have my barbershop on the first level, something I have been trying to do for about five years."

In addition to Luigi's shop, other businesses include a dentist, a doctor, an allergist, an interior designer and an executive headhunter.

New residences are being built across Downtown, and finishing touches are being put on buildings such as 151 FirstSide, with 82 units, and Piatt Place, the expanded former department store with 65 units.
But owners say Gateway Towers, where renovations are under way, has unique touches not likely to be found elsewhere -- including a chandelier in the lobby that comedian Phyllis Diller is said to have donated.

Jul Troiani and his wife, Jackie, live in a top-floor penthouse, and two of his children live in a unit a floor below.

"The building is just great," he said. "It offers me the opportunity to live near my Downtown restaurant (Papa J's Centro on the Boulevard of the Allies) and investments, and near my Strip District office. Yet, it fulfills all my needs as a resident."

Sylvia Magiotta returned to Pittsburgh three years ago after 14 years in Florida, and says she likes having access to Downtown activities from her home in the Towers. The building provides the security she wants and a place to meet friends, she said.

The 500 occupants have a wide range of ages, from Amir Ali, 15 months, son of Dr. Aris and Liz Ali, to Edward D. Loughney, 102, a former executive vice president at Gulf Oil, which was headquartered in Pittsburgh until the 1980s.

Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services took over management of the building in January, and Charles Diloreto, the property manager, listed a few more of its pluses.

Gateway Towers has a computer and Internet service in its library for residents to use. Residents can use the computer to check on progress of work being done in the building, he said. Residents can call for service any time because the system is connected to the security center, which is always staffed, Diloreto said.

The library is two large rooms -- one with research books and hardback novels, the other with paperbacks.

Unit owners with cars can lease space in the underground garage for $180 a month. And Diloreto noted the building was the first Downtown condo to offer Flexcar, a service with a fleet of cars that are loaned out for a fee.

Carol Clifford, real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Real Estate and a Towers resident, said the building has a turnover of about 5 percent a year, and 12 units are available for sale. It was built in 1964 with 308 apartments and converted to condominiums in 1979. Because of consolidations by various owners, it now has 268 units.

Small residences there sell for less than $100,000, and larger ones go for $1 million or more. Still, when sales were slow during high mortgage interest rates in 1987, building owner Commonwealth Fort Associates of Illinois put 94 units up for auction, and some went for prices as low as $25,000.

Renovations to the Towers are ongoing. The building's facade has been cleaned and repaired at a cost of about $600,000, and a second phase of work will restore exterior panels and windows.

The building's reserve fund is expected to cover the work, as it did the first project, Diloreto said. The only assessment ever levied on owners there came in 2005, and was used to repair the parking garage flooded by a big water main break Downtown. Since then, flood insurance has been acquired, Diloreto said.

As part of a five-year plan, the building's entrance, lobby and all public corridors will be refurbished, using energy efficient practices, he said.

Speaking of the lobby, residents contend Diller acquired a chandelier from a prop room at MGM Studios and had it installed in the building as a gift. She was one of the investors in the towers and often stayed there during visits to Pittsburgh.

Diller, contacted in Los Angeles, said she doesn't recall the chandelier story.

Still, "I'm 90," she said, "and it is probably something that I would have done."



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


By the numbers

1964 -- Gateway Towers built
26 -- number of floors

15 months -- age of youngest resident

102 -- age of oldest resident

$180 -- parking cost for monthly lease

12 -- units for sale

268 -- condos in the building

$100,000-$1 million -- range of condo prices

Source: Tribune-Review research

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2007-12-17/1218bmanager-a.jpg
Chuck Diloreto, property manager of Gateway Towers, Downtown sits in a 3,400 square foot unit for sale in the building with an asking price of $850,000.
Justin Merriman/Tribune-Review

front and center.. to the left of the Hilton... 268 condos... that's about 3 times as many as FirstSide and about 1/3 the the number of the proposed Riverparc
http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/86798219.jpg

[EventHorizon]

New Hilton planned on jail annex site Downtown

http://postgazette.com/pg/07352/842606-100.stm

Tuesday, December 18, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny County has reached a deal with Kratsa Properties to build a 156-room Hilton Garden Inn at the site of the old jail annex on Ross Street.

The county's Industrial Development Authority approved the sale of the property to Kratsa for $1.55 million this morning. The six-story hotel also will feature underground parking on the site, which is nearly half an acre.

"It's a pretty great deal," spokesman Kevin Evanto said. "It takes a tax-exempt property and puts it back on the tax rolls. It's another hotel Downtown."

First published on December 18, 2007 at 11:24 am


Where exactly is the jail annex site? Is that the area behind the Grant Building?...

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/16/rossbq9.png

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_543372.html

Downtown hotel to be built on site of demolished jail annex

By Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 18, 2007


A new 156-guest room Hilton Garden Inn hotel will be built on a vacant site at Forbes Avenue and Ross Street, following sale of the property to Kratsa Properties for $1.55 million.
The sale was completed at today's meeting of the Allegheny County Industrial Development Authority.

Kratsa will build a six-story structure with an underground garage on the nearly one-half-acre site. It previously was the site of the county Jail Annex, which was demolished four years ago.

The hotel building is still in the design phase and will be submitted to the City of Pittsburgh Planning Commission in 2008.

"We are putting a prime piece of Downtown real estate back on the tax rolls and bringing additional hotel rooms to the Golden Triangle," said County Chief Executive Dan Onorato.
"The best things about the hotel is the underground garage, and the developer is using private funds. No county funds are involved," he said.

