PITTSBURGH | Rundown [Archive] - Page 51

UrbaniDesDev

10-18-2008, 12:14 PM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08291/920613-52.stm

East Liberty scores a hat trick of new hotel proposals

Friday, October 17, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Forget the credit crunch. There's more boom on the way for East Liberty.

The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority board heard plans yesterday for not one, not two, but three new hotels -- more than 350 rooms in all -- targeted for the heart of the neighborhood's commercial corridor.

Governor's Hotel Co. LP plans to build a 140-room Hotel Indigo at North Highland Avenue and Broad Street with the help of a $2.75 million Pittsburgh Development Fund loan approved by the board.

About two blocks away, HSH Liberty Suites LP is proposing to convert the Highland Building, a national historic landmark, into a 105-room Homewood Suites hotel and to build a 113-room Hampton Inn adjacent to it as part of a $42 million development.

The $21.4 million Hotel Indigo project involves the use of East Liberty's former Governor's Hotel and other existing buildings as well as new construction. The developer hopes to break ground in March and open the hotel on May 1, 2010. The development fund loan was the last piece of financing needed for the project, URA officials said.

Governor's Hotel Co. will seek a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, silver certification for the project. It is planning to incorporate a public plaza and patio with a permeable pavement that would allow all rainwater runoff to drain back into the ground as well as a green roof and other environmentally friendly features.

The limited-service boutique hotel will be managed by InterContinental Hospitality Group, which also operates Holiday Inns, Staybridge and Candlewood Suites and Crowne Plazas. The developer also is planning street-level restaurant and retail space.

Hotel Indigo is geared more toward affluent audiences and features rooms with oversized beds, hardwood-style floors with area rugs, and spa-style showers. Cindy A. Murphy, InterContinental vice president of operations, said no two Hotel Indigos are alike, with each having different interior designs.

"What you see in Pittsburgh, you won't see in Miami, you won't see in Chicago," she said.

Room rates in Pittsburgh will range from $140 to $150 a night.

"It's an extremely exciting project," said URA board member Jim Ferlo, a state senator from Highland Park. "This is exactly what's needed to put a power punch [into the East Liberty commercial corridor]."

The URA board, meanwhile, approved the sale of the Highland Building, at 116 S. Highland Ave., and vacated Baum Square to HSH Liberty Suites for $1,000 to help facilitate the Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn hotels.

HSH Liberty is a partnership between Zambrano Corp., which assisted in the development of the 151 First Side condominium tower, Downtown, and Vista Host, a hotel operator and developer with two Hampton Inns in the Pittsburgh market.

They are taking over the properties from Terminus Real Estate Inc., which had plans to turn the Highland Building into 84 condo units.

While the Highland Building, built by industrialist Henry Clay Frick in 1910, will be converted into a Homewood Suites, the adjacent Stadterman Building will be demolished and replaced with a 200-space parking garage, with the seven-story Hampton Inn built on top of it.

Eugene Zambrano III, president of Zambrano Development, said the project is still in the "very early stages." He said the plan is to begin the demolition of the Stadterman Building in the first quarter of 2009, with construction to follow.

Financing is expected to include historic tax credits, new markets tax credits, private equity and debt. Mr. Zambrano said he believes he can secure the financing despite the credit crisis facing the nation.

"I don't think we would be here today if we weren't confident that we could get financing on both projects," he said.

The three East Liberty hotels would supplement a fourth planned on nearby Penn Avenue as part of the $113 million transformation of the former Nabisco bakery into a mixed use complex.

It may seem like an awful lot of rooms for such a compact space, but URA officials said yesterday marketing studies have indicated that the area can support up to 450 rooms.

The hotels hope to draw from the various medical institutions in the area, including the Hillman Cancer Center and nearby hospitals. Because the hotels each offer different amenities, levels of service and price ranges, studies indicate they can co-exist, said Robert Rubinstein, the URA's economic development director.

URA board members also took preliminary steps yesterday to advance roughly $2 million in tax increment financing for the Centre Avenue, Penn Circle and Highland Avenue section of East Liberty to help with public improvements, such as new sidewalks, streetlights and trees.

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

This looks like a better plan for the Highland Building. I always felt it would be better suited for a hotel rather than condos. Cant say Im too excited about the Hampton Inn and a parking garage. I rather like that small building

Very cool transformer

Evergrey

10-18-2008, 01:35 PM

big news

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_593928.html

Goodwill seeks buyer, and new operational facility

By Sam Spatter
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, October 18, 2008

Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh is seeking a buyer for its South Side properties who also will establish a new location for its operations.

