[Steel Boy]

Don't get me wrong - I'm a big advocate of rail. I do think light rail would have a chance, which is what they have in some of the cities you mention, like Denver, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, and Portland. We have that here in the South Hills and it's successful. But not the heavy rail they're proposing for the Allegheny Valley for just the reasons you mentioned: critical mass. San Francisco and Boston have both light rail and heavy rail because of the population density and frequency of service.

And you're right - the Mon Valley was dying in the 80s when the PATrain was pulled. The same with the Beaver Valley when the P&LE stopped the commuter train to Beaver Falls a few years before.

I just don't see a heavy rail line being successful in the Allegheny Valley, and I don't see people leaving their cars no matter how bad the congestion on 28 is.

[JackStraw]

I lived on the Mainline right outside of Philly. The rail was extremely successful. I would estimate that 80% of the people who worked in Center City took it. However, many colleges are along the mainline also, such as Villinova.

You may be right that it isnt a Philly or Boston. However, the Allegheny valley would be perfect for apartment developments and office development along the rivers linked with a rail. Thats how I think though. Most people would rather build more lame office parks out here in Wexford linked with extra lanes on 79 and 279.:hell:

[Evergrey]

there's two large "new urbanist" neighborhoods being built on Oakmont's riverfront... that would be a boon to the ridership of a proposed Allegheny Valley commuter rail



...


btw, forgot to post this... another American Eagle building nearing completion at SSW... facing the Mon
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd360/pittsburghrules/namu/DSC04838.jpg

[PA Pride]

Well according to the multilist, the most expensive house to ever sell in the Pittsburgh metro just closed this month for $8,500,000 in Washington County. A 20,000 sq ft home on 100+ acres.

Here it is:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/690315_101_12.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/690315_201_22.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/690315_401_17.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/690315_701_75.jpg

[Smoker]

:previous: That's quite a spread. Do you know the name of who built it or who lived there?

[PA Pride]

nope.

[Brandon716]

PATrain died because it served the dying Mon Valley. Successful transit systems, especially fixed rail, need critical mass. No offense Steel Boy, but its thinking such as your's that has the region eating the proverbial dust of forward-thinking, transit-friendly cities such as Denver, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, Charlotte, & Salt Lake, to name a few.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

Charlotte is transit friendly? Pittsburgh already has a LRT system that is much larger and higher density.

Salt Lake's system is used only slightly more than the T.

I'm glad the forementioned cities are getting transit, but that doesn't mean Pittsburgh is inferior. Especially considering PGH is the only city with a high quality LRT subway out of those cities except for Boston and San Francisco.

Even Portland's fantastic system crawls in downtown because its in the street, as great as the MAX is, that's its weak point.

[dugdogmaster]

nope.

There's a massive home being built in the north hills somewhere. I'll have to try and find the pictures of it again. It makes the McMansions in the neighborhood with it look like tree houses.

[Evergrey]

Charlotte is transit friendly? Pittsburgh already has a LRT system that is much larger and higher density.

Salt Lake's system is used only slightly more than the T.

I'm glad the forementioned cities are getting transit, but that doesn't mean Pittsburgh is inferior. Especially considering PGH is the only city with a high quality LRT subway out of those cities except for Boston and San Francisco.

Even Portland's fantastic system crawls in downtown because its in the street, as great as the MAX is, that's its weak point.

yeah... the inclusion of Charlotte... one of the worst major metros in the country for transit... was strange...

as much as we like to complain about Pittsburgh transit and the Port Authority... Allegheny County still has the highest percentage of workforce using transit outside the BosWash corridor, Chicago and San Francisco Bay Area

[Evergrey]

hey dudes... here's the Downtown Redevelopment plan for Butler... which is the county seat of Butler County... located 33 miles north of Downtown Pittsburgh
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd360/pittsburghrules/butler/DSC05151.jpg

[dugdogmaster]

hey dudes... here's the Downtown Redevelopment plan for Butler... which is the county seat of Butler County... located 33 miles north of Downtown Pittsburgh
http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd360/pittsburghrules/butler/DSC05151.jpg

Awesome. They're doing a few things like this in downtown Sharon as well.

[tooluther]

I just don't see a heavy rail line being successful in the Allegheny Valley, and I don't see people leaving their cars no matter how bad the congestion on 28 is.

Respectfully, transit ridership is up 5% across the board when comparing July 08 to July 07 (some routes are up 30% or more). While Pittsburghers and American's are in love with their auto driven society, I think this is the chance urbanists and transit advocates have been waiting for.

The Alle-Kiski line is important because it would get high end ridership who would then (similar to the T) become stronger advocates to enhance public transit in the whole region rather than the only supporters being a "bunch of poor people" which is the current perception.

[fkohws]

There's a massive home being built in the north hills somewhere. I'll have to try and find the pictures of it again. It makes the McMansions in the neighborhood with it look like tree houses.

I'm not sure if this is the one you're talking about, but Joseph Nocito built (is building? I'm not sure if he is done yet) a huge mansion in Bell Acres:

http://www.postgazette.com/homes/20020907bighouse0907p3.asp

There are a few more pictures on Google Earth too.

[Grego43]

Charlotte is transit friendly? Pittsburgh already has a LRT system that is much larger and higher density.

Salt Lake's system is used only slightly more than the T.

I'm glad the forementioned cities are getting transit, but that doesn't mean Pittsburgh is inferior. Especially considering PGH is the only city with a high quality LRT subway out of those cities except for Boston and San Francisco.

Even Portland's fantastic system crawls in downtown because its in the street, as great as the MAX is, that's its weak point.

Sorry to be a nudge, but I said Charlotte is "forward-thinking, transit-friendly". The new Blue Line has been a huge success, with ridership much higher than projections. The transit system has PLANNED a comprehensive expansion which includes commuter rail, not a piecemeal, build-it-whenever plan like the Port Authority.

And oh yes, Salt Lake's system is much more heavily used than the T...and with fewer track miles...all this in a much smaller metro area. Salt Lake has a new, just up and running commuter rail line.

Look at the attached list of Q1 2008 ridership report for US LRT. In addition to Daily Ridership, pay special attention to stats such as Ridership Per Mile and Route Miles. You will see that the T is fairing poorly in most areas. Say what you like about Portland's downtown at-grade service, but its a huge success. I've used it many times when in PDX for business, it goes where most people want/need to go.

That is what I meant by "forward-thinking, transit-friendly".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_light_rail_systems_by_ridership

[Brandon716]

Grego, you can explain all you want, the phrase transit friendly makes no sense when you talk of Charlotte. It barely makes sense to bring up Salt Lake because its 40,000 ridership train is hardly "significantly" more used than the 30,000 ridership of the Pittsburgh T. I hope you are aware that the ridership numbers of the Salt Lake City system reportedly were over-reported at 60,000, and they revised them down to 35,000 and 40,000 once the gas prices went up. Just like the T went from 23,000 to 30,000 riders/day when gas prices went up over the past year.

Remember that transit systems consist of more than a train, and their most important backbone is a usable bus system.

Pittsburgh has more bus service than any city in its league, with a downtown subway to boot.

Commuter rail ideas don't make for a transit friendly city.

I think the Port Authority's own transportation plans on its website talking about extending the T to the airport and eastward through the strip district and Oakland and on out towards Monroeville are more impressive than a commuter rail idea. I'm not sure why you looked over those plans, because those are as "forward thinking" as any plan mentioned.

I would rather have a city circulator connecting major urban neighborhoods rather than a huge project to the airport based on my experiences living in various cities.

[PA Pride]

I'm not sure if this is the one you're talking about, but Joseph Nocito built (is building? I'm not sure if he is done yet) a huge mansion in Bell Acres:

http://www.postgazette.com/homes/20020907bighouse0907p3.asp

There are a few more pictures on Google Earth too.

Yeah, that's got to be the one dugdog is talking about. I've been there in person before. It is jaw-dropping.

[PA Pride]

Here's pics I found of the house in Bell Acres. It's been under construction for like 3 yrs and is said to cost around 20 million:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/bellacresfrontofhouse-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/CloseupAerial-1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/aerialcomparisontoneighboringhou-1.jpg

[Wiz Khalifa]

Well according to the multilist, the most expensive house to ever sell in the Pittsburgh metro just closed this month for $8,500,000 in Washington County. A 20,000 sq ft home on 100+ acres.

It might be the most expensive to ever "sell" but I don't think its the most expensive house in the entire metro. Just take a short google earth flyover of sewickley heights and see for yourself.

[PA Pride]

^Obivously it's the most expensive "sold", considering I just posted a picture of a 20 million dollar house.

[JackStraw]

Thats a house?

It looks like a resort, a expensive ski lodge, or a fancy hotel. I mean Jesus, after 25 years of living there you would discover rooms you never even been in before.

[Wiz Khalifa]

^Obivously it's the most expensive "sold", considering I just posted a picture of a 20 million dollar house.

Ah, I noticed that after I posted...

[dugdogmaster]

Yep, that's it, thanks:D

[Brandon716]

Its a modern castle, not a house. Where is Belle Acres?

[dugdogmaster]

Its a modern castle, not a house. Where is Belle Acres?

Bell Acres

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Map_of_Allegheny_County_PA_Highlighting_BellAcres.png

[PA Pride]

Its a modern castle, not a house. Where is Belle Acres?

For all intents and purposes it is Sewickley Heights. Same school district - Quaker Valley.

Remember the photo thread I did and all the expensive cars were from Sewickley and you noticed it? Yeah. Worth magazine ranked it the 57th richest town in the US according to this post-gazette article that fkows posted: http://www.postgazette.com/homes/20020907bighouse0907p3.asp

[UrbaniDesDev]

It looks like Disneyland
ridiculous

[Wiz Khalifa]

For all intents and purposes it is Sewickley Heights. Same school district - Quaker Valley.

Remember the photo thread I did and all the expensive cars were from Sewickley and you noticed it? Yeah. Worth magazine ranked it the 57th richest town in the US according to this post-gazette article that fkows posted: http://www.postgazette.com/homes/20020907bighouse0907p3.asp

Could you post a link to this thread?

[DBR96A]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/aerialcomparisontoneighboringhou-1.jpg

The wing on the side of that mansion is bigger than his next-door neighbor's entire house! :omg:

[themaguffin]

that's probably the guest house....

[PA Pride]

Could you post a link to this thread?

Sure. Here is the link:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=154618&highlight=pittsburgh+grand+prix

Brandon had commented in that thread that a couple of the license plates were from Sewickley and had asked if that was an affluent area. That is why I mentioned it.