One of his first decisions after being elected chief executive was not to build another county building on the site, claiming there was enough vacant space available Downtown to house county offices , said Dennis Davin, director of the county's Department of Economic Development.

"The previous administration had secured $55 million to build a Human Service Tower on the site, but I didn't believe we needed new space," Onorato said.

Instead, he used $8 million of that amount to buy the One Smithfield (former United Way) building at One Smithfield St. for the human service department.

And now, the county is seeking proposals for the building and its adjoining parking lot from private investors, Davin said.

"We had issued a Requests for Development Proposals earlier for the property and obtained four proposals. But other developers complained there was not enough time to submit their proposals so we are opening up the requests with a mid-February deadline," Davin said.

He expects to receive about 10 proposals when the deadline arrives.

Meanwhile, Onorato plans to move county office personnel out of leased space into the current Morgue building, once the new morgue and lab facilities have been completed in the Buncher property on Penn Avenue in the Strip District.

"We will not sell the Morgue because it is an historic landmark," he said.

The sale was first decided by the Industrial Development Authority at its August meeting when a resolution was passed to enter into a sales agreement with Kratsa Properties.



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

[Evergrey]

Where exactly is the jail annex site? Is that the area behind the Grant Building?...

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/16/rossbq9.png

Yes, it is that vacant lot.

[EventHorizon]

Yes, it is that vacant lot.

Wicked! I wonder how tall a 156-room hotel could get?

Here's a pictures of a 156-room hotel in Manhattan that's 22 stories:
http://www.reserve-hotel.com/HBOImages/Hotel/441015_four-points-sheraton-chelsea-hotel-new-york.jpg

I hope we get something at least that height.
Four Points Hotel (http://www.reserve-hotel.com/Customer/Availability/HotelDetails.aspx?SearchDetails=G!-1!-1!-1!2166!-1!-1!-1!-1!!!&PreviousSearchId=-1&Prev=1&SiteId=1&HotelId=441015&TargetHotelId=441015)

[Evergrey]

It's 6 stories

[EventHorizon]

It's 6 stories

Yeah, just caught that bit. Not quite what I was Imagining.

I hope the design is good though.

[Evergrey]

so much for the goodwill generated by UPMC's announcement of a $100 million "gift" to the Pittsburgh Promise... why must UPMC act with such arrogance?

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_543375.html

Council delays vote on UPMC tax credits

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, December 18, 2007


Pittsburgh City Council today dealt a setback to UPMC's hopes of locking in potential tax credits equal to the $100 million it pledged to help fund The Pittsburgh Promise, a scholarship program for city public school graduates.
The council voted unanimously to hold a public hearing on the matter and delay a resolution that would give UPMC tax credits if the state Legislature ever gives Pittsburgh the right to tax some nonprofits. The city could choose whether to collect those taxes from UPMC or give up a portion to The Pittsburgh Promise, according to a resolution Mayor Luke Ravenstahl introduced to City Council on Monday.

"We shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," UPMC general counsel Robert Cindrich told council members during a heated debate on the matter this morning. "(This is) the only condition that UPMC has asked for. ...We will give $100 million. Please don't ask us to give it twice."

Cindrich noted that while UPMC as a whole is considered a tax-exempt organization, the giant hospital system does pay some taxes such as parking and sales taxes. It also pays property and income taxes on its for-profit operations.

Council President Doug Shields said the resolution "may not even be legal" and scolded UPMC and Ravenstahl's administration for not revealing the stipulation on Dec. 5, when UPMC's $100 million gift was announced.
"It's not the council that you didn't tell it's the people of the city of Pittsburgh that you didn't tell on Dec. 5 that there are side deals here," Shields said. "I think you owe an apology to the people of Pittsburgh," he said to UPMC officials.

Councilman Bill Peduto said City Council hasn't been given enough time to debate the resolution.

"For so many reasons this is just plain wrong," Peduto said. "I think it's highly inappropriate that we are given only 24 hours to debate this bill. This is a very uncommon practice that's going on today."

Pittsburgh would not "necessarily give up future tax revenue in the unlikely event that it gets the right to tax nonprofits," UPMC spokesman Frank Raczkiewicz said in a statement released this morning.

He said the city would have the option to collect taxes from the nonprofit, but UPMC would reduce its donation to the Pittsburgh Promise proportionally. UPMC posted a record $618 million profit last year.

The credits would come into play only if the state Legislature authorized Pittsburgh to collect so-called "payments in lieu of taxes" from nonprofits.

There is no apparent movement in the Legislature to authorize such taxes, even though some politicians, including City Council members, have sought that authority.

"UPMC seems to be confusing charity with extortion because they're saying, you won't get The Pittsburgh Promise money if you don't give us tax amnesty," said Jeanne Clark, of the Squirrel Hill chapter of the National Organization for Women.

"If you let this legislation pass into law you are abdicating your responsibilities as elected officials," Regent Square resident Barbara Daly Danko, who has a son set to graduate from Schenley High School, told council members. "Backroom or back-nine deals are not acceptable to the public and should not be acceptable to you."

UPMC has said it will give The Pittsburgh Promise $10 million to help the class of 2008 attend Pennsylvania public, private and trade schools after graduation. UPMC pledged up to $90 million over the following nine years in matching funds.



Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.

[hyperion1110]

Hmm...I get what people are saying about UPMC...the whole thing does seem to be a bit shady. However, I think people should be more outraged at Ravenstahl. How could he have thought this was the way in which a mayor should handle himself?? This is more irresponsible than using using our emergency vehicles so he can go to his concert!