Included in the offer for sale is the nonprofit organization's seven-story, 157,000-square-foot headquarters and nearly 20 other parcels that span three blocks along East Carson Street, from 27th to 29th streets. The organization's store at 27th and Carson streets and a building used for programs on 24th Street are excluded.

"We hope to receive all proposals by Nov. 19, but probably won't make a decision until mid-January," said David Tobiczyk, Goodwill's vice president of marketing and development.

"If the proposals received do not provide us with the requirements needed, we may delay or end the search for a buyer and a new site," said Mike Smith, Goodwill president and chief operating officer.

No asking price was listed in a request for proposals recently circulated to area developers, Smith said.

For its new location, Goodwill wants a site close to public transportation because many employees and clients will need it to get there, he added.

The agency employs about 300 at the South Side location, and serves an equal number of clients on a daily basis at its facilities in the neighborhood. Services provided include assessment, job training, education and job placement.

A study by the Burt Hill architectural firm showed Goodwill would need 125,000 square feet of space for its offices and for warehousing.

Mark Popovich, a managing director of the Pittsburgh office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, a national commercial real estate capital intermediary, is handling the sale. A study his firm conducted earlier this year for Goodwill concluded that relocation could help the organization reduce costs and operate more efficiently, he said.

"They have large tractor-trailers coming in and out of there, and ideally, they would be better off in a one- or two-story structure" rather than a 100-year-old, seven-story building, he said. Goodwill has occupied the building for about 40 years.

The firm sent out about 25 requests for proposals to Pittsburgh area developers and a few others, such as Columbus-based Continental Real Estate Cos. and Ferchill Group of Cleveland.

The hope is that one company or team would buy and develop the Goodwill property and also provide a new location. The South Side site offers three acres for new development for hotel, retail, office or residential use, Popovich said.

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

Evergrey

10-19-2008, 01:40 PM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_594040.html

Former nursing home has buyers

By The Tribune-Review
Sunday, October 19, 2008

Investors have bought the former St. Mary Mercy Manor nursing home in Lawrenceville, with plans to convert the three-story building to 28 apartments.

Caesar and Ilene DiSilvio will seek approval from the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment on Oct. 30 to move ahead with the conversion. DiSilvio said he hopes to attract employees of the new Children's Hospital as tenants for the building at 330 46th St. He projects a spring opening for the building, which would have mostly efficiencies and one-bedroom units with rents ranging from about $500 to $800.

Evergrey

10-20-2008, 05:15 AM

despite the recent report that showed the Convention Center is a huge failure... apparently Pittsburgh is now a desirable convention locale...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_594126.html

Pittsburgh rises as convention location

By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, October 20, 2008

Goodbye, Milwaukee. Hello, San Diego.

A 2008 survey shows that Pittsburgh has left the dregs of cities where meeting planners least want to hold conventions and climbed onto the most wanted list.

"It means that we've broken the old stereotype of Pittsburgh being just a heavy industrial city and that the many positive aspects of the city are being recognized," said Mary Conturo, executive director of the Sports & Exhibition Authority, which runs the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown.

"These include the ease of getting around, safety, many cultural and entertainment activities and exceptional convention facilities and services."

This marks the first time Pittsburgh has cracked the ranks of the most desirable cities for conventions, according to Kansas City-based Watkins Research Group. It surveyed 673 meeting planners in the United States and Canada about where they would most and least like to hold annual conventions.

"Pittsburgh made some rather dramatic improvements in the last two years in terms of the number of people who have increasingly high perceptions of the value of Pittsburgh as a venue for the major meetings held by the largest associations," said Curt Watkins, who heads the research group.

"In years past," he said, "Pittsburgh has languished in the lower left-hand, least desirable quadrant of our map."

The rankings evaluate cities according to the experiences that meeting planners had, the concentration and number of hotel rooms, the convention center and airport access.

The recognition for Pittsburgh is good news for the SEA, which expects the convention center to run up a deficit of $3.8 million this year and next.

"We would expect this will result in more activity in the building and less of a need to discount rental rates, both of which will help reduce the deficit of the center," Conturo said.