[Wheelingman04]

That mansion is insane.

[CAPATeach]

http://postgazette.com/pg/08241/907558-60.stm

Movie 'production park' coming to Strip
300,000-square-foot, $30 million facility to open at former home of Pittsburgh Flat Roll

[dugdogmaster]

that's probably the guest house....

No, it is indeed a neighbors house, and that neighbors house would more than likely sell in the 1-2 million dollar range itself.

[AaronPGH]

bweeeeeeeoooooooooo bweeeeooooooo sarcasm alert!

[PittPanther]

Holy Crap, I think that mansion is my friends' uncles' house. I am not quite sure but I'll ask him and post something back on here.

[dugdogmaster]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/flabeg0827.aspx
Development News

August 27, 2008

$30M Flabeg manufacturing facility under construction, 300 new jobs coming

Allegheny County will soon be home to a major new manufacturing facility, which will play a central role in the global solar power industry.

Nuremberg, Germany-based Flabeg, a leader in high-tech glass and mirror applications, is building a 209,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at Clinton Commerce Park, a 240-acre site in Findlay Twp. Located at the intersection of Rte. 60 and Clinton Rd., just north of the airport, the facility will open in October 2009.

A first-of-its-kind U.S. facility for Flabeg, the complex will be used to manufacture parabolic solar mirrors, parts that help generate electricity at large solar power plants. The $30 million two-phase project, which received $9 million in state investments, will create 300 new manufacturing jobs. Flabeg will retain 198 jobs at its Brackenridge location—its U.S. headquarters—which manufactures mirror glass for cars and commercial vehicles.

“The decision was made for several key reasons. First and foremost, the Pennsylvania economic development team was very competitive with regard to financial incentives,” says Charles Johnson, with Flabeg, “It's a highly educated, productive workforce. There’s synergy because we have an existing facility in the area.”

Clinton Commerce Park, which will feature 1.5 million square feet of buildings within five development sites, will also be home to a 300,000-square-foot warehouse being built by The Buncher Company.

“There’s a focus on alternative energy nationally. We feel there’s tremendous growth opportunity in putting a footprint of manufacturing facility in the U.S,” adds Johnson, who says that the first project at the facility will be to produce parts for a plant in Spain. “Our intent is to service a global market from Pittsburgh.”

Writer: Jennifer Baron
Sources: Charles Johnson, president, Flabeg Solar US Corporation

[dugdogmaster]

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/paai0827.aspx

August 27, 2008

Former Pap’s ‘N Us tavern targeted for redevelopment, RFP and workshop announced

The latest building targeted for redevelopment by The Penn Avenue Arts Initiative (PAAI)—which works to revitalize corridor properties between Negley and Mathilda Aves.—is former bar Pap’s ‘N Us.

Located at 5106 Penn Ave., the 2,500-square-foot property was recently purchased by the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation. Now vacant and in disrepair, the building’s sale price is $57,500. A liquor license is being sold separately for $42,500.

As part of its eighth annual building ownership workshop, PAAI is hosting a property open house on Sept. 18 at 4p.m. “We’ll have everything from technical assistance providers, the CDCP and URA, to business development folks and conventional banks,” says Matthew Galluzzo, with PAAI. “Anybody with the sophistication to put together a proposal is game. We’ve sold to individual artists for studios, developers, foundations, and institutions like the Pittsburgh Glass Center.”

Galluzzo say the Victorian property’s first-floor restaurant, bar and kitchen areas are well suited for a food service model, while residential tenants previously occupied the upper floors. The project calls for interior aesthetic improvements, a façade renovation and a complete rehab of the second and third floors. “We’d like to see something funky or traditional that relates to renovated storefronts on the avenue.”

“We’ll determine what has the best chance to make this fit into where we see the avenue now and in five years—who has the capacity to pull it off,” adds Galluzzo, who says that 5131 Penn Ave. may also be slated for redevelopment. “We’re expecting a wide range of proposals and interests.”

Proposals are due Oct.17. To register for the program, call 412-441-6147 x4.

Writer: Jennifer Baron
Source: Matthew Galluzzo, arts district manager, The Penn Avenue Arts Initiative

[cdc]

looks like an article on the strip district made its way to the front
page of cnn.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/09/02/pittsburgh.market.ap/index.html

is it really "Pittsburgh's favorite neighborhood"?

[AaronPGH]

looks like an article on the strip district made its way to the front
page of cnn.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/09/02/pittsburgh.market.ap/index.html

is it really "Pittsburgh's favorite neighborhood"?

I saw that! Awesome! It's up there as Pittsburgh's favorite I'm sure. A lot of families have grown up visiting there and continued on through generations. I'm a transplant, so I don't have the same attachment to it.

[Evergrey]

more Riverparc news!

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_586149.html

Cultural Trust fires developer of riverfront project

By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has fired the developer of a nearly $500 million project to revitalize Pittsburgh's riverfront, trust officials said Tuesday at a public hearing of the Allegheny Regional Asset District.

Rona Nesbit, senior vice president of the trust, said the Downtown-based arts and economic development group severed its relationship with Concord Eastridge Inc., a Washington-based developer.

"We're more or less taking a pause with the national economy the way it is, but we still think there is a great potential with the riverfront property the trust owns," she said.

Concord Eastridge was hired to develop the RiverParc project, a venture featuring a four-star hotel, 700 residential units including condominiums and townhouses, and 159,000 square feet of retail space. The development would cover 6 acres from Seventh to Ninth streets between Penn Avenue and Fort Duquesne Boulevard.

An estimated 3,000 people were expected to live and work there once the project was completed.

"Yes, the relationship is severed," confirmed John Coe, senior vice president of Concord Eastridge, without explaining why it ended last month. "I would like to reserve comment on that."

In May, Susan Eastridge, CEO and founder of Concord Eastridge, accused the trust of mishandling the project when it announced that it was indefinitely delaying the project.

The Cultural Trust was one of 17 groups yesterday seeking money from RAD, which doles out half of the revenue from an additional 1 percent sales tax in Allegheny County for libraries, parks, cultural groups and sports facilities.

The Sports & Exhibition Authority asked for $2 million to cover its deficit because it received less money than expected from slots casinos and underestimated how much it costs to maintain its buildings, said Executive Director Mary Conturo.

She noted that most groups that run convention centers lose money but compensate for it by additional spending at hotels, restaurants and other amenities.

Larry Tamburri, president of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, told the RAD board that the symphony expects to have a deficit of about 1 percent this year. Its operating budget is $30 million.

"Our goal is to have a balanced budget by '09," he said.

RAD has received requests from 107 applicants seeking $99.6 million for 2009. Last year, RAD received $98.6 million in requests and approved nearly $84 million for 2008.

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

[PA Pride]

^I seriously think I'm gonna end up living there one day, assuming I still like the finished plan when it is re-released. I really like that development. And it's development timeline, still several years out, fits my long term plan just fine.

[cdc]

I'm a transplant, so I don't have the same attachment to it.

Me too. I don't see what the big hype is about.

[cdc]

more Riverparc news!

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_586149.html

Cultural Trust fires developer of riverfront project

By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 3, 2008

...
The Cultural Trust was one of 17 groups yesterday seeking money from RAD, which doles out half of the revenue from an additional 1 percent sales tax in Allegheny County for libraries, parks, cultural groups and sports facilities.

The Sports & Exhibition Authority asked for $2 million to cover its deficit because it received less money than expected from slots casinos and underestimated how much it costs to maintain its buildings, said Executive Director Mary Conturo.

She noted that most groups that run convention centers lose money but compensate for it by additional spending at hotels, restaurants and other amenities.

...



The pool of RAD money is fixed in size. If you give the SEA an extra
$2M for "underestimating the costs" of maintaining its own buildings
you are going to take $2M away from other more worthy cause, like the
Carnegie Library. And "additional spending at hotels, restaurants and
other amenities" isn't going to compensate the other groups for the
loss.

The RAD people should tell the SEA to get lost. Let them deal with
their own budgeting problem without robbing the Library (etc.).

[AaronPGH]

Me too. I don't see what the big hype is about.

Well, I DO appreciate why the rest of the metro loves it. It's extremely eclectic and very rare for a city to have a neighborhood like this any more. There are a lot of mom and pop shops with super high-quality foods and merchandise that have been there for ages. That's something we should be very proud of. I just didn't grow up going there every Saturday with my parents like many Pittsburghers have.

[cdc]

Well, I DO appreciate why the rest of the metro loves it. It's extremely eclectic and very rare for a city to have a neighborhood like this any more. There are a lot of mom and pop shops with super high-quality foods and merchandise that have been there for ages. That's something we should be very proud of. I just didn't grow up going there every Saturday with my parents like many Pittsburghers have.

I understand that, but I personally value convenience over all that
and I've found most of what I need here in the East End. The whole
"mom and pop shop that has been here for ages" thing just isn't
important to me... YMMV.

[akPITT207]

some updates 9/3/2008
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v363/akPITT27/006.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v363/akPITT27/009.jpg

Off to school for five hours now, later.

[Johnland]

looks like an article on the strip district made its way to the front
page of cnn.com:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TRAVEL/getaways/09/02/pittsburgh.market.ap/index.html

is it really "Pittsburgh's favorite neighborhood"?

I wouldn't say it's my favorite neighborhood, but is sure is an asset to Pittsburgh. I'm a foodie and would love destination neighborhood like the Strip District here in Tampa. We have nothing like it....at all.

[Grego43]

I wouldn't say it's my favorite neighborhood, but is sure is an asset to Pittsburgh. I'm a foodie and would love destination neighborhood like the Strip District here in Tampa. We have nothing like it....at all.

I hear ya, Johnland...same thing here in South Fla.

I was in love with the Strip from the first time my grandfather took me on the train from McKeesport into the city to shop there. I'd give my left n*t to have a district even close to what the Strip has to offer. Even the two outposts of Primanti's down here suck.

[Wheelingman04]

I am glad to see the arena construction is going well.

[Johnland]

I hear ya, Johnland...same thing here in South Fla.

I was in love with the Strip from the first time my grandfather took me on the train from McKeesport into the city to shop there. I'd give my left n*t to have a district even close to what the Strip has to offer. Even the two outposts of Primanti's down here suck.

There's Primanti's in South Florida?

[37TimPPG]

I am glad to see the arena construction is going well.


Looks like 3 PNC is coming along nicely as well?

(It is just too bad they couldn't make a surprise announcement that an additional 20 floors will be tacked on:haha: )

[Evergrey]

this should be of interest to our JackStraw:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/09/08/story5.html?b=1220846400^1695478#1

Friday, September 5, 2008

Squirrel Hill parcel on market

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

A key stretch of Squirrel Hill’s pedestrian thoroughfare is for sale.