We elected the moron, though...we deserve what we get...

[Evergrey]

Hmm...I get what people are saying about UPMC...the whole thing does seem to be a bit shady. However, I think people should be more outraged at Ravenstahl. How could he have thought this was the way in which a mayor should handle himself?? This is more irresponsible than using using our emergency vehicles so he can go to his concert!

We elected the moron, though...we deserve what we get...

Well, of course, Ravenstahl is a fool and is easily manipulated by UPMC. He is merely the implement by which the UPMC empire is holding this city hostage. UPMC realizes their days of untaxed profits in the billions may come to an end some day if the state government ever gets its head of its ass... so they devise a "charitable donation" to Ravenstahl's as-of-yet unfunded Pittsburgh Promise. This is designed to act as a shield from criticism for UPMC's greed, and to generate political support here in Southwestern PA against a potential non-profit taxation discussion statewide. UPMC gives a gift of $9000 worth of celebrity golf to our starstruck boy-mayor in order to get him on their side. Ravenstahl's embarrassing failure known as Pittsburgh Promise suddenly is legitimized with a huge infusion of cash from the white knight known as UPMC, and UPMC is granted eternal non-taxable status.. even if there is a future where the state government allows the city to coerce payments from tax-exempt institutions. UPMC and Ravenstahl announce UPMC's "$100 million donation" to Pittsburgh Promise amidst much media fanfare and goodwill, failing to mention UPMC's demand of eternal non-taxable status. This little condition finally comes to light a couple weeks later as UPMC and Ravenstahl (and his loser henchman Motznik) attempt to shoehorn this diabolical contract through council at the 11th hour before the holiday break.

You are right... the city of Pittsburgh gets what it votes for. I felt physically ill when this corrupt dumb-luck mayor received his coronation. He's bungled the Pittsburgh Promise. He's bungled the casino. He's bungling the arena/Hill District negotiations. Everyone thought he finally came through with the UPMC donation... but now the sordid details come to light.

[cdc]

Everyone thought he finally came through with the UPMC donation... but now the sordid details come to light.

No kidding! UPMC really played him.

Futhermore, if you read the latest from the PG:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07352/842608-100.stm

"The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's pledge of $100 million to fund college tuitions would supplant the healthcare giant's $1.5 million-a-year contributions to city of Pittsburgh coffers, its top lawyer said today.

That could mean other nonprofit entities, on whom the city relies for $4.2 million a year, or 1 percent of its budget, could choose to contribute to the Pittsburgh Promise and not the city, too."


Supplant?? That will blow a hole in the city budget. Ouch.

[Evergrey]

That's a good point, cdc. In addition to potential future taxes, UPMC is using this "gift" as a way to shirk current payments. It's also important to note that only $10 million of that gift is guaranteed. The remaining $90 million is "matching funds". UPMC will donate $1 for every $1.50 the Pittsburgh Promise raises from other sources, totaling up to $90 million. Considering Pittsburgh Promise has only raised $10,000 so far... these matching funds may not add up to much. So for $10 million, Ravenstahl is willing to "sell the city dahn the river" (as he so famously accused DeSantis of doing).

[UrbaniDesDev]

Yes, it is that vacant lot.

it's dissapointing it will only be 6 stories. The site could do better

[PA Pride]

^ I agree. one of these cookie-cutter 6 story hotels that are built everywhere is a terrible waste of a prime highrise location, right next to lots of other tall buildings on grant street.

That is the lot next to the entrance to the Chinatown Inn.... I've stumbled through that lot a few times at 3AM!

[AaronPGH]

That is the lot next to the entrance to the Chinatown Inn.... I've stumbled through that lot a few times at 3AM!

God help any poor hotel guests that may accidentally stumble into the Halloween or NYE Chinatown Inn parties in the future. :evil:

[PA Pride]

^seriously.... They won't know what hit them. But you never know; They might accidentally have the time of their lives. I know the Chinatown always seems to have that effect on me.

[Evergrey]

here's an interesting article on Pittsburgh's planning and development from 1889-1943...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07353/842686-53.stm

Places: Big plans for city started in 1880s

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
By Patricia Lowry, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When it comes to civic planning in Pittsburgh, Renaissance I has gotten all the glory.

But in the first half of the 20th century, Pittsburgh also was on the cutting edge of progressive planning, Edward K. Muller and John F. Bauman write in their revealing book, "Before Renaissance: Planning in Pittsburgh, 1889-1943" (University of Pittsburgh Press, $60 hardcover; $27.95 paperback).

"I think people, because of the story built up around the Renaissance, don't appreciate the engagement with planning before the Renaissance," said Muller, historian and urban geographer at the University of Pittsburgh. "We've built this huge story about how the Renaissance stopped decline and built things and ergo, what happened prior to that didn't have much value, except maybe Oakland. But we found a different story."

What Muller and Bauman, history professor emeritus at California University of Pennsylvania, found was that Pittsburgh attracted some of the most influential figures in the emerging field of urban planning, men who strove to bring order, efficiency and beauty to a city dominated by heavy industry and plagued by traffic-clogged streets, lethal smoke and substandard housing.

Many Pittsburghers "are shocked to find out today that in the census of 1920 we are the fifth or sixth largest metropolitan area in the country. We are one of the big guys, one of the wealthiest cities," Muller said. "We're not leading [the city planning movement] but we're right there at the edge."