Cracking the list makes it easier to attract conventions. The SEA will announce today that at least 2,000 delegates from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives will attend the organization's annual convention here in 2013. The economic impact is estimated at $2.5 million.

As long as VisitPittsburgh officials can remember, Pittsburgh ranked in the bottom tier as a convention destination. Just two years ago, the city kept company with Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland among the least desirable places to hold a convention.

Watkins said Pittsburgh ranked 17th among 25 cities in the top tier for infrastructure and 25th for the perception of the city. San Diego came out on top.

Watkins credits the city's high-tech convention center for raising Pittsburgh from the least coveted cities. The $300 million David L. Lawrence Convention Center opened in 2002.

"Our new convention center has led the charge in helping change meeting planners' perception because it is the world's largest green convention center," said Craig T. Davis, vice president of sales and marketing for VisitPittsburgh.

The survey queried 40 groups that have held conventions in Pittsburgh and other cities. Those groups gave Pittsburgh the top score for industry "buzz" about the overall positive experience of holding a convention, according to the survey.

"What that's saying is that Pittsburgh is a place where the reality exceeds the expectation," said Joseph R. McGrath, president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh.

Davis said other factors that contribute to the city's better perception are its airport, accommodations, walkability and national press. Pittsburgh twice was named the most livable city in America by Places Rated Almanac and is one of Frommer's 13 top destinations in the world for 2008.

Despite the center's rise in rankings, the SEA must address its deficit, which Conturo said came about in part because it underestimated the cost of maintaining the glass and stainless steel building. That includes inspecting and maintaining the half-inch-thick window walls and the cables that support the roof.

The SEA asked the Allegheny Regional Asset District for $2 million to cut the center's deficit in half, but the district's Allocations Committee recommended $1 million.

Conturo said she and her staff are trying to figure how to make up the gap.

"It's not uncommon to run at a deficit, and those that don't run at a deficit don't run at a handsome profit either," said Steven Hacker, president of the International Association of Expositions and Events in Dallas.

The number of events at the center dropped from 272 in 2004 to 209 last year. During the same period, attendance dropped from 507,222 to 331,325 and direct spending, from $89.9 million to $77.4 million.

Conturo attributes the center's poor 2007 attendance to a crane accident that closed the building for nine weeks. Four events were canceled, four were rescheduled and 13 were relocated to other venues in the city.

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

UrbaniDesDev

10-20-2008, 06:16 AM

cdc

10-20-2008, 02:28 PM

despite the recent report that showed the Convention Center is a huge failure... apparently Pittsburgh is now a desirable convention locale...

It isn't really a contradiction, since it isn't an apples-to-apples
comparison. The article from today is just the result from a survey
by the "Kansas City-based Watkins Research Group" (I guess we are
supposed to take it on faith that they are domain experts in this
field).

The older articles are based on the actual cash flow and the budget of
the convention center (rather than some nebulous survey from a group
in KC).

As an aside, the article says "Davis said other factors that
contribute to the city's better perception are its airport" ... Our
airport? Really? The one where a large fraction of all the good
direct flights have been cut and large sections of gates have been
closed down? Hmmm.

hyperion1110

10-20-2008, 04:22 PM

It isn't really a contradiction, since it isn't an apples-to-apples
comparison. The article from today is just the result from a survey
by the "Kansas City-based Watkins Research Group" (I guess we are
supposed to take it on faith that they are domain experts in this
field).

The older articles are based on the actual cash flow and the budget of
the convention center (rather than some nebulous survey from a group
in KC).

As an aside, the article says "Davis said other factors that
contribute to the city's better perception are its airport" ... Our
airport? Really? The one where a large fraction of all the good
direct flights have been cut and large sections of gates have been
closed down? Hmmm.

Yeah, the airport. Sure, is sucks we lost so many direct flights, and is a negative. But I don't think that is what he's talking about. Our airport is very high quality, from its design to the fact that most flights are actually on time. For a comparison, trying flying out of La Guardia. That place is just...wow.

Evergrey

10-21-2008, 01:35 AM

a better article on this

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/10/20/story1.html?b=1224475200^1718358

Goodwill seeks new HQ

Nonprofit puts South Side properties on market

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley

http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/209112-0-0-1.jpg
Joe Wojcik
This East Carson Street building has been home to Goodwill Industries for 40 years.

After a few years of rumors and window-shopping by would-be developers, Goodwill Industries of Pittsburgh is formally marketing its portfolio of South Side properties for sale for the first time.