Price tag: $6.4 million.

Alderson-Forward Properties LLC is circulating a sales offering for about 100 residential units and nine store fronts, just up Forward Avenue from the neighborhood’s planned $50 million hotel and condo project.

Cambridge Venture Partners, the developer of the hotel, already has an agreement to buy Alderson-Forward’s holdings on the corner of Forward and Murray avenues to make way for the six-story hotel topped with 20 condominiums on three additional floors.

The plan calls for those buildings, the Cinemagic Squirrel Hill movie theater and a commercial property containing the Tango Cafe, to be demolished.

But that deal leaves the rest of Alderson-Forward’s holdings in the area — the Forward Lanes bowling alley, Lord Duncan Cleaners, business offices and rental units — on the market, said David Tkacik, a listing agent with Squirrel Hill-based Equity Real Estate Services Inc., which is marketing the properties for sale.

Alderson-Forward paid $3.5 million in 2000 for the properties, including the piece it plans to sell to Cambridge Venture Partners, according to records filed with the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate.

Tom Chunchick, executive vice president with Springdale-based R.E. Crawford Construction, a member of Cambridge Venture Partners, said the marketing of the nearby properties does not affect the company’s plan for the hotel project, which is making its way through the city’s approval process.

Edward Krifcher, who is listed as the president of Alderson-Forward Properties and owns a home a few blocks away on Pocusset Street, did not return calls requesting comment.

Alderson-Forward Properties has sold several other Pittsburgh properties recently, including apartments in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside, Tkacik said.

Selling the properties at Murray and Forbes avenues may prove more challenging, at least at the listed price, said Craig Cozza, principal of Squirrel Hill-based Cozza Enterprises LLC. Cozza said he considered the property about a year ago for a development project anchored by a Walgreens but couldn’t figure out how to make it financially feasible. “We couldn’t get the numbers to work,” he said. “That’s a tough deal.”

Gregg Perelman, CEO of Shadyside-based Walnut Capital Partners, said his firm looked at the properties a few years ago but concluded they would need significant work to generate the higher rents that justify the sales price.

The properties’ rents for one bedrooms and studios are around $500 per month, with some one-bedroom units reaching into the $700s, according to marketing materials. Only one town home and a single family home, both in the 2600 block of Shady Avenue, have rents of more than $1,000.

“(Renovating) is going to cost tens of thousands,” Perelman said. “(New owners) are going to have to double the rents.”

bsemmes@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3829

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/204145-300-0-2.jpg
David Tkacik stands opposite part of a group of investment properties that he is representing. The owner is asking $6.4 million.

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/204146-300-0-2.jpg

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08249/909608-147.stm

US Airways cuts nonstop flights to Florida

Friday, September 05, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

US Airways isn't finished cutting flights in Pittsburgh just yet.

Starting Jan. 5, the airline will eliminate all nonstop service to Florida, one of the most popular destinations from Pittsburgh International Airport, as it seeks to reduce capacity in light of high fuel prices.

Gone will be 11 weekly nonstop flights to Orlando (one to two a day), seven a week to Fort Lauderdale (one a day), and six a week to Tampa. Next year, US Airways travelers will have to connect through Philadelphia or Charlotte, N.C., to get to Florida.

With the decision, US Airways "is literally handing the competition business," said Bradley D. Penrod, Allegheny County Airport Authority executive director.

Orlando is the top destination for travelers from Pittsburgh, Tampa is eighth, Fort Lauderdale is ninth, and Fort Myers is 15th. Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways and USA 3000 will continue to provide nonstop flights to Florida.

In fact, AirTran will be adding nonstop trips four to five times a week to Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Fort Myers Oct. 7. All three convert to daily nonstop service Nov. 20. Fort Lauderdale will get a second daily nonstop flight in February.

Although AirTran said the flights were in the works before US Airways decided to eliminate nonstop service, Mr. Penrod said the pending cuts "probably helped accelerate it some."

He said the new AirTran trips serve to blunt the impact of the US Airways' cuts.

"They've stuck with Pittsburgh," he said of AirTran. "The region has supported them, and they acknowledged that by adding service when others like US Airways are cutting it. I take that as a very good sign."

Tad Hutcheson, AirTran vice president of marketing and sales, said the carrier could add more flights depending on demand.

"Of course, we'll watch passenger demand. As more passengers flock to AirTran Airways, we'll add more flights and more seats. Hopefully, we'll pick up a lot of those passengers who used to fly US Airways," he said.

The US Airways' decision comes in the wake of its elimination this week of all service to Harrisburg and Richmond, Va., from Pittsburgh and cuts in nonstop flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, leaving only one a day to each of those cities.

As with those moves, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant linked the Florida cutbacks to a 3 percent to 5 percent reduction in capacity the airline is undertaking to offset staggering fuel costs.

"It's one sector we found where we could reduce the capacity," he said. "We know it's not going to be painless. We know it's valued."

Asked how US Airways would compete with other airlines offering nonstop service, Mr. Durrant replied, "This is one area where we will have to do the best we can."

The reductions are the latest in a series of retreats from Pittsburgh that US Airways began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. At one time it had more than 600 daily nonstop flights from Pittsburgh. This month, that's down to 58.

But two aviation analysts said the Florida moves aren't surprising given the financial crunch precipitated by fuel prices.

Local analyst Bill Lauer said travelers shouldn't view the latest cuts as denigrating to Pittsburgh. He said there was a "need to take capacity down. It's got to come from somewhere."

"A lot of US Airways' post-9/11 system planning has been seen, to some extent unfairly, by folks in this locale as a slap to the face of the region. Whatever you might think of the original decision to dehub Pittsburgh, I don't think what they're talking about now has anything to do with that."

While US Airways will end nonstop service to Florida cities, Mr. Lauer believes it still will be able to maintain the bulk of its traveler base to those destinations.

Darryl Jenkins, a Virginia-based airline industry consultant who has followed US Airways closely, said he was surprised the airline didn't cut the service sooner.

"In a normal year they would have. This is what we call an abnormal year, perhaps the most abnormal year of my life," he said. "This is the worst operating environment I've ever seen."

He called the end of the nonstop flights "a good move."

"It's kind of a very reasonable thing to do. I actually think it's remotely predictable. When they pulled down Pittsburgh as a hub, they began routing flights elsewhere. Their thinking is people will still get the service; they'll just have to make a stop," he said.

He doesn't think US Airways will lose much sleep over travelers it might lose to other airlines.

"I doubt they care because it's probably passengers they couldn't make money on. If AirTran or Southwest can make money on them, God bless them," he said.

Southwest currently offers three to four nonstop trips a day to Orlando and two a day to Tampa. Spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the airline has no plans to add service in response to the US Airways' decision.

"We do have plenty of service there to Florida and we will continue to operate that," she said.

As of July, in the latest statistics available from the airport authority, USA 3000 offered four flights a week to Fort Lauderdale and Fort Myers and three a week to St. Petersburg.


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

[dugdogmaster]

I wish that damn airline would just fold under already. Well, maybe not completely fold, but get completely out of Pittsburgh!

[cdc]

this system is soooo broken (unless you are a property tax lawyer
looking for business). let's hope the state supreme court throws it
out...



County's appeals cut property taxes by $8 million

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_586600.html

Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt never
asked for a cut in his property taxes, but Allegheny County sought one
for him -- along with 8,700 other property owners.

...

[tooluther]

Very good national news on the Pittsburgh office market...

http://www.ciremagazine.com/article.php?article_id=1277

[Vette60]

The US Airways' decision comes in the wake of its elimination this week of all service to Harrisburg and Richmond, Va., from Pittsburgh and cuts in nonstop flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, leaving only one a day to each of those cities.


This whole USAirways fiasco is very disheartening - last time I flew into town, parts of the airport were a ghosttown. The cuts to Richmond hurt my family as my folks/in-laws would sometimes rather fly down to Richmond than drive to see the us and their grandson...the drive from PGH here is doable, but not really enjoyable...also, my wife sometimes needs to head their to visit clients for work - looks like its all driving now...

I remember when the airport first opened and no having anything else to do, friends and I would pile in the car and head out to the airport to walk around the airmall and goof around in an arcade that was out their - oh well.

I can only hope that someone else picks up the routes that are being dropped, but it isn't likely....

[Steel Boy]

I believe that the P-G said that AirTran, USA 3000 and Southwest still fly non-stop to all the Florida cities that USAir is dropping. So it's not like there isn't any service. And AirTran is expanding its schedule from Pittsburgh to Florida.

USairways has been a huge disappointment, having abandoned the airport we built to their specifications. I refuse to connect through Philadelphia, which I consider a glorified air base, so I usually take Southwest or one of the legacy carriers non-stop from Pittsburgh to my destination, which is usually another large city.

[tooluther]

I believe that the P-G said that AirTran, USA 3000 and Southwest still fly non-stop to all the Florida cities that USAir is dropping. So it's not like there isn't any service. And AirTran is expanding its schedule from Pittsburgh to Florida.


I think the routes in question were smaller cities left over from the hub such as Richmond. And it is not likely that the routes would be picked back up. Those routes were actually being flow "at risk" by TransStates under the US Air banner. So the decision to operate was theirs. That's in contrast to the dropped route to Harrisburg etc. which was US Air's responsibility itself (they suck).

This all adds credence to high speed rail in my opinion. Creating a rail hub in Pittsburgh (at the airport with a downtown station as well) would create a next generation transportation hub for the Midwest-Northeast.

[cdc]

I had the good fortune to get a chance to put on a hard hat and tour
the CMU Gates/Hillman construction site yesterday. Lots of pictures
and info to share. The construction is on schedule, so look for work
to be mostly done by July 2009.

Gates (9 floors, on the right) has all its steel in place. Hillman
(on the left) has about 1/3 of the steel in place and is currently
being erected (should be finished with that part in a month or so).
The floor numbering of the two buildings are sync-ed, so Hillman does
not have a first, second, or third floor... you enter from the ground
on level four.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3194/2842913521_2e58c7197c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842913521/)

Here are some shots of the campus model that is kept in the site's
construction trailers. The first shot is the view from Forbes Ave.
Note that the buildings are set farther back than what used to be
here. That allows for some green space in front of Hillman on Forbes.
Hillman was supposed to have a green roof as well, but they had to
cancel that due to budget issues. But even without the roof, this
project adds quite a bit of green to the campus.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/2842913525_4452fe6fe3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842913525/)

The view of the model below shows the green space between Hillman (on
the left) and Gates (on the right). They are calling this area the
"winter garden" as it will be green but have a fair bit of shade from
the buildings. You can also see that the old parking lot where the
construction trailer is placed will be replaced with walking paths and
green space.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/2842913531_8020e0fe28.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842913531/)

The shot below shows the full 9 story height of the Gates building
(note the little model car on the right going in the parking garage in
level 1 of the building (150 spaces of parking on levels 1 and 2).
Note how asymmetric the building is, it isn't your typical boring
rectangular shaped structure! The construction guys said this made
assembling the steel more interesting as the beams came in all sorts
of sizes and had to be staged and connected carefully in order to get
things in the correct place.