Ultimately, planners here met with only limited success.

"A lot of progressive things never got adopted," Muller said, "but a lot did."

The national movement for city planning was fueled in part by social reform and in part by the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, its "White City" and the City Beautiful movement it inspired. In Pittsburgh, its Beaux-Arts principles and Classical styles found a home in Oakland.

"The argument that we put out ultimately for the creation of Oakland as a civic center in the 1890s was a surprise to me," said Muller, who had embraced the widely held notion that Schenley Farms developer Franklin Nicola was the leading light. But Andrew Carnegie, with his museum and library, and public works director Edward Bigelow with Schenley Park and Grant (now Bigelow) Boulevard leading to it, were there before him, Muller said, and after 1893 they had even bigger ideas.

"I think it's pretty clear that Bigelow and Carnegie communicated and were inspired by the Chicago World's Fair and wanted to create something of civic interest below Fifth Avenue."

But while Oakland was shaped by a vision, it wasn't born of a plan. As Oakland blossomed, Pittsburgh, like most cities, continued to grow on an ad hoc basis, without benefit of a comprehensive plan. That began to change when Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., whose father had been the "White City's" site planner, was hired to study Pittsburgh's Downtown and main thoroughfares. At the time, his assistant discovered, "the city does not even possess reliable ordinary street maps."

Olmsted Associates' work in Pittsburgh by now is fairly well known, thanks mainly to Muller and Bauman, whose two articles in Pittsburgh History magazine in 1993-94 detailed Olmsted Associates' private estates in the East End and Sewickley, the town plan for Vandergrift and other projects, including the 1911 plan for Pittsburgh. It proposed a Downtown civic center and public garden next to the courthouse and made 80 recommendations for street, bridge and tunnel projects, including tree-lined riverfront parkways Downtown that also would accommodate promenades for pedestrians, "where they can watch the water and the [industrial] life upon it." There was never any question that rivers and waterfronts were primarily for industry: In the Olmsted plan, the City Beautiful was married to the City Practical.

Legacies of the Olmsted plan include the Parkway, Liberty Bridge and Tunnel, Schenley Plaza, Washington Boulevard and removal of the Grant Street "Hump," all suggested or endorsed in it. But the civic center idea never took off.

"It's too visionary for our practical-minded civic leaders," Muller said.

"Before Renaissance" also investigates the work of architect Frederick Bigger, the city's first professional planner, who shepherded the Citizens Committee on the City Plan and helped prepare its first comprehensive plan of 1923. He was part detail-obsessed bureaucrat, part visionary who understood the need to work with conservative civic leaders.

"We had no idea that Frederick Bigger was as prominent as he was outside the city in the world of urban planning," a profession he helped to shape, Muller said. "He was a quiet, shy man who did not seek the limelight but he was very thoughtful and wrote some important articles." The book gives voice, character and motivation to him and to many of the city's civic leaders, men who have long been only names on a page.

In 1939, the city turned to New York City highway and parks czar Robert Moses, who recommended removing trolleys and most of the train lines and stations from Downtown and backed Olmsted's plan for an elevated Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

In part, Muller sees the book as a corrective to the way planners, whom Moses often maligned, are depicted in the late historian Roy Lubove's two-volume "Twentieth-Century Pittsburgh."

"If you read Roy, they're a bunch of bumbling idiots, but just because things don't get built right away doesn't mean they're not embedding the notion of civic planning in the city" and laying the foundation for the Renaissance, Muller said. "One of the reasons more didn't get done on a design level is that Pittsburgh had to retrofit itself to the automobile," something with which it still struggles.

Lessons for today? "One is to have a broad-scale vision periodically as a city, even though that's not a blueprint, in order to have a public conversation," Muller said. Another is that "it takes vision and leadership. Without the leadership it's very hard to get things done."

Here's hoping that "Before Renaissance" lands in lots of Christmas stockings on and off Grant Street.

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07353/842760-52.stm

County sells jail annex site for hotel

Wednesday, December 19, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A Downtown site once used to lock up inmates now will pamper guests.

Kratsa Properties, the Harmar developer in the midst of a hotel building binge, has reached a deal with Allegheny County to erect a Hilton Garden Inn at Fourth Avenue and Ross Street, site of the former jail annex.

The county's Industrial Development Authority board yesterday approved the sale of the property to Kratsa for $1.55 million, a decision that clears the way for the $22 million development.

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said the hotel agreement would return vacant tax-exempt land to the tax rolls. He said Kratsa will receive no public subsidies to undertake the project.

"They're doing it with private money. There is no incentive here," he said. "We're excited about it. The fact the [private] market is doing it on its own is great."

The 156-room, six-story hotel also will feature about 100 parking spaces in an underground garage. Mr. Onorato said the developer is planning a coffee shop or restaurant on the first floor to serve the many government and private office buildings on Ross and Grant streets.

"This is going to be another great amenity. It's going to serve a part of Downtown that does not have a hotel that close," he said.

David Cocco, Kratsa vice president of hotel operations, said the developer hopes to capitalize on the proximity of the government buildings, PNC Firstside Center, and the new arena, which will be built on Fifth Avenue a handful of blocks away.

"We feel very strong about the location," he said.

Kratsa hopes to get started on construction by fall 2008, with completion by late 2009 or early 2010. That will coincide with the opening of the new arena, in time for the start of the 2010-11 hockey season.

Mr. Onorato marketed the jail annex property, nearly half an acre, for redevelopment after scrapping plans nearly three years ago to build an eight-story, $55 million county office building at the site, as proposed by former Chief Executive Jim Roddey.