Goodwill has hired the Pittsburgh office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler to conduct a request for proposal for development companies for a project to establish a new location for Goodwill’s facilities and then buy its South Side properties for redevelopment.

The parcels for sale include the seven-story, 157,000-square-foot headquarters in which the nonprofit has operated for 40 years and which once served as a department store operated by J&L Steel.

Goodwill’s holdings include nearly 20 other parcels that span three blocks along East Carson Street from 27th Street to 29th Street. Its store at 27th and Carson streets is one of two the nonprofit expects to maintain on the South Side and is not part of the sale.
Motivated to move

Goodwill’s decision to pursue a sale comes after HFF conducted a study for the nonprofit earlier this year that concluded maintaining its current operations was its worst option, due to the building’s inefficiencies that cause high operating costs.

“We are moving along in our process and getting more serious now,” said Goodwill President and CEO Michael Smith.

While he emphasized that the organization doesn’t have to move, Smith said the need for better space hit home a few months ago when a rooftop generator went dead, putting the building’s only passenger elevator out of service and forcing the nonprofit to shift its operations down to the lower floors.

“It’s a huge decision,” Smith said, emphasizing the organization’s 40 years on the South Side, which he must consider along with its future needs.

HFF began distributing RFPs a few weeks ago, and the request includes meeting Goodwill’s need for new space. A study by architecture firm Burt Hill concluded Goodwill needs 125,000 square feet of space, including space for warehousing.

The search includes all of Allegheny County, but Smith emphasized that Goodwill needs a location close to good public transportation, given the needs of its clients and employees.

So far, he said, four or five development companies have expressed interest in the property, including The Soffer Organization, which developed and owns SouthSide Works, the mixed-use redevelopment of the former steel mill across Carson Street.

While the nonprofit has passively considered offers for its property in the past, Mark Popovich, a managing director for HFF representing Goodwill on the project, described his client as motivated to move.

Popovich said he expects the project to take at least a year to complete, if not longer. The property is being marketed without an asking price because Goodwill wants to include a new home as part of the transaction. “We have to have competitive proposals on both sides of the deal,” he said.
Large-scale project

Popovich compared the Goodwill RFP to some other projects with which his firm has been involved, including the arrangement to establish PNC Park and Heinz Field and develop the property in between, as well as the development of the Penguins arena. The project is big enough and complicated enough that Popovich emphasized that they welcome proposals from partnering development teams.

“We’re really targeting qualified substantial development groups in Pittsburgh,” he said. “We can’t risk somebody not performing or not having the depth of experience to do this.”

Given Goodwill’s proximity to SouthSide Works and its mix of restaurants, shops and offices, including the headquarters for American Eagle Outfitters, Rick Belloli believes the Goodwill property has generated as many rumors of would-be buyers and plans as any in the city.

“I think it’s clearly a key piece of property in that it starts to strengthen the bridge between the SouthSide Works and the traditional historic business district,” said Belloli, the executive director of the South Side Local Development Co.

Popovich sees a range of potential uses for the property, including hotel, retail, office and residential, with the 100-plus-year-old structure a good candidate for historic tax credits. Overall, he believes Pittsburgh’s commercial real estate market remains strong and that the property remains highly marketable.

“Even on a credit standpoint, there are still local banks lending,” he said. “This isn’t something too big for a local bank to take down pretty easily.”

Others have a different view.

Ned Shekels, a vice president for Downtown-based Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate Inc., who has worked with Goodwill in the past, said finding a compatible new location for Goodwill already was a major challenge, and the tight credit market makes it more difficult. The project will require a patient lender, Shekels said.

“They couldn’t have picked a worse time,” he said. “I think they have a lot of challenges finding a location that works for them and coordinating a financing package.”

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

Steel Boy

10-21-2008, 05:03 PM

I think the fact that the airport is so efficient with no delays plays in our favor for conventions. People coming from smaller cities are already used to connecting to their final destination, and people from the major cities still have non-stop service to Pittsburgh if they like. I guess I'm lucky, but almost all of my destinations are still non-stop from Pittsburgh, especially with new service from the newer airlines.