That hole in the middle of Gates goes down several stories to let more
light into the building (so there is a part of the roof of the
building that down several floors).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3285/2842913535_e207ba8f6f.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842913535/)

Coming into the building from Newell-Simon side:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/2842913555_b5ce461b23.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842913555/)

Looking down into a curved block of concrete they are calling the
Helix. They are going to build two classrooms in the middle of it.
In general, the upper floors of the buildings will contain offices,
while the classrooms will be closer to the ground. Gates has parking
and robotics labs in its lower-levels.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2842913561_19090935ea.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842913561/)

The next picture is of the Randy Pausch Memorial walkway/bridge that
will connect Gates to the upper part of campus. When complete the
bridge will have warm glycol piped under the sidewalk to automatically
melt the ice and snow in the winter (they haven't installed the pipes
yet).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2842919753_9337597aae.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842919753/)

Here's another shot of the Pausch bridge from higher up. One of the
goals of this walkway is to better connect the campus and improve the
flow of walking through it. Eventually there will be a walking path
from the Squirrel Hill side of campus, through the Gates building, on
to the CIC building, over a bridge to the CIC2 building (not yet
built) and on to the intersection of Forbes and Craig.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3277/2842919767_4230d00ddb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842919767/)

Here's the view from the top of Gates looking towards Pitt/Oakland.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3181/2842919777_a0c55be855.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842919777/)

The workers are currently pouring the concrete deck for the floors in
Gates and spraying concrete on the steel for fire protection. Before
they pour concrete on a floor they put in straps for mounting the HVAC
system for the floor below. (You can see the straps hanging down in
the next picture.)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3118/2842919761_88ac4de882.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842919761/)

Here's a floor ready to be poured:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2843765048_41a564d436.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843765048/)

The HVAC system has little duct boxes for each office (shown below).
Each office will have its own thermostat that controls the reheat for
each office (an unusual level of individual control for a school
building). You can also put your office's HVAC system on bypass and
open part of the window.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/2843765052_28b112201b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843765052/)

The next picture shows the a window opening being framed out. As you
can see, the window openings are quite large.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/2843765058_a9a96a9b0c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843765058/)

Here are some interior shots. The one below is of an atrium inside
the Gates building. On the left side you can see internal walkways
that cross the upper levels of the atrium.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/2842919781_d5bcb906f3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842919781/)

A set of stairs:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/2843760970_43e2073b49.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843760970/)

Top of Gates, looking down the elevator shaft. There are two elevator
cars that service all 9 levels of the building.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/2843760974_72ca7943c9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843760974/)

Bottom of Gates, looking back up the elevator shaft:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/2842931587_a56a4b5246.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842931587/)

Looking down an internal atrium hole:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2843765050_60f1036754.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843765050/)

One of the design goals for Gates is to build a building designed for
offices (not cubes) with windows, light, and good views. Here you can
see that the building was put at an angle to the Purnell Center so
that office windows in Gates would not be parallel to the big
yellow brick wall that is part of Purnell:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2337/2843760978_19e01d1d8e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843760978/)

The building also wraps and twists to get the desired office
configuration. You can take a good picture of the exterior of Gates
from within Gates itself!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2337/2843760980_9398fa46a6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843760980/)

On the top floor of Gates there is a "reading room" that will have big
windows that provide the following view of campus, looking East:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2843764988_258fd39a70.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843764988/)

From the other side of the building you get a good view of the bridge
between Newell-Simon and Wean (the big ugly concrete building).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3195/2843765044_02df7d56be.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843765044/)

Here's the garage door openings for the robotics lab on the ground
floor of Gates. The steel beam on the top right of the picture is for
mounting a crane inside the room. The wood on the floor covers a pit
that can be used to work on the underside of robotic equipment.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/2842931581_63b16cdd4e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842931581/)

The next picture is looking up at Gates from the first floor. If you
compare this photo to the model above, you'll noticed that "in real
life" they had to add extra support for the part of the building that
sticks out.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3259/2842931597_84e6de12b0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842931597/)


Here are a couple pictures of Hillman. First, a view of the steel
being put up for Hillman as seen from Gates:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2842919789_528c5d9595.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842919789/)

You can see that the big crane being used to lift supplies is actually
sitting "inside" the boundary of Hillman (where they haven't put steel
up yet). Notice how they left a gap in the Hillman wall so they can
remove the crane when the time comes.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/2843760968_ba484d0138.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843760968/)

The area below the crane between Gates and Hillman will become the
"winter garden" green area:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3068/2842931575_03da90bcc7.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2842931575/)

Finally, if you drive by on Forbes you'll notice the little structure
pictured below up close to the street. This is a mockup of the
exterior of the building. They are using it to test the three
exterior finishing systems they are using. They are also going to use
it to test to make sure the weatherproofing works properly.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/2843760964_fdce8167a4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/24021198@N04/2843760964/)

That's it. It was as fun tour and the building is really cool!!

[dugdogmaster]

Nice:cheers: How'd you manage to get the great access? Sadly, didn't an iron worker or some other type of construction worker die a couple weeks ago on the job at the Gates?

[Evergrey]

No, that fatality occurred at Bridgepoint II (or whatever it's called) at the Pittsburgh Technology Center on the north side of the Monongahela River across from SouthSide Works.


Excellent pics and commentary, cdc.

[dugdogmaster]

No, that fatality occurred at Bridgepoint II (or whatever it's called) at the Pittsburgh Technology Center on the north side of the Monongahela River across from SouthSide Works.


Excellent pics and commentary, cdc.

Ah, thanks.

[PA Pride]

Thanks CDC! This is a fascinating project.

[JackStraw]

CDC, those construction photos were great! I was walking over there on Sunday, and was happy with the progress. This building is going to be such a positive for the east end. Love the green roofs.

and I don't care if green is trendy now. Penn State ae's were on that more than a decade ago when it was "geeky"

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_587379.html

High gas prices, airefares push more people onto Amtrak

By Thomas Olson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2008-09-09/0910amtrak-a.jpg
Passengers board an eastbound train at the Amtrak station in Saturday, Aug. 30.
Heidi Murrin/Tribune-Review

Before Yankee Stadium gets torn down, the Gentile boys visited New York last weekend. Instead of flying, they chose to ride the rails.

"This is our first time taking the train," said Tony Gentile, 47, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, as he and his sons in Yankees caps boarded Amtrak at the Downtown station.

High gasoline prices and high airfares pointed the Gentiles to Amtrak.

That's why ridership on the passenger train service has climbed dramatically in recent months, experts say. More than 2.75 million people boarded in July -- the most of any month in Amtrak's 37-year history, according to its latest figures.

Three round-trip airfares to New York would have cost Gentile about $420 on either US Airways or Southwest Airlines. His Amtrak ticket cost $126 -- and his boys, Anthony Jr. and Angelo, who are both younger than 12, rode for free.

The trip from Pittsburgh to New York takes 9 1/2 hours on the train, compared with 90 minutes in the air. But commuting to the airport in Findlay, to the airport and security check-ins lengthen the total travel time considerably.

Amtrak can sure use the increased revenue. It lost $1.12 billion in the year ended Sept. 30, 2007, after a $1.07 billion loss the year before. Those losses were incurred despite Amtrak receiving about $1.3 billion in federal subsidies in each year.

"There aren't any national rail systems in the world that generate a profit, and they are all subsidized," said Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero.

Amtrak can't handle many more passengers without buying more locomotives and cars.

"We are at capacity," said Chuck McHugh, Pittsburgh station manager for Amtrak. "It's really strained."

In Pittsburgh, 15,581 passengers got on and off trains in July, a 14.5 percent jump from the year earlier.

Amtrak is on pace to exceed year-ago passenger levels of 126,076 by nearly 20 percent.

Amtrak operates one train a day between New York and Pittsburgh, and one between Washington and Chicago, which stops in Pittsburgh.

"The primary reason for Amtrak's (passenger) increase is gasoline costs, especially for long-distance trips," said Frank Koppelman, professor of civil engineering and transportation at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

"And with airport security delays, you must check in much sooner," he said. "So short trips of a couple hundred miles are becoming more reasonable for taking the train because you don't have those kinds of delays."

Fewer flight choices are another reason. Since 2007, about 100 cities have lost air service completely, said the Air Transport Association. In Pittsburgh, US Airways -- which remains the airport's dominant carrier -- has slashed daily departures to about 65, down by more than 500 since 2000.

Even Southwest, the only major airline making money nowadays, is trimming one of its seven Pittsburgh-Philadelphia flights on Nov. 2, and one of five Pittsburgh-Chicago flights on Jan. 11.

"The monetary cost (of flying) is only one part of it," Koppelman said. "There's also the time cost and the hassle factor."

Bin Cheyney took Amtrak to Manhattan with her daughter, Sarah, 4, after visiting family in Pittsburgh last weekend.

"Taking the train is easier for my daughter because she can eat or walk around or watch a movie," Cheyney said of her daughter. "She likes the sweet rolls. I usually get a sandwich."

Haley Houston, 18, an art-education student at Seton Hill University, Greensburg, was among those aboard Amtrak for the first time last weekend. The Carlisle resident said she found the train more convenient than flying, particularly with the hassles of airport security lines.

"You don't have to go through security searches," Houston said. "And with the plane, I couldn't have taken a fish," she said, pointing down at a water bottle containing her pet Betta fish.

Thomas Olson can be reached at tolson@tribweb.com or 412-320-7854.

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_587388.html

Possible Eastside growth might include Target

By Sam Spatter
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Mosites Co., developer of the Eastside commercial development in East Liberty, might be closer to obtaining a national retailer -- possibly Target -- for a $25 million development there.

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority's board is scheduled to vote Thursday during its regular meeting on a $6.4 million "bridge loan" for Mosites to acquire a high-rise apartment and two low-rise buildings. The structures would be demolished to make way for a 158,000-square-foot commercial building.