After requesting proposals for reuse of the property, county officials worked with a developer interested in building a hotel but never were able to reach a deal, said Dennis Davin, county economic development director. That opened the door for Kratsa.

The $1.55 million Kratsa will pay for the property is less than the $2.88 million market value listed on the county's real estate Web site and below the $2.2 million calculated in an appraisal a couple of years ago. Mr. Davin said neither of those values take into account subsurface issues Kratsa will face and has agreed to rectify as part of the purchase.

Mr. Davin said other developers wanted the property for free and wanted public subsidies for cleanup work. Given that, the price Kratsa paid is an "absolutely fair value," Mr. Davin said.

Kratsa recently was selected by the city Urban Redevelopment Authority to build a Courtyard by Marriott hotel on a 1.2-acre site at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland. That project, estimated at $17 million to $18 million, should by done by early 2010.

It also is erecting a $15 million, 115-room SpringHill Suites Hotel on URA-owned property on the South Side near the UPMC Sports Performance Complex and is getting ready to start on a $25 million, 180-room Residence Inn by Marriott on the North Shore near PNC Park.

None of the projects is publicly subsidized. Mr. Cocco said Kratsa prefers it that way. With subsidies, developments can become more complex and take longer to get done, he said.

"We built two without [subsidies]. We pretty much understand the business model and, again, we can get from start to finish quicker with private money," he said.

The two Mr. Cocco referred to are the Holiday Inn & Suites at the foot of the 10th Street Bridge on the South Side and the 198-room SpringHill Suites hotel on the North Shore across from PNC Park.

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_543452.html


Bush's OK would release $126M for region

By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 19, 2007


More than $100 million has been earmarked for local projects in an appropriations bill that has been passed by Congress and could be signed by President Bush this week.
The Senate voted Tuesday night to provide $70 billion for U.S. military efforts in Iran and Afghanistan, paving the way for the passage of a $555 billion omnibus appropriations bill combing war funding with the budgets for 14 Cabinet agencies.

The House passed a similar spending package Monday.

Under an unusual legislative two-step, the Iraq portion of the bill will be returned to the House today. Bush was ready to sign the bill, assuming the war funding clears the House.

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Swissvale, said he is pleased that a number of important projects in Allegheny County will be funded. He said the funding is "the result of a collaborative effort with the congressional district's community leaders and elected officials."
Following are some of the projects that will be funded if the bill is signed into law:

• $69.18 million to repair locks and dams along the lower Monongahela River;

• $42.3 million for emergency repairs and rehabilitation of the Emsworth Dam;

• $2.46 million to study the condition of the upper Ohio River, Emsworth, Dashields and Montgomery locks and dams;

• $1.2 million for the East Carson Street widening project;

• $998,000 for planning and engineering of a rapid transit system, linking Pittsburgh International Airport with Downtown, Oakland and the Mon Valley;

• $828,000 for the planning and design of the first phase of the visiting quarters at the Pittsburgh Air Reserve Station in Coraopolis;

• $800,000 for the 3 Rivers Wet Weather Demonstration Program to fix municipal sewers, protect the region's streams and augment the investment of local governments in compliance with the Clean Water Act; and $468,384 for the removal of stream discharges from municipal combined sewers;

• $500,000 for the Regional Joint Readiness Center in Pittsburgh. Funds are for planning and development of a center to organize regional responses to terrorist attacks and natural disasters;

• $376,000 for Duquesne University's cyber-security preparedness for small- and medium-sized businesses;

• $376,000 for East End Cooperative Ministry for at-risk youth programs, which aim to prevent crime and juvenile delinquency;

• $307,413 for a construction project at Reformed Presbyterians Woman's Home;

• $307,413 for construction and equipment at Children's Home of Pittsburgh.



Tony LaRussa can be reached at tlarussa@tribweb.com or 412-320-7987.

[Evergrey]

Re: Pittsburgh Promise

The Post-Gazette takes a rather milquetoast tone towards UPMC's despicale actions... which makes me glad to have the Trib here as well... Jeremy Boren lays out the many mind-boggling and reprehensible facets of UPMC's proposed "gift"

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/121907bish-a.jpg
Randy Bish

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_543458.html

Pittsburgh Council balks at Promise qualifier

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, December 19, 2007


Pittsburgh City Council refused to be rushed into granting UPMC potential tax credits Tuesday despite political pressure from Mayor Luke Ravenstahl to reward the hospital giant for jump-starting a scholarship program for city school graduates.

City lawmakers demanded a delay and public hearing after some said they felt blindsided by Ravenstahl's proposed resolution to prevent the city from taxing UPMC up to $100 million over the next 10 years if the Legislature changes state law to allow nonprofits to be taxed.

The move triggered a rare rebuke from Ravenstahl's top aide, Chief of Staff Yarone Zober.

"It would be unfortunate if the actions of a few council members has the effect of preventing the class of 2008, those 3,000 seniors, from participating in The Pittsburgh Promise," Zober said.

Ravenstahl said in a statement that he understands City Council's desire to study the resolution.
"I am confident that City Council will do their part in making (The Pittsburgh Promise) a reality," he said.

UPMC general counsel Robert Cindrich defended UPMC's request. The city still would have the option to collect the Legislature-approved taxes from the nonprofit, but UPMC would reduce its donation to the Pittsburgh Promise proportionally, he said.