Evergrey

10-22-2008, 05:31 PM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_594471.html

Wilmerding real estate investor offers $7 million portfolio

By Ron DaParma and Sam Spatter
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, October 22, 2008

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2008-10-21/1022bding-a.jpg
Sean Kerrigan hopes to sell 67 single-family homes that are rental properties and two commercial buildings with apartments.
Andrew Russell/Tribune-Review

In late 2002, Sean Kerrigan decided to try his hand at real estate investment and bought his first rental property in the tiny borough of Wilmerding.

Six years later, the former auto mechanic turned real estate developer is offering for sale a portfolio of 67 single-family homes converted to rental properties and two commercial buildings with apartments in Wilmerding for $7 million.

The collection includes about 40 percent of the total number of properties in Wilmerding, Kerrigan believes. There are about 300 residential units in all, most of them occupied, he said.

"I kind of fell into the real estate business," said Kerrigan, owner of Sean's Real Estate in Trafford.

"The first house I ever bought was on Middle Avenue in Wilmerding. It made money for me and then the next one came up for sale and things just happened. Before I knew it, people started calling me, saying they had homes for sale."

Kerrigan says he wants to move on to "bigger things," for example, investing in shopping centers or strip malls, so he's hired Mike Sell, a commercial real estate broker with Grant Street Associates, to sell the Wilmerding properties.

Combined, Kerrigan's properties are 98 percent leased and produce about $52,000 monthly in net operating income, Sell said.

The multi-story commercial buildings contain ground floor retail operations, with apartments on the upper floors.

It was in the 1880s that industrialist George Westinghouse acquired land in Turtle Creek Valley and created Wilmerding, one of America's first factory towns, centered on Westinghouse Air Brake Co. The borough contained company factories, homes for the Westinghouse workers and parks for their recreation.

Many of the units being sold are near the former site of Westinghouse Airbrake.

Railroad equipment maker Wabtec Corp., a successor to that company, continues to occupy a portion of the site.

"We did not realize Kerrigan was selling all his properties until contacted by the newspaper," said Stephen Shurgot, president of Wilmerding Council. Shurgot said he expects a discussion on the sale will occur at the Nov. 10 council meeting.

Mayor Dominick Pomposelli said he understands Kerrigan is up to date on his taxes and that some of his properties are under the federal government's Section 8 program that provides vouchers to individuals and families that need help in their rental payments.

He added that Wilmerding has a population of about 2,100 and that the borough has many residents who own their homes.

The 2000 census reported there were 1,032 households in 1,199 housing units and 509 families residing in Wilmerding.

Kerrigan said he doesn't know how many people live in the units he has for sale, but said there are many families and few occupied by only one individual. About 75 contain three or more bedrooms, he said.

"We only have a handful of Section 8 renters," he said, of the units that rent from about $400 to $1,000 per month.

Evergrey

10-22-2008, 06:04 PM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08296/921792-298.stm

Scholarship effort scores big

Two foundations pledge $13 million for the Pittsburgh Promise

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
By Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Despite the economic slump, two foundations yesterday announced plans to make unusually large gifts, totaling $13 million, to the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program for city students.

The Pittsburgh Foundation said it will give $3 million immediately, the biggest gift in the philanthropy's 63-year history.

It also plans to give another $2 million over the next four years and $5 million in the five years after that. The foundation has made a "commitment in principle" to the $7 million, but its board of directors must ratify disbursements before they're made, spokesman John Ellis said.

The 81-year-old Buhl Foundation said it plans to give $3 million over 10 years, leaving open the possibility of an adjustment after five years. That gift and a $3 million grant in 2002 to endow the director's position at the Carnegie Science Center are the foundation's largest awards ever.

"If I had not had back surgery two months ago, I would be doing cartwheels in Market Square," Saleem Ghubril, Promise's executive director, said at a news conference at the Pittsburgh Foundation offices, Downtown.

The Pittsburgh Foundation, which also administers the scholarship program, initially announced just the $3 million gift and $2 million commitment. It announced the $5 million commitment later in the day.

Though philanthropies nationwide have seen their investments affected by stock market volatility, forcing them to look more carefully at funding requests, officials of the Pittsburgh and Buhl foundations said the Promise deserves strong support.

"This is the future in stark, simple terms," said Grant Oliphant, president and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Foundation.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt announced the Promise in December 2006, hoping to make college more affordable for the city's students, many of them poor. The pair also view the Promise as a way to attract middle-class families needed to reinvigorate the city and retain those already here.

Though yesterday's announcements were welcome news, the Promise's fundraising work has just begun.