The structure would be "anchored by a national credit retailer and complementary neighborhood serving retail and parking," according to the meeting agenda.

Steven Mosites Jr., Mosites president, declined to identify the retailer Tuesday.

A potential Target store, though, has been long-linked to the site. The well-known discount retailer has confirmed its interest in the area.

Mosites has attracted a Whole Foods market, Walgreen's drug store, Borders book store and other retailers in previous phases of the Eastside development.

The site for the new project is located generally at the corner of Penn Avenue and Penn Circle South.

The loan to an entity called Mosites' Eastside Limited Partnership V would come from the Pittsburgh Development Fund. It would be part of a overall financing package that includes private debt provided by Huntington Bank and private equity investment.

Separately, the authority board will consider several new housing proposals, including a project on Bryant Street in the Highland Park area.

The three-phase development would include renovation of a historic existing building at 5801 Bryant St.; demolition of a vacant house at 1200 N. St. Clair St.; and construction of a one-story addition to the rear of the first floor of 5801 Bryant to create a large, first-floor restaurant space and two rental units on the second.

Later phases would include construction of 12 residential units around a private courtyard and acquisition of three structures across the street from the first two phases.

The board will consider approval for loans and grants, totaling $732,000, for the project.

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_587570.html

Convention center hotel proposal scuttled

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 11, 2008

The wait for a second hotel attached to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center is about to get longer.

The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority is ending its long-running negotiations with hotel operator Forest City Enterprises over the building of a hotel that would boost the number of rooms near the convention center beyond 1,000 -- the magic number tourism experts say is needed to attract large, lucrative conventions to Pittsburgh.

Forest City wanted to build a hotel of about 300 rooms, but the authority and visitors bureau VisitPittsburgh want at least 500 rooms to pair with the 616 rooms in the Westin Hotel.

Mary Conturo, the authority's executive director, said Wednesday the SEA would begin searching soon for a new hotel plan.

"We're going to open it up to everybody to see what kind of creative proposals we might to be able to get for a first-class hotel," Conturo said during a meeting with the Tribune-Review.

The decision sends the hotel project back to the planning stages that began in 2001 when the SEA identified Forest City as the best choice to build and operate the hotel. The Cleveland-based company originally was chosen, in part, because it operates the Westin.

Brian Ratner, president of East Coast development for Forest City, declined to comment on whether the company would submit another proposal for the hotel.

Conturo said the cost of the hotel will be higher than the original $103 million price tag and will rely on a $34 million subsidy the state Legislature approved last year. The money comes from a slice of Pennsylvania's 55 percent tax on casino gambling.

Ratner said Forest City proposed scaling down the size of the hotel to fit the state subsidy available and combat construction costs that have increased since 2001.

"There's a certain amount of money that's available, and you have to fit the budget that's there," Ratner said, adding that he doubts the state Legislature would approve additional funding for the project.

Craig T. Davis, vice president of sales and marketing at VisitPittsburgh, said the subsidy is expected by hotel operators and "a matter of doing business" when it comes to building such centers, including those in Baltimore and Louisville.

The American Legion's national convention draws about 10,000 participants each year, said legion spokesman Craig Roberts. The organization has passed over Pittsburgh because it determined its hotel capacity is too small, Roberts said.

"The convention center hotel has to be of a three- or four-star kind of a variety, like what the Westin is right now," Davis said. "It's a very expensive hotel to build and they have to promise it to be of a certain standard with certain services, and they're not quite as profitable as the limited-service hotels."

So-called "limited-service" hotel projects have been popping up all over Pittsburgh. Seven are set to be completed on sites Downtown, at the South Side Works and on the North Shore by 2010.

Denise Gaynor, owner of Tonic Bar and Grill on Penn Avenue, said the convention center hotel is needed to attract large conventions. She said increased use of the convention center could increase revenues and reduce its operating deficit.

Conturo said the center has a more than $3 million operating deficit and has asked the Regional Asset District board to supply a $2 million subsidy in 2009. The board distributes money from a 1 percent sales tax add-on in Allegheny County.

"It's been so long that we almost forget that we're waiting," Gaynor said of the convention center hotel, which she believes would be a boon for Downtown businesses like hers. "I don't see how we're ever going to have a convention center that's self-sufficient if we can't get the hotel."

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

[Evergrey]

this is way up by the 62nd St. Bridge

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_587585.html

City plans to prepare Lawrenceville property for development

By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 11, 2008

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2008-09-10/0911tippins-a.jpg
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl leads local officials and concerned citizens on a tour of the Tippins International site Wednesday, Sept. 10, in Lawrenceville. The 21-acre site has been mostly vacant since the early 1980s.
Heidi Murrin/Tribune-Review

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl on Wednesday announced plans to level most of the rusting steel buildings on a 21-acre riverfront property in Lawrenceville to prepare the site for development.

The property, sandwiched between the Allegheny River and Butler Street and adjacent to the Robert D. Fleming Bridge, has been mostly vacant since the early 1980s, when the former owners, Tippins International, left.

"When you look at the successful riverfront development that has occurred on the North Shore and the South Side, it's clear that great potential exists for this site," Ravenstahl said as he led a tour of the site.

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority bought the site from Tippins last year for $2 million. A $950,000 contract to demolish the buildings and remove asbestos was awarded to Tom Sipes Demolition of Monaca.

The metal removed from the site is valued at about $1.3 million, which means the city could recoup the cost of demolition and make about $400,000 once the material is sold, said Paul Alessio, the URA's project manager for the site.

Preliminary work has begun to tear town the structures, which last were used to repair steel-making equipment. Work is expected to take about six months, Alessio said.

Although no plan has been outlined for developing the site, there is a desire to reduce traffic in the central Lawrenceville commercial district by relocating warehouses and industrial enterprises to the Tippins site, the mayor said.

"We're open to a variety of options for this site," Ravenstahl said. "Our rivers are clearly one of the city's biggest assets, so it will be exciting to see what direction we'll be able to take this site once it is cleared and ready for development."

A building on the site leased to the Allegheny Valley Railroad will be spared, along with a building where the Allegheny Marina will be relocated so its building can be razed.

Earl Faust, who started the marina below the 62nd Street Bridge in 1984, is looking forward to seeing the site cleared.

"Anything the city can do to make this area more attractive will be a benefit to my business," said Faust, who handles about 80 watercraft and has installed docks.

"We've done well here, and I think things will only get better once its been cleaned up."

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

[Evergrey]

more on Target and another Lawrenceville development

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/09/08/daily24.html

Pittsburgh's URA to consider plans for Target store

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is expected to press forward this week on several projects, including work in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, and a possible Target retail store, long-rumored to be coming to East Liberty.

On Thursday the URA’s board of directors is expected to approve a $6.4 million loan to a partnership led by Downtown Pittsburgh-based The Mosites Co. to acquire the site of East Liberty’s only remaining high-rise public housing project, which would be demolished.

The development’s partners are in negotiations with Target Corp. for a two-level, 156,000-square-foot big box store at the site at the intersection of Penn Avenue and Penn Circle South as part of the final phase of the EastSide Development.

Mosites is also working on pursuing commercial development for a site at the other end of the EastSide development in the 5800 block of Centre Avenue where McMurray-based Crossgates Inc. had planned the 28-unit Lofts on Baum condo project.

Crossgates abandoned the plans to join with Mosites and EastSide’s other partners.

Earlier this year, the URA approved applications to the state for a total of $20 million in grants and low-interest loans, split equally between two sites, which could provide as much as 200,000 square feet of commercial space and will cost roughly $70 million.

Also, the URA board is expected to choose a partnership — including Botero Development LLC and Urban Villages — as the developer for a housing project on Hatfield Street across from the former Heppenstall steel mill in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood.

The team’s plan, which won out over a proposal for 23 townhouses from State College-based S&A Homes, will include a mix of 40 to 50 lofts, townhouses and apartments situated around a small park.

bsemmes@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3829

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

[dugdogmaster]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_587570.html

Convention center hotel proposal scuttled

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, September 11, 2008

The wait for a second hotel attached to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center is about to get longer.

The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority is ending its long-running negotiations with hotel operator Forest City Enterprises over the building of a hotel that would boost the number of rooms near the convention center beyond 1,000 -- the magic number tourism experts say is needed to attract large, lucrative conventions to Pittsburgh.

Forest City wanted to build a hotel of about 300 rooms, but the authority and visitors bureau VisitPittsburgh want at least 500 rooms to pair with the 616 rooms in the Westin Hotel.

Mary Conturo, the authority's executive director, said Wednesday the SEA would begin searching soon for a new hotel plan.

"We're going to open it up to everybody to see what kind of creative proposals we might to be able to get for a first-class hotel," Conturo said during a meeting with the Tribune-Review.

The decision sends the hotel project back to the planning stages that began in 2001 when the SEA identified Forest City as the best choice to build and operate the hotel. The Cleveland-based company originally was chosen, in part, because it operates the Westin.

Brian Ratner, president of East Coast development for Forest City, declined to comment on whether the company would submit another proposal for the hotel.

Conturo said the cost of the hotel will be higher than the original $103 million price tag and will rely on a $34 million subsidy the state Legislature approved last year. The money comes from a slice of Pennsylvania's 55 percent tax on casino gambling.

Ratner said Forest City proposed scaling down the size of the hotel to fit the state subsidy available and combat construction costs that have increased since 2001.

"There's a certain amount of money that's available, and you have to fit the budget that's there," Ratner said, adding that he doubts the state Legislature would approve additional funding for the project.

Craig T. Davis, vice president of sales and marketing at VisitPittsburgh, said the subsidy is expected by hotel operators and "a matter of doing business" when it comes to building such centers, including those in Baltimore and Louisville.

The American Legion's national convention draws about 10,000 participants each year, said legion spokesman Craig Roberts. The organization has passed over Pittsburgh because it determined its hotel capacity is too small, Roberts said.

"The convention center hotel has to be of a three- or four-star kind of a variety, like what the Westin is right now," Davis said. "It's a very expensive hotel to build and they have to promise it to be of a certain standard with certain services, and they're not quite as profitable as the limited-service hotels."

So-called "limited-service" hotel projects have been popping up all over Pittsburgh. Seven are set to be completed on sites Downtown, at the South Side Works and on the North Shore by 2010.

Denise Gaynor, owner of Tonic Bar and Grill on Penn Avenue, said the convention center hotel is needed to attract large conventions. She said increased use of the convention center could increase revenues and reduce its operating deficit.

Conturo said the center has a more than $3 million operating deficit and has asked the Regional Asset District board to supply a $2 million subsidy in 2009. The board distributes money from a 1 percent sales tax add-on in Allegheny County.