"We shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," Cindrich told council members during a heated debate. "(This is) the only condition that UPMC has asked for. ... We will give $100 million. Please don't ask us to give it twice."

Councilwoman Darlene Harris said gifts are not supposed to come with strings attached.

"A donation or a gift is not a payment, it's a gift," she said. "When I donate to my church ... I give with my heart, because I want to donate."

The Pittsburgh Promise is modeled on a scholarship program in Kalamazoo, Mich., which has credited the program with reversing its population decline. Donors to the Kalamazoo Promise have remained anonymous and have not asked for tax credits in return, officials there said.

"UPMC seems to be confusing charity with extortion because they're saying, you won't get The Pittsburgh Promise money if you don't give us tax amnesty," Jeanne Clark of Squirrel Hill told City Council.


"If you let this legislation pass into law you are abdicating your responsibilities as elected officials," Regent Square resident Barbara Daly Danko, who has a son set to graduate from Schenley High School, told council members. "Backroom or back-nine deals are not acceptable to the public and should not be acceptable to you."

Council President Doug Shields said the resolution introduced Monday "may not even be legal" and scolded UPMC and Ravenstahl for not revealing the stipulation on Dec. 5, when UPMC announced its support for The Pittsburgh Promise.


"It's not the council that you didn't tell, it's the people of the city of Pittsburgh that you didn't tell on Dec. 5 that there are side deals here," Shields said.

"I think you owe an apology to the people of Pittsburgh," he told UPMC officials.


Councilman Bill Peduto said City Council hasn't been given enough time to debate the resolution.


"For so many reasons this is just plain wrong," Peduto said. "UPMC must do the right thing. Support The Pittsburgh Promise, but don't ask the taxpayers to provide a tax credit for it."

There appears to be no move in the Legislature to authorize taxes on nonprofits; however, some politicians, including City Council members, have sought that authority.

Greg Mahon, executive director of the state Senate Committee on Urban Affairs & Housing, said financially distressed cities across the state, including Pittsburgh, have long sought to tax nonprofits that occupy significant swaths of otherwise-taxable land.

"It's something that we see as a tool that (cities) probably could have or should have," Mahon said on behalf of the committee's chairman, state Sen. John Pippy, R-Moon. Mahon said Pippy will continue to study the problem with a series of finance summits next year.

Property taxes are Pittsburgh's biggest revenue source, producing about $121 million a year. Acting City Controller Anthony J. Pokora has estimated that if UPMC paid property tax, the city would gain $8.3 million a year.

UPMC -- Western Pennsylvania's largest employer -- has said it will give The Pittsburgh Promise $10 million to help the class of 2008 attend Pennsylvania public, private and trade schools after graduation. The health system pledged up to $90 million over the following nine years in matching funds.

UPMC posted a record $618 million profit last year.

Taxes UPMC currently pays would not be affected if the resolution eventually passes, Cindrich said, estimating UPMC has paid Pittsburgh $25 million in lieu of taxes since 1986 -- including $1.5 million a year UPMC gave to the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, a group of nonprofits that agreed to give the city $4.5 million a year from 2005 through 2007.

Cindrich said UPMC, the fund's biggest donor, won't contribute next year -- casting doubt on whether the city will be able to raise the $4.1 million a year it expects to receive from nonprofits each year through 2012.

Direct taxes UPMC pays include property taxes on for-profit doctors offices owned by UPMC and the city's 45 percent parking tax, Cindrich said. He argues that UPMC will pay property taxes, indirectly, when it relocates its corporate headquarters to five floors in the U.S. Steel Tower.

UPMC and the Pittsburgh Foundation, which is managing The Pittsburgh Promise, declined to release the contract governing the scholarship program.

The Pittsburgh Public Schools board is expected to discuss the tax-waiver proposal at its meeting tonight. UPMC has warned it will not contribute to The Pittsburgh Promise unless City Council and the school board approve the tax exemption.



Jeremy Boren can be reached at jboren@tribweb.com or 412-765-2312.

[hyperion1110]

Well, of course, Ravenstahl is a fool and is easily manipulated by UPMC. He is merely the implement by which the UPMC empire is holding this city hostage. UPMC realizes their days of untaxed profits in the billions may come to an end some day if the state government ever gets its head of its ass... so they devise a "charitable donation" to Ravenstahl's as-of-yet unfunded Pittsburgh Promise. This is designed to act as a shield from criticism for UPMC's greed, and to generate political support here in Southwestern PA against a potential non-profit taxation discussion statewide. UPMC gives a gift of $9000 worth of celebrity golf to our starstruck boy-mayor in order to get him on their side. Ravenstahl's embarrassing failure known as Pittsburgh Promise suddenly is legitimized with a huge infusion of cash from the white knight known as UPMC, and UPMC is granted eternal non-taxable status.. even if there is a future where the state government allows the city to coerce payments from tax-exempt institutions. UPMC and Ravenstahl announce UPMC's "$100 million donation" to Pittsburgh Promise amidst much media fanfare and goodwill, failing to mention UPMC's demand of eternal non-taxable status. This little condition finally comes to light a couple weeks later as UPMC and Ravenstahl (and his loser henchman Motznik) attempt to shoehorn this diabolical contract through council at the 11th hour before the holiday break.

You are right... the city of Pittsburgh gets what it votes for. I felt physically ill when this corrupt dumb-luck mayor received his coronation. He's bungled the Pittsburgh Promise. He's bungled the casino. He's bungling the arena/Hill District negotiations. Everyone thought he finally came through with the UPMC donation... but now the sordid details come to light.