In all, the program must raise $135 million within a decade to leverage all $90 million of a challenge grant from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. To leverage the first $10 million of the UPMC challenge, the Promise must raise $15 million this school year.

So far, the Promise is about $5 million toward the $15 million goal -- counting the initial $3 million from the Pittsburgh Foundation, an initial $300,000 from the Buhl Foundation, a $1 million gift from the Massey Charitable Trust announced in June and smaller donations from other groups.

Additional amounts from the Pittsburgh and Buhl foundations will count toward challenge requirements in future years, Mr. Ellis said. The foundations' planned donation schedules coincide with the challenge period.

Mr. Ghubril said another funding announcement may be made in two weeks.

UPMC gave the Promise $10 million outright and made the $90 million challenge offer last December.

The Promise made its inaugural round of scholarships, totaling about $3 million, to about 750 students who graduated from city high schools and charter schools in June. The money may be used at any of about 100 approved postsecondary schools, all in Pennsylvania.

Through 2011, the Promise will award up to $20,000 to each high school graduate who attends one of the approved postsecondary schools and meets certain academic and school enrollment requirements. Beginning with the class of 2012, the maximum scholarship will increase to $40,000.

The scholarships this school year cover tuition and fees. Beginning next school year, recipients also may use them for books, room and board.

The Promise is part of Mr. Roosevelt's plan to revitalize the city school district, and Mr. Oliphant and Frederick W. Thieman, president and CEO of the Buhl Foundation, said they will monitor the improvement efforts. Mr. Thieman said his foundation was pleased with how the district used a previous $277,000 grant to develop a new sci-tech school, to open next fall.

"It confirmed the belief for us that [Pittsburgh Public Schools] is moving in the right direction," Mr. Thieman said.

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

Evergrey

10-22-2008, 06:06 PM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08296/921795-53.stm

Salvation Army leaving Downtown headquarters

Wednesday, October 22, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Salvation Army will be moving its Western Pennsylvania Division headquarters to Carnegie by the start of the year, ending a long run Downtown and leaving a prime piece of city real estate up for grabs.

Salvation Army officials hope to relocate the division headquarters to the Carnegie Office Park by the end of December, spokeswoman Ginny Knor confirmed in a voice mail message yesterday.

A family caring center also located Downtown will be moving to East Liberty, she said.

In anticipation of the move, the Salvation Army has had its nine-story Downtown building at the Boulevard of the Allies and Third Avenue up for sale for much of the last year, with an asking price of $5.5 million.

Built in 1920, the building features a roof-top deck and adjacent parking with spaces for about 80 vehicles. It had a 2007 market value of $3.6 million, according to the Allegheny County real estate Web site.

Jeremy Kronman, executive vice president of real estate firm CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, said interest in the building has been high.

"We received a number of offers. There was a surprising amount of inquiries and interest in the building. We're very pleased with that. We're trying to finalize an agreement of sale with buyers," he said.

Mr. Kronman would not identify those that have made offers or any of the prospective buyers. He said he hopes to have a deal completed sometime next year.

The 91,322-square-foot building sits across the street from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and is about two blocks from Point Park University, which has been on a buying spree Downtown as it expands its campus.

Both would seem like natural buyers but that apparently is not the case.

Point Park spokeswoman Mary Ellen Solomon said the university has no interest in buying the property.

"It's just not in our current plans," she said.

Art Institute President George L. Pry said the school "is interested in potentially being a tenant in part of the building" but has no interest in buying it.

The Art Institute currently is housing students in the former Try Street Terminal Building on Second Avenue, the former Standard Life and Fidelity buildings at Smithfield Street and Fourth Avenue, and another property on Smithfield Street near its Boulevard of the Allies facility.

Mr. Pry said all of those properties are filled, perhaps necessitating the need for more housing in the future. The Salvation Army building could be a possible option if all or part of it is converted to housing, he said.

"Yes, we have an interest [in possibly leasing space]," he said. "We know that down the road we're going to need more housing."

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

Evergrey

10-22-2008, 06:08 PM

Grubb & Ellis 3rd quarter office market report is out... titled "Market Gaining Traction"... despite the national problems... Pittsburgh continues to see its vacancy rate decline. http://www.grubb-ellis.com/pdf/metro_off_mkttrnd/O%20Pittsburghg3q08-Corp%20(3).pdf

Minivan Werner

10-22-2008, 10:55 PM

That's an interesting report.