"It's been so long that we almost forget that we're waiting," Gaynor said of the convention center hotel, which she believes would be a boon for Downtown businesses like hers. "I don't see how we're ever going to have a convention center that's self-sufficient if we can't get the hotel."

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

Rediculous

[UrbaniDesDev]

Rediculous

Well...
at least the city is holding out for a larger hotel of 600 rooms and not settling for a 300 room hotel.
I still say they should combine it with residential, like the new PNC building has done, to ensure a substantial building in a great unique location

[themaguffin]

it sucks, but I agree that it's positive to finally end this non-development and move on to get what is needed done.

If Forest City can't or won't do it, well then time for the county to yell "next!"

[tooluther]

UGH, is anyone else seeing this sh*t on the Pittsburgh Airliners page? Its all "we love sprawl, build more highways and Pittsburgh will be better."

Anyways, there is a new lease on the Jenny Lee space in Market Square. I can't scoop here or the papers will get pissed, but look for an announcement next week.

[AaronPGH]

UGH, is anyone else seeing this sh*t on the Pittsburgh Airliners page? Its all "we love sprawl, build more highways and Pittsburgh will be better."

Yeah, I lurk over there. I always want to respond to some of them but I guess you have to pay to be a member there. I like that site for airport news, but not really heavily invested in it. Some of them have the right idea, but man...some of them are clueless.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08256/911582-53.stm

E. Liberty development setting sights on Target

Friday, September 12, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It looks like Target will, in fact, be the next big retailer heading for East Liberty's booming commercial corridor.

At the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority board meeting yesterday, officials all but confirmed that the discount retailer will anchor the proposed 4.75-acre Eastside V development at Penn Avenue and Penn Circle South in East Liberty.

During the discussion of a $6.4 million URA loan for the project, Mark Minnerly, director of real estate development for Mosites Co., mentioned "Tar" as the anchor before stopping himself mid-word.

"I think the word slipped from their lips," URA board Chairman Yarone Zober said afterward.

Ernie Hogan, deputy director of East Liberty Development Inc., acknowledged that officials are in "strong negotiations" with the retailer to become part of the development.

"It's likely to be Target," he said of the anchor store.

Mr. Minnerly would not confirm the choice, based on the wishes of the proposed tenant. He said no agreement is in place. Target has long been considered a strong contender as the anchor.

Target would be the latest coup for the revitalizing and increasingly trendy East End neighborhood which also serves as home to a Whole Foods Market, Home Depot and a Borders bookstore.

Mosites hopes to begin site development sometime next year.

Target officials could not be reached for comment.

The URA board unanimously approved a $6.4 million bridge loan from the Pittsburgh Development Fund yesterday to help Mosites with site acquisition and preparation for the project, which are estimated to cost more than $25 million.

Mosites and East Liberty Development officials still are looking for money to help demolish the vacant Penn Circle apartment building that occupies a good part of the site. Two other commercial buildings also are to be acquired.

Demolition and site assembly costs are estimated at $11.5 million. In addition to the URA loan, funding sources include $1 million in equity from the developer, a $2 million bank loan, and $2 million from the state or other source.

Also yesterday, the URA board approved:

• A request for proposals to develop a master plan for the Allegheny riverfront in the city, starting initially with the Strip District because of its proximity to Downtown, interest from property owners, and the potential of the area to set the standard for the rest of riverfront.

• An option agreement with Urban Villages and Botero Development to develop 46 housing units at 46th and Hatfield streets in Lawrenceville. The townhouses, flats and lofts will range in price from $130,000 to $325,000.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

[cdc]

Nice:cheers: How'd you manage to get the great access?

I have a friend who works at CMU who got me access. They have monthly
Gates/Hillman construction tours (this was the first one that fit my
schedule)...

[dugdogmaster]

I have a friend who works at CMU who got me access. They have monthly
Gates/Hillman construction tours (this was the first one that fit my
schedule)...

Nice:D

[hyperion1110]

All right...I know it really doesn't have anything to do with skyscrapers or other pretty things, but I think this is just plain good for the region. After the collapse of manufacturing in this city, it's really good to see this kind of investment.

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

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08262/913061-28.stm

$1.2B mill in works for area

Allegheny Technologies selects Brackenridge for new rolling facility

Thursday, September 18, 2008
By Len Boselovic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny Technologies yesterday announced tentative plans to build a new rolling mill at its Brackenridge plant as part of a $1.2 billion investment to expand the specialty metals producer's capabilities and reduce costs.

And while Wall Street and federal policy makers reel from one Wall Street credit-related implosion to another, Allegheny won't have to go to troubled markets to finance the massive investment. It will be funded instead by cash generated by Allegheny's operations.

"We are able to do this with internally generated cash. That's a good position to be in right now," spokesman Dan Greenfield said.

The investment is expected to produce cost savings estimated at $120 million annually.

The announcement did not immunize Allegheny's shares from the pummeling metals stocks have taken in recent days. Allegheny closed yesterday at $38.09, down $1.92 for the session and 56 percent this year.

Allegheny said certain issues must be resolved before finalizing plans for the Brackenridge mill, which Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer L. Patrick Hassey described as "a quantum leap in manufacturing technology."

Those issues include state and local government approvals.

"We think we are really close on those issues," Mr. Greenfield said.

It is the second $1 billion project announced by a Pittsburgh-based steel producer since late November, when U.S. Steel said it would invest $1 billion at its Clairton coke plant. The Allegheny County Health Department issued a permit for the first phase of that project in July.

Yesterday's announcement culminated Allegheny's long search for a sight for the rolling mill, which will be able to produce wider, thinner coils of stainless steel, titanium and other metals.

"This investment is a critical step in our ongoing transformation," Mr. Hassey said.

While Brackenridge is the company's preferred sight, the rolling mill would be built elsewhere if the necessary permits and other approvals cannot be obtained, Mr. Greenfield said.

Allegheny also said it will transfer production of steel from its adjacent Natrona plant to the Brackenridge mill by 2010. The shift will increase productivity and reduce emissions. The two plants employ about 1,200.

"We expect no one will lose their employment," Mr. Greenfield said. Allegheny employs 9,700, including more than 2,900 in Western Pennsylvania.

The metals producer posted first half earnings of $310.9 million, down 23 percent from the first half of 2007. Sales fell 1 percent to $2.8 billion.

Len Boselovic can be reached at lboselovic@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1941.

First published on September 18, 2008 at 12:00 am

[AaronPGH]

Seagate is closing it's Pittsburgh research center:

http://post-gazette.com/pg/08262/913134-100.stm

:(

[PA Pride]

Seagate is closing it's Pittsburgh research center:

http://post-gazette.com/pg/08262/913134-100.stm

:(

This is bad news. I was always so proud that Seagate had operations in Pittsburgh. I think they had trouble attracting enough talent. I looked at their job listings before and they always had a ton of PhD positions open; It's probably hard to find enough people in a mid sized city like this.
That is my theory.

[edncc1701d]

This is bad news. I was always so proud that Seagate had operations in Pittsburgh. I think they had trouble attracting enough talent. I looked at their job listings before and they always had a ton of PhD positions open; It's probably hard to find enough people in a mid sized city like this.
That is my theory.

I was also proud that Pittsburgh had a company like Seagate; however, I think this move is less a reflection of Pittsburgh and more of a reflection of the changing computer industry. In the technology industry, I think hardware (excluding mobile hardware) has had its time and the focus is moving to software. So, I think you are going to see changes and a lot of belt tightening moves at places like Iomega, Seagate, Dell, Gateway, HP, etc. Software, especially in the area of internet applications and gaming, is the current rising star. And remember who moved in not that long ago... google. Sure Pittsburgh might not be silicon valley, but we are keeping good company.

[cdc]

This is bad news. I was always so proud that Seagate had operations in Pittsburgh. I think they had trouble attracting enough talent. I looked at their job listings before and they always had a ton of PhD positions open; It's probably hard to find enough people in a mid sized city like this.
That is my theory.

word I hear is that the whole Seagate has had a hiring freeze for a
while, so it isn't just a Pittsburgh thing --- its a company wide
issue.

Seagate never occupied the entire building either... the upper
floor(s?) are leased out to others. The cleanrooms are all down on
the first floor. I guess the landlord will have to retrofit the
building after Seagate moves out...

[fkohws]

This sounds pretty neat.

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08263/913415-53.stm

A stairway to heaven? No, but it will reach Mt. Washington
Friday, September 19, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This will be a hotel with one grand staircase.

A plan to transform the old Edge Restaurant on Mount Washington into a luxury hotel and condominium development won't stop on Grandview Avenue.

It would run all the way to Carson Street, with the help of a proposed glass-enclosed stairway that would weave its way down the mountainside on the foundation of an old freight incline.

The 720-step stairway is the most breathtaking aspect -- literally -- of a $70 million to $80 million plan put together by developer Steven Beemsterboer and architect Luke Desmone for the Edge Restaurant site at the end of Grandview next to the Monongahela Incline.

Anchoring the development would be a five-star luxury hotel and 60 condos, studios to three bedrooms, ranging in price from $300,000 to $1 million. The project also would include two restaurants, one fine dining and one casual; a full-service spa; a fitness center with swimming pool; and a 340-space parking garage.

But the element that has generated the most interest is the 10- to 15-foot-wide stairway, which would be built adjacent to the Mon Incline and zigzag its way up the mountain with numerous landings, or rest stops perhaps, to help break up the journey.

Mr. Desmone said he developed the idea as a way to honor the laborers who helped to build the city. The stairway would feature a number of green elements, including the use of solar power to light it at night.

"Everybody that has seen it has been really excited about the idea," Mr. Desmone said. "I haven't heard anyone say what a lousy idea that is. Everybody I meet says what a great idea."

City planning commission members will get their first briefing on the project Tuesday.

The stairway technically is part of the development's second phase, but Mr. Desmone hopes to have it finished in time for the hotel and condo grand opening in 2011.

The architect has been trying for more than three years to redevelop the boarded-up and dilapidated Edge Restaurant, which has been closed for more than two decades. As part of the plan, the restaurant itself would be demolished, along with three houses on nearby Vinecliffe Street.

Mr. Beemsterboer, a Chicago-area developer who spends a lot of time in Pittsburgh, hooked up with Mr. Desmone after hearing about his idea to redevelop the Edge site. He could not be reached for comment.

"It's coming to a start," Mr. Desmone said. "We're incredibly excited about it. It's great for us personally. I think it will be a credit to the city. It will be a tourist attraction. It will be a symbol of good stewardship from the environmental side."