I agree completely! I actually thought that both UPMC and Ravenstahl actually had some kind of conscience when they announced the gift...now, though, I'm embarrassed to have given them the benefit of the doubt...

[xyagentguy]

• $998,000 for planning and engineering of a rapid transit system, linking Pittsburgh International Airport with Downtown, Oakland and the Mon Valley;
Woah, what exactly would this consist of? The T?

[PGHzealot]

UPMC's city properties are estimated to be in the $770 million range - which would generate $8 million a year in property tax.

I wonder what the numbers might look like for other "non-profit" entities? The Catholic Church?

[AaronPGH]

What is this E. Carson St widening project?! That scares me a little bit!

[Johnland]

here's an interesting article on Pittsburgh's planning and development from 1889-1943...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07353/842686-53.stm

Places: Big plans for city started in 1880s

In 1939, the city turned to New York City highway and parks czar Robert Moses, who recommended removing trolleys and most of the train lines and stations from Downtown and backed Olmsted's plan for an elevated Fort Duquesne Boulevard.



Wow. I never realized Pittsburgh was one of Moses' 'project's for urban mass transit destruction. I knew the story of how he strangled New York and Long Island with expressways, all the while killing off mass transit of all kinds (trolleys, street cars, etc. He even put the kibosh on a rail right of way on the LI Expressway - thus thousands sit in bumber to bumber traffic daily...) But I never knew he meddled in Pittsburgh. Too bad. Maybe there'd be more of a rail presence and less riverfront blockage (due to elevated expressways). He was smart and powerful, but he screwed the American public on transportation.

[hyperion1110]

UPMC's city properties are estimated to be in the $770 million range - which would generate $8 million a year in property tax.

I wonder what the numbers might look like for other "non-profit" entities? The Catholic Church?

Umm...the Catholic Church is a real non-profit entity. What money they have goes directly into charitable works. Why do you think that St. Francis Medical Center went bankrupt and Mercy was bought by UPMC? It's because they don't turn anyone away...kinda like the clinic they just set up downtown. And, by Cannon Law, each church and surrounding property are owned by the parish, not the diocese or the Vatican.

Given that there are 800,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Pittsburgh, over 180,000 in the Diocese of Greensburg, and 70,000 in the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, I'd say that Catholics are the one demographic in this city you don't want to piss off.

My solution to the city's fiscal problems would be to levy a tax on ignorance...there would seem to be ample supply of that.

[Black-n-Gold]

What is this E. Carson St widening project?! That scares me a little bit!

It is for a streetscape improvement in the area of South Side Works, not the more dense portion between the Birmingham and 10th Street Bridges. If you look closely, you'll see that the curbs along the South Side works portion of Carson Street were built with double sidewalks with a large grass strip - these will be removed as part of the widening.

Most of the money is for relocating utilities, lights, etc.

The original report: http://www.southsidepgh.com/SSLDC/documents/PSI.pdf

[AaronPGH]

It is for a streetscape improvement in the area of South Side Works, not the more dense portion between the Birmingham and 10th Street Bridges. If you look closely, you'll see that the curbs along the South Side works portion of Carson Street were built with double sidewalks with a large grass strip - these will be removed as part of the widening.

Most of the money is for relocating utilities, lights, etc.

The original report: http://www.southsidepgh.com/SSLDC/documents/PSI.pdf


Ahhh. I had noticed those before and wondered what the deal was with it. Thanks for the info.

[tooluther]

That SS plan is great...very high probability of stealing the way they used "swag lights" at intersections for elsewhere.

[UrbaniDesDev]

It's high time they finish that stretch of Carson along the SSW

The concept of raised intersections with bollards defining the space is a severe departure. Swag lights over intersections and patterned concrete will have a dramatic visual and functional impact. It seems the South Side streetscape is going to the upscale and catching up to the real estate. I guess that was inevitable. It does seem to be a very ambitious plan and much needed as Carson is looking pretty scraggly, which is appropriate for a grungy arts community but not for a high-end shopping /restaurant/ night club center that, let's face it, is it's reality.

There is one thing that really irks me, that is with the major changes and street and side walk reconstruction they can't manage to get the utility lines buried all together instead, simply plan on consolidating them.

All and all, it is an forward thinking plan. Too bad it won't be ready for next years 250th
I'm surprised they aren't considering the section of Carson West of 10th Street to Station Square.

[PittPenn 03]

http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/12/17/daily32.html?jst=b_ln_hl

Thursday, December 20, 2007 - 5:28 PM EST
RMU plans $10M investment in Downtown campusPittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes
Robert Morris University announced Thursday a $10 million investment in its main Downtown campus building, and said it is in the process of finalizing the sale of a smaller building nearby.

The university said it plans to invest $10 million in its 100,000-square-foot facility at 600 Fifth Ave. as well as expand its MBA program offerings there.

Meanwhile the university said it is finalizing a $1 million sale of its 18,000-square-foot property at 718 Fifth Ave. to Duquesne University.

"Today, the building at 718 Fifth Avenue is no longer adequate to meet our needs," RMU President Greg Dell'Omo said in a statement.

Robert Morris has plans to invest $5 million in its signature property at 600 Fifth Avenue and collect another $5 million through fundraising.

Pending the sale of the smaller building, the Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management will move to new space in the Regional Enterprise Tower and Robert Morris' Media Arts program will consolidate at the 600 Fifth Ave. property.

Both programs are presently based at the smaller 718 Fifth Ave. property.