At what percentage level does it become realistic to start looking at perhaps another (small) high-rise boom? Certainly not in this economic climate.. But in 3 or 5 years.. 10%? 7%?

AaronPGH

10-23-2008, 03:23 AM

What are the odds of the Salvation Army building being removed to make way for something much larger along with the adjacent parking lot? Slim to none?

PA Pride

10-23-2008, 05:12 AM

Aaron, I say we purchase that building and turn it into a 9 story dance club. Each floor having it's own style of music.

AaronPGH

10-23-2008, 01:15 PM

Aaron, I say we purchase that building and turn it into a 9 story dance club. Each floor having it's own style of music.

Or you could just take a briefcase full of millions of dollars in cash and throw it into a campfire instead. It would have the same effect. lol.

Evergrey

10-23-2008, 01:18 PM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_594765.html

Western Avenue revival begins

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 23, 2008

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/photos/2008-10-22/1023pwestern-a.jpg
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Gloria Rayman, president of Allegheny West Civic Council, lay the first bricks Wednesday as part of a $1.7 million reconstruction of the streetscape in the Western Avenue business district in the North Side.
Andrew Russell/Tribune-Review

Some people cringe when Justin Winck tells them he runs a business in the lower North Side.

"This is one of the safest neighborhoods on the North Side, and it's one of the most beautiful," said Winck, 29, manager of the Cafe 900 Lounge. "But if the main drag doesn't look like a nice neighborhood, then people think it's not."

A long-delayed $1.7 million makeover of Western Avenue's two-block business district could attract customers to Winck's business and persuade hesitant entrepreneurs to fill the street's fluctuating crop of eight to 10 vacant storefronts, said Gloria Rayman, president of the Allegheny West Civic Council.

"It's cold here now," Rayman said during a news conference Wednesday to kick off the "Western Renewed!" project.

"When you come up on Western Avenue at night, it's dark. It's really not welcoming. It almost borders on frightening for those who aren't familiar with the neighborhood and the fact that it's a very, very safe neighborhood," she said.

First National Bank granted the civic association a $450,000 loan and the R.K. Mellon Foundation awarded a $364,000 grant, Rayman said. Another $536,000 is made up of contributions from property owners and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The money will pay for new brick sidewalks, bright streetlights akin to those on nearby Beech Avenue, better storm drains, several trees and the relocation of utility lines that hang across Western Avenue.

"I very much look forward to the improvement on this street. It's going to be a big boost for the Western Avenue merchants," said Ed Menzer, owner of The Parador, a Carribbean-themed bed and breakfast.

Work on rebuilding the sidewalks started this week thanks to a $350,000 contribution from the city's 2008 budget.

Pittsburgh officials had intended to cover the entire cost a decade ago, but the city's financial woes halved the money available, which put the project on hold.

Gov. Ed Rendell declared Pittsburgh a "financially distressed" municipality in December 2003. The city has built a significant surplus since then and cut costs, but it remains under state financial oversight.

Rayman said her group was determined to gather enough money despite the delays.

The project is slated to be finished next October.

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

PA Pride

10-23-2008, 07:09 PM

Or you could just take a briefcase full of millions of dollars in cash and throw it into a campfire instead. It would have the same effect. lol.

*SIGH* I guess that's the nature of nightclubs.

Evergrey

10-23-2008, 08:02 PM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_594833.html

Workers top off North Shore casino

By Andrew Conte
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, October 23, 2008

Pittsburgh's casino remains on track for an August opening, officials said today at a beam-topping ceremony to complete the steel understructure.

Work on the North Shore project had stopped for nine weeks this summer when former lead owner Don Barden ran out of money. Now, a crew of 385 is working in double shifts to finish most of the exterior skin by early December so that interior work can take place through the winter, said General Manager Ed Fasulo.

"This is a milestone for us," Fasulo said. "Compared to where we were nine weeks ago, this is pretty exciting for us."

Unlike last year's groundbreaking that came off with Barden heading up a festive event under a party tent, today's ceremony had much tradition but little pomp. Barden remains a minor partner in the new ownership group headed by financial investor Neal Bluhm, which pumped money into the project and took over lead ownership of the casino.

About 100 workers signed the steel beam, which carried an evergreen tree, representing a traditional blessing on the building, a broom, to symbolize that no workers were injured on the job, an American flag and two union banners. A Steelers Terrible Towel hung from the crane cable that lifted the beam into place.