The Mount Washington Community Development Corp. favors the project, President Frank Valenta said.

"We're supporting the project because we think it definitely will be an asset to the Mount Washington area. What's over there now is an eyesore. It's terrible," he said.

Mr. Desmone said the financial turmoil triggered by the federal bailout of American International Group Inc., and the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, should not affect the project, which will include "significant equity."

Nonetheless, the proposed redevelopment still has a long way to go. In addition to needing planning commission approval for the demolition of the three Vinecliffe Street structures, the developers will be seeking a zoning change that will require action from both the planning commission and City Council.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on September 19, 2008 at 12:03 am

[PittPenn 03]

Okay - this more than makes up for Jenny Lee!!! Trade a mediocre bakery for one of the best in town. And Mancini's! Such great news!


http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08263/913451-100.stm

Shadyside's Prantl's, Mancini's take Jenny Lee's spot
Friday, September 19, 2008
By Teresa Lindeman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The space vacated by hometown favorite Jenny Lee Bakery in Market Square has two new tenants that may also be familiar names to Pittsburghers with a taste for baked goods -- Prantl's Bakery and Mancini's Bread Co.

In a pairing that gives both bakeries a chance to reach the concentration of Downtown customers while splitting the cost and the risk, each company will take part of the 2,000-square-foot store.

Prantl's, a Shadyside institution, will offer breakfast items as well as cookies, cakes and its popular burnt almond torte, said co-owner Lara Bruhn.

Meanwhile, Nick Mancini, who owns and operates a retail bread operation in the Strip District that is affiliated with his family's McKees Rocks-based Mancini's Bakery, plans to sell the breads and pepperoni rolls that have kept customers coming back.

"I think our products potentially have a really great synergistic effect," said Mr. Mancini, who was at the Market Square location this morning with Ms. Bruhn as they worked to get the space ready to open in the next week or two.

The two businesspeople concede that opening a new venture during an economic slowdown may not appear to be the best timing but they are hoping the combination of location and pairing with another popular brand will be enough to make the new store a destination for Downtown office workers.

When Jenny Lee closed in August, Nick Nicholas, operator of the Nicholas Coffee Co. on the square and owner of the building that housed the operation, had announced that he was hoping to find another bakery to take the space

[PA Pride]

This sounds pretty neat.

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08263/913415-53.stm

A stairway to heaven? No, but it will reach Mt. Washington
Friday, September 19, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

This will be a hotel with one grand staircase.

A plan to transform the old Edge Restaurant on Mount Washington into a luxury hotel and condominium development won't stop on Grandview Avenue.

It would run all the way to Carson Street, with the help of a proposed glass-enclosed stairway that would weave its way down the mountainside on the foundation of an old freight incline.

The 720-step stairway is the most breathtaking aspect -- literally -- of a $70 million to $80 million plan put together by developer Steven Beemsterboer and architect Luke Desmone for the Edge Restaurant site at the end of Grandview next to the Monongahela Incline.

Anchoring the development would be a five-star luxury hotel and 60 condos, studios to three bedrooms, ranging in price from $300,000 to $1 million. The project also would include two restaurants, one fine dining and one casual; a full-service spa; a fitness center with swimming pool; and a 340-space parking garage.

But the element that has generated the most interest is the 10- to 15-foot-wide stairway, which would be built adjacent to the Mon Incline and zigzag its way up the mountain with numerous landings, or rest stops perhaps, to help break up the journey.

Mr. Desmone said he developed the idea as a way to honor the laborers who helped to build the city. The stairway would feature a number of green elements, including the use of solar power to light it at night.

"Everybody that has seen it has been really excited about the idea," Mr. Desmone said. "I haven't heard anyone say what a lousy idea that is. Everybody I meet says what a great idea."

City planning commission members will get their first briefing on the project Tuesday.

The stairway technically is part of the development's second phase, but Mr. Desmone hopes to have it finished in time for the hotel and condo grand opening in 2011.

The architect has been trying for more than three years to redevelop the boarded-up and dilapidated Edge Restaurant, which has been closed for more than two decades. As part of the plan, the restaurant itself would be demolished, along with three houses on nearby Vinecliffe Street.

Mr. Beemsterboer, a Chicago-area developer who spends a lot of time in Pittsburgh, hooked up with Mr. Desmone after hearing about his idea to redevelop the Edge site. He could not be reached for comment.

"It's coming to a start," Mr. Desmone said. "We're incredibly excited about it. It's great for us personally. I think it will be a credit to the city. It will be a tourist attraction. It will be a symbol of good stewardship from the environmental side."

The Mount Washington Community Development Corp. favors the project, President Frank Valenta said.

"We're supporting the project because we think it definitely will be an asset to the Mount Washington area. What's over there now is an eyesore. It's terrible," he said.

Mr. Desmone said the financial turmoil triggered by the federal bailout of American International Group Inc., and the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, should not affect the project, which will include "significant equity."

Nonetheless, the proposed redevelopment still has a long way to go. In addition to needing planning commission approval for the demolition of the three Vinecliffe Street structures, the developers will be seeking a zoning change that will require action from both the planning commission and City Council.
Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First published on September 19, 2008 at 12:03 am


What an interesting plan. I hope that it is received well by the planning commission.

[Minivan Werner]

To me that doesn't sound like the greatest idea and I don't think it'd get much use. Seems like a lit glass enclosure would attract more vagrants than stair-enthusiasts.

[AaronPGH]

To me that doesn't sound like the greatest idea and I don't think it'd get much use. Seems like a lit glass enclosure would attract more vagrants than stair-enthusiasts.

I don't know...sounds pretty awesome to me. I would definitely take out of towners there or climb it just for shits and giggles.

[Tombstoner]

To me that doesn't sound like the greatest idea and I don't think it'd get much use. Seems like a lit glass enclosure would attract more vagrants than stair-enthusiasts.

I have to agree. Maybe a series of escalator segements with sporadic big decks/landings w/coffee shops and bars where folks could overlook Downtown would be cool (and really uniquely leverage this site), but I personally know NO ONE who wants to climb 700 stairs. :shrug:

[EventHorizon]

I say make it a water slide that launches your as* into the mon!

[Evergrey]

I think it's a rather strange idea... and I'm skeptical... but I'll withhold judgment until we get more details/renderings. I fully support the concept at the top of the mount, however.

I say make it a water slide that launches your as* into the mon!

:haha:

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08266/914028-53.stm

Residents of Ridgemont in battle with developers

Monday, September 22, 2008
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For about an hour in 1959, the spotlight shone on Ridgemont when police chased a pair of bank-robbing brothers to what was then called Chicken Hill.

The shoot-out that ensued entered Pittsburgh history as "the Battle of Chicken Hill," and the city neighborhood -- a clutch of modest homes where kids play ball in the streets -- has scarcely been heard from since.

Enter the Chicken Hill Caucus.

Last month, Beth Hanis, a 44-year-old teacher who has lived in Ridgemont for six years, dusted off the old name and enlisted a fistful of neighbors to canvass their half-dozen streets for a battle against SouthStar Development Partners.

The Florida-based company, with Moon-based DeLorenzo & Co., bought 26 acres that include a former driving range behind Parkway Center Mall for $1.1 million last year. It is a bowl-shaped meadow that sits above Ridgemont.

In July, planning boards in Pittsburgh and Green Tree heard the plan for City Vista at Parkway: 418 housing units with a pool and clubhouse. The mix of townhouses, condominiums and lofts -- nine residential buildings, one seven stories -- would sell from $150,000 up and more than double Ridgemont's population of about 530.

Green Tree has rezoned the land from commercial to residential and is scheduled to consider tentative approval of the development plan next month.

Pittsburgh's planning commission votes tomorrow on whether to recommend rezoning of 10 acres from parkland to high-density residential. It postponed a vote Sept. 9 at a hearing at which members of the Chicken Hill Caucus pleaded for rejection of the plan.

Irving Firman, local counsel for SouthStar, described the venture as "the residential component that completes Parkway Center Mall," an early-'80s development that is nearly moribund. The developers defend the location as anti-sprawl -- a high-density city community near bus lines with walkable shopping, with a chance to re-enliven the commercial hub.

But Ridgemont, with slopes, dead ends and wooded peripheries, isn't easily woven into an urban model. According to the 2000 Census, it is 96 percent white, 75 percent younger than 65, with two parents in all but a few homes. It comes in third of 90 neighborhoods in the number of owner-occupied homes and ranks third from last in rentals. It has the least vacant housing of any neighborhood and is ranked among the 10 safest in crime statistics.

Ms. Hanis said the caucus scrambled to give Ridgemont a voice at the first meetings with developers, when its members asked to get at least a park out of the deal.

"They said 'no,' " said Ms. Hanis. "We asked for a traffic light at Hamburg [Street], and they said 'no.'

"Many neighbors think it's a done deal," she said, "but we're trying to get them pumped up to fight."

The Chicken Hill Caucus is getting its feet wet in deep water. SouthStar is noted for creating large-scale townhouse-and-condo "villages."

Making its first foray into Western Pennsylvania, SouthStar's challenge comes from about 20 people, backed by about 50 signatures on a petition.

Kimberly Botticello said she found little support for SouthStar during her door-to-door petition campaign for the caucus.

"One person didn't care and some people thought it might raise the value of their homes, but we got 50 names just on Springfield, Hamburg and McKinney," she said.

Hamburg and Springfield streets meet after rising narrowly through the neighborhood. They dead end at the chain-link fence enclosing the old driving range and its stone-lined pond. Families walk to the site in the evenings to watch deer emerge from the woods, said Ms. Hanis.

The developer has agreed to widen Hamburg by three feet and is leaving a buffer of woods.

At the Sept. 9 planning hearing, 14 people from Ridgemont spoke against the development, including Thomas McAllister, who said, "Not too many of us could afford to live in this [new] community. We're working people."

Others cited traffic, children's safety, deforestation and the loss of land for wildlife.

"We've seen turkeys, night falcons and muskrats," said Ms. Hanis, whose 8-year-old son Tre spoke to the planning commission.

"If America keeps letting developers take land, it will be a concrete jungle," he said. "If I had $1.1 million, I would buy this land and make it for wildlife, but I'm just a kid with $2 and a dream to save the wildlife."

Denise Zurcher, a resident of 10 years whose husband grew up in the neighborhood, said, "My concern is that the new neighbors [taking a shortcut] won't be watching for baseballs or little ones walking a few doors to Grandma's."