Over the long-term, the university plans to develop a new media arts building at its main campus in Moon Township.

[AaronPGH]

This South Side plan is way more ambitious than I imagined. Very cool stuff! Part of me is sad to see the grunge start to fade away as that's what I loved about the neighborhood when I moved in, but I guess it's also nice to see it mature and grow up along with me. As a lot of the current younger residents get older/graduate/get jobs, south side will be adapting to changing tastes if this is pulled off.


Edit - I just realized how old this plan is. April 2003. Is it still being pursued actively, or has it slowed a bit?

[AaronPGH]

Mayan space portal of happiness and light planned for Point State Park in 2012

http://pointoflight.com/htmlpages/PghMaya.html

A couple gems from this website written by a 100% serious person:

Returning to the significance of Pittsburgh’s converging rivers, several visionaries, healers, a Himalayan holy man, and the Dalai Lama himself have all confirmed that the Point where the rivers converge is indeed a sacred portal. Several of them have confirmed that this portal, or gateway, will soon be activated to bring forth pure universal light for our planet’s transformation.

Two of these visionaries, Nance and Frank, are from the Pittsburgh area. Together they do planetary healing and ascension work, to anchor into Earth the changes needed to facilitate our transition to the new age. According to their transmissions of guidance, “Pittsburgh IS the “Point of Light,” the key portal of twelve such portals on sacred sites across the Earth.” They explain that these portals are at locations in the earth’s landscape where a convergence of rivers, mountains or other geographical formations creates a mirror image of the sacred Mayan Universal World Tree, visible in the Milky Way. These Earth portals receive and transmit the holographic transmissions from the Universal World Tree at regular intervals.

Nance further states that Pittsburgh’s spiritual purpose needed to be hidden until now, but by 2011-2012, Pittsburgh will be recognized globally as a spiritual powerhouse. She wants Pittsburghers to know that, “if you live in Pittsburgh, you are here for an important reason: to witness, nurture, and transmit the pure incoming light of this universal portal. Being aware of the legacy of our ancient landscape is crucial in the evolution of consciousness of this planet and our species at this time.”

What Can Pittsburghers (and anyone else) Do To Be A Vital Part Of This Grand Planetary Evolutionary Shift?

Echoing Nance and Frank’s call, Carlos Barrios urges that we “need to reactivate the energy of sacred places. That is our work.” Go to these sacred places (the Point is ours!) and visualize the spread of the incoming pure healing light. Do this both alone and in groups.

I think all of this will do wonders for real estate value. I'm just hoping for some street level retail/benches or something around the base of this portal to activate the area.

[EventHorizon]

:haha: :sly: :koko: :haha:

[PA Pride]

Mayan space portal of happiness and light planned for Point State Park in 2012

http://pointoflight.com/htmlpages/PghMaya.html

A couple gems from this website written by a 100% serious person:







What Can Pittsburghers (and anyone else) Do To Be A Vital Part Of This Grand Planetary Evolutionary Shift?



I think all of this will do wonders for real estate value. I'm just hoping for some street level retail/benches or something around the base of this portal to activate the area.



Hmm... This sounds legit. Should I build a home directly over the portal of light for optimum spiritual awakening? Or should I just kill myself next time the stars align so that I can go directly up heavens chimney?

[Smoker]

> $998,000 for planning and engineering of a rapid transit system, linking Pittsburgh International Airport with Downtown, Oakland and the Mon Valley; <

Woah, what exactly would this consist of? The T?

This highway has been in the planning stages for over 40 years. It's ruined businesses and people can't sell their homes because a proposed roadway is coming through... someday. They don't want to invest in improvements because they have no idea of what they'll be getting from the state, or when, so property and values continue to decline. Customers go elsewhere because they don't want to do business with a place that may not be there tomorrow. I really feel for the people who have been stuck in this predicament.

To get a quick idea of the original plan follow the link below.

http://pittsburgh.pahighways.com/expressways/cancelled/ocfreeway.html

[Johnland]

> $998,000 for planning and engineering of a rapid transit system, linking Pittsburgh International Airport with Downtown, Oakland and the Mon Valley; <



This highway has been in the planning stages for over 40 years. It's ruined businesses and people can't sell their homes because a proposed roadway is coming through... someday. They don't want to invest in improvements because they have no idea of what they'll be getting from the state, or when, so property and values continue to decline. Customers go elsewhere because they don't want to do business with a place that may not be there tomorrow. I really feel for the people who have been stuck in this predicament.

To get a quick idea of the original plan follow the link below.

http://pittsburgh.pahighways.com/expressways/cancelled/ocfreeway.html

OMG. An expressway cutting through Oakland??!! Thank God that urban life destroyer never got built. Just imagine the musuem area neighborhood with a freeway blasting through it. It'd be a dead space today.

[PGHzealot]

What money they have goes directly into charitable works.

Yep - like pedophile settlement lawsuits.

[UrbaniDesDev]

OMG. An expressway cutting through Oakland??!! Thank God that urban life destroyer never got built. Just imagine the musuem area neighborhood with a freeway blasting through it. It'd be a dead space today.

did you notice in that map something called the "Carson Street Expressway"?
:slob:

[JackStraw]

A Carson St. express Way would be great. I was sitting in traffic in your city of urban density today and getting pissed beyond belief. I would do anyting to make a way to plow through all those old buildings for a nice three lane, no taffic light, express way ,right to I-376 to connect me to the Pittsburgh mills to park my car to shop in Barnes and Noble!