"People didn't move to Ridgemont to have mixed-use environment imposed on them," said Kathleen Walsh. "People should be able to trust zoning to protect their quality of life."

"I've been here so many times in my life," said Mary Ann Muransky of community hearings. "We have a mall and 11 office buildings and a huge Best Western. We have no more to give. Why do developers purchase land they have to get rezoned?"

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_589434.html

Pittsburgh Playhouse building sale 'a few years' off

By Craig Smith
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, September 22, 2008

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2008-09-21/0922-playhouse-a.jpg
The Pittsburgh Playhouse, on Craft Avenue in Oakland, is used by Point Park University.
Joe Appel/Tribune-Review

For sale: 100-year-old theater with ghosts. Make offer.

Point Park University hasn't placed that ad yet for the Pittsburgh Playhouse. But it hopes to move the program from Oakland to its Downtown campus as part of a $210 million university expansion.

"We haven't taken any steps to market the property," university spokeswoman Ginny Frizzi said. Selling the building "is a few years down the road."

Point Park's association with the Playhouse dates to the 1960s, when the college rescued the financially strapped theater at 222 Craft Avenue. Since then, the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and American Dance Ensemble were formed. The college acquired the Playhouse in 1974 to expand its performing arts department.

"It was the most creative theater I have ever seen," said Don Wadsworth, professor of voice, speech and dialects at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. "It launched hundreds and hundreds of careers."

Wadsworth, who studied at the Playhouse when he was 17, said the caliber of the actors who performed there was exceptional, and that drew an equally high-powered audience.

He once bumped into Gregory Peck in the lobby. "It was that good. Not only were there great actors, there were great actors who came to see them," he said.

A new home for the Playhouse could cost $30 million to $40 million and include three theaters, one with 150 seats, one with 250 seats and a larger theater with 500 seats, as well as production and teaching areas, Point Park officials have said.

The 100-year-old Playhouse is home to the REP, a professional theater company, and three student companies -- Conservatory Theatre Co., Conservatory Dance Co. and Playhouse Jr.

It is where Academy Award winner and Charleroi native Shirley Jones honed her skills and where Gene Kelly choreographed and directed shows in the early 1930s.

Actors such as Jose Ferrer, Ralph Waite, Charles Grodin, and Cicely Tyson have performed at the Playhouse. The late Don Brockett was a regular, said William Daw, assistant curator of the Curtis Theatre Collection at the Hillman Library.

Part of the building was the Tree of Life Synagogue and another section served as a social hall in 1910. The Playhouse complex was first named the Hamlet Street Theatre.

According to legend, the Playhouse is home to several ghosts, including those of John Johns, an actor who performed there in the 1950s; the Lady in White, an actress who performed at the Hamlet Street Theater in the 1930s; and Weeping Eleanor, a woman who can be heard crying in one of the dressing rooms at night.

When it comes to a sale, location might win out over history, developers said.

"It's a nice piece of property," said Frank Gustine Jr., one of the developers of a $150 million project that will provide office space, a hotel, parking garage and residential condominiums in Oakland.

Gustine's late father, Frank Gustine, an All-Star infielder for the Pirates from 1946-48, operated Gustine's tavern on Forbes Avenue in Oakland for many years.

Wadsworth and others said the chance of someone trying to take on a risky theater operation once the Playhouse moves are slim.

"The idea of the Playhouse not being there is amazing," he said.

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

[Minivan Werner]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08266/914028-53.stm

Residents of Ridgemont in battle with developers

Monday, September 22, 2008
By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

For about an hour in 1959, the spotlight shone on Ridgemont when police chased a pair of bank-robbing brothers to what was then called Chicken Hill.

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

I actually think that's going to be a really wise development. I agree with the notion that it's anti-sprawl, because it's only a few miles outside of the golden triangle with direct access to the parkway east at two locations.

But to say it's the missing piece to the Parkway Center Mall is amusing. I haven't been down in that area in a while, but isn't the mall dead? And literally falling apart? A wiser development would be for these same people to buy the entire mall complex, level it, add a few anchor stores like maybe a Kohls with some eateries, and fill in the rest with more dense residential like they're planning on this driving range.

[GeneW]

I actually think that's going to be a really wise development. I agree with the notion that it's anti-sprawl, because it's only a few miles outside of the golden triangle with direct access to the parkway east at two locations.

But to say it's the missing piece to the Parkway Center Mall is amusing. I haven't been down in that area in a while, but isn't the mall dead? And literally falling apart? A wiser development would be for these same people to buy the entire mall complex, level it, add a few anchor stores like maybe a Kohls with some eateries, and fill in the rest with more dense residential like they're planning on this driving range.

That mall isn't quite dead but there's not much life in it. I end up shopping at the Giant Eagle there fairly often because it's easy to get to from the Northside but there not much else there than the Iggle. The Kmart is still open but it seems half forgotten, there's very little inventory and not too many customers. I'd be surprised if the place lasts another two years but then I probably would have said the same thing ten years ago.

[Grego43]

I don't know...sounds pretty awesome to me. I would definitely take out of towners there or climb it just for shits and giggles.

I think it would be a very unique addition. I immediately thought of the Mid-levels escalators in Hong Kong...now that would be ass-kickin' if this project were built like it...but I'm sure the Port Authority and Duquesne Incline folks would try kill it due to the competition it would create.

One segment of the Mid-Levels Escalators (courtesy of Picasa Web Albums )
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_tHm0ta2h8NI/R6SCxWWcbxI/AAAAAAAABbE/qi9tC9vd-2g/CIMG1433_edited.JPG

[Minivan Werner]

Does anyone have any renderings of those semi-tall condos/apts at SSW? Tried searching/skimming this thread but no luck.

[Evergrey]

I wonder what SouthSide resident AaronClark thinks about this...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_589795.html

Panel approves South Side restaurant

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Pittsburgh's Planning Commission served a setback Tuesday to South Side residents who have fought to prevent more liquor-serving restaurants and bars from opening in the neighborhood.

"This is a rush to judgment," said Nicholas Kefal, 71, of the South Side. "(The commission) could undercut years of work by the community."

In a 6-0 vote, commission members recommended that the owners of Baba D's, a Mediterranean restaurant in Oakland, be permitted to open with a liquor license in the 2100 block of East Carson Street across from the Carson Towers apartment building. The decision requires City Council's approval.

Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents the South Side, told the commission the corner already has five liquor-serving establishments and that many of his constituents do not believe a sixth should be allowed.

He read aloud several letters from neighbors opposed to the restaurant owner's request to sidestep an ordinance City Council approved in July 2007 that sought to limit the number of liquor-serving establishments in neighborhoods already packed with them.

The South Side has more than 90 bars and restaurants that serve liquor.

Dourid Aboud, whose family owns the business, said it will be a family-run restaurant, not a rowdy bar. He agreed to stop serving food and liquor at 11 p.m. daily and not to expand seating in the bar area beyond 13.

Some South Side residents at the meeting questioned who would enforce the rules, particularly if the restaurant and its license are eventually sold.

Before the vote, commission member E. Paul Dick cautioned against making an exception for a restaurant "the first time this issue comes up." He abstained from the vote.

In other action:

• The commission OK'd a 10-year master plan for the expansion of the Carnegie Science Center on the North Shore. The plan calls for demolishing the closed SportsWorks facility by the end of the year. A 25,000-square-foot SportsWorks will be built on the opposite side of North Shore Drive and will eventually connect to the science center through a new reception area, said Gregory A. Weimerskirch, an architect with Downtown-based Urban Design Associates.

The former SportsWorks site will become parking for the center. A 2.3-acre "discovery eco-park" will be developed on three sides of the science center along with 1.6 acres of new park space to add to the North Shore's riverfront park.

• Plans for The Chelsea, a 336-unit apartment building on Centre Avenue in Oakland, won the commission's final approval. The 16-story, $60 million complex will have 24,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, which developer Guy J. Totino, president of Polaris Real Estate Equities, said he hopes to fill with a small grocery store, coffee shop and a bank. Construction is set to start in June and take two years to complete, he said.

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

[DBR96A]

I wonder what SouthSide resident AaronClark thinks about this...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_589795.html

Panel approves South Side restaurant

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Pittsburgh's Planning Commission served a setback Tuesday to South Side residents who have fought to prevent more liquor-serving restaurants and bars from opening in the neighborhood.

"This is a rush to judgment," said Nicholas Kefal, 71, of the South Side. "(The commission) could undercut years of work by the community."

In a 6-0 vote, commission members recommended that the owners of Baba D's, a Mediterranean restaurant in Oakland, be permitted to open with a liquor license in the 2100 block of East Carson Street across from the Carson Towers apartment building. The decision requires City Council's approval.

Councilman Bruce Kraus, who represents the South Side, told the commission the corner already has five liquor-serving establishments and that many of his constituents do not believe a sixth should be allowed.

He read aloud several letters from neighbors opposed to the restaurant owner's request to sidestep an ordinance City Council approved in July 2007 that sought to limit the number of liquor-serving establishments in neighborhoods already packed with them.

The South Side has more than 90 bars and restaurants that serve liquor.

Dourid Aboud, whose family owns the business, said it will be a family-run restaurant, not a rowdy bar. He agreed to stop serving food and liquor at 11 p.m. daily and not to expand seating in the bar area beyond 13.

Some South Side residents at the meeting questioned who would enforce the rules, particularly if the restaurant and its license are eventually sold.

Before the vote, commission member E. Paul Dick cautioned against making an exception for a restaurant "the first time this issue comes up." He abstained from the vote.

In other action:

• The commission OK'd a 10-year master plan for the expansion of the Carnegie Science Center on the North Shore. The plan calls for demolishing the closed SportsWorks facility by the end of the year. A 25,000-square-foot SportsWorks will be built on the opposite side of North Shore Drive and will eventually connect to the science center through a new reception area, said Gregory A. Weimerskirch, an architect with Downtown-based Urban Design Associates.

The former SportsWorks site will become parking for the center. A 2.3-acre "discovery eco-park" will be developed on three sides of the science center along with 1.6 acres of new park space to add to the North Shore's riverfront park.

• Plans for The Chelsea, a 336-unit apartment building on Centre Avenue in Oakland, won the commission's final approval. The 16-story, $60 million complex will have 24,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, which developer Guy J. Totino, president of Polaris Real Estate Equities, said he hopes to fill with a small grocery store, coffee shop and a bank. Construction is set to start in June and take two years to complete, he said.

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

Everything you need to know is highlighted in red. :rolleyes:

[PA Pride]

Woohoo! About The Chelsea.

And: Blah, at the Southside. At least opposing new businesses gives old people something to do.