Fasulo praised workers for remaining committed to the job even when the money to pay them ran out and construction had to stop.

"Certainly we were concerned," he said. "This project could have sat here for five years rusting away, and here we are topping off the steel. It's a big day for us."

Despite the work stoppage, the 80 iron workers on the job never questioned whether it would get built, said Tom Melcher, business agent for Iron Workers Local 3.

"We had confidence the job would continue," he said. "It was just a matter of getting the financing. Fortunately things got worked out and we're here today."

The big goal will be closing up the building with glass and synthetic external skin by early January, said Andy Jones, vice president of project management for the new ownership group, Holdings Acquisition. The next milestone will be a topping off ceremony for the separate concrete parking structure next to the casino.

"The project is going well," Jones said. "There's a lot of work ahead of us. Really the biggest challenge is, what is the weather this winter."

Andrew Conte can be reached at andrewconte@tribweb.com or 412-320-7835.

cdc

10-24-2008, 02:32 PM

MayDay

10-24-2008, 02:35 PM

Way ahead of ya there, folks ;)

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/natcitypnc.jpg

hyperion1110

10-24-2008, 02:51 PM

Interesting. Good for Pittsburgh, bad for Cleveland. But, wow, 5th largest bank? That's pretty cool. The longer these economic troubles continue (not that I want them to), the better it is for Pittsburgh, it seems. Haha...maybe we can even get our stock exchange back :)

Tombstoner

10-24-2008, 03:10 PM

I read something in yesterday's Financial Times about JP Morgan wanting to take over PNC and/or SunTrust. I wonder if this deal makes PNC too big to swallow (and if that was the motivation?).

PA Pride

10-24-2008, 03:28 PM

Way ahead of ya there, folks ;)

http://www.clevelandskyscrapers.com/natcitypnc.jpg

I don't get it; Did you make that before?

How big is key bank? Isn't that Cleveland's biggest?

I have mixed feelings because I use National City and really like it; However I like to see Pittsburgh's largest bank prosper.
It's not suprising since the banks overlap that they would merge to cut positions and locations for cost cutting. This will result is lost jobs in Pittsburgh but we will have a bigger coporation. I don't know which is better overall for the local economy. How will this effect Cleveland jobs?

MayDay

10-24-2008, 03:37 PM

It was rumored that PNC and Scotiabank were suitors for National City, so I whipped up their logos and slapped them on the National City HQ.

National City was the largest bank in Cleveland - they were in the top ten (in deposits) in the US; Key is usually in the top teens. It's a good thing that PNC is getting bailout funds because the former management of National City ran it into the ground; otherwise, PNC would have a lot of mess to clean up. As I've said before - the city of Cleveland tried to pass legislation to reduce predatory lending; National City's management went apesh!t saying they'd never do business with the city again. These were the same people who got drunk off the subprime profits and bailed before the sh!t hit the fan. I wish that the jobs in Cleveland wouldn't be affected, but I can at least say that PNC is a much better run company than National City.

As far as retail banking, Cleveland will be alright since there's very little overlap (PNC has no retail presence here). As far as the corporate jobs - Cleveland will likely be reduced to a regional center and that's going to take away a lot of those jobs. Processing and IT... who can really say?

Evergrey

10-24-2008, 04:31 PM

In many ways I'm happy... but I'm still worried about retail job losses in Western Pennsylvania due to the intense overlap here (NatCity being the 2nd largest in market share here)

dugdogmaster

10-24-2008, 04:51 PM

themaguffin

10-24-2008, 04:55 PM

Suntrust in Atlanta is always a rumor for being purchased. Imagine if PNC could snag it?

AaronPGH

10-24-2008, 05:02 PM

Bring those jobs here! Sorry Cleveland.

hyperion1110

10-24-2008, 07:37 PM

5th largest deposit bank

Yeah, I'm not sure what the distinction is. I've never actually seen a bank without deposits before...

I don't think this will be a net job loss for Pittsburgh, but a gain. Sure, there will be some National City branches closed. But, merging the corporate headquarters should bring a lot of jobs here. Just my two cents, though.

Evergrey

10-25-2008, 12:02 AM

Yeah, I'm not sure what the distinction is. I've never actually seen a bank without deposits before...

I don't think this will be a net job loss for Pittsburgh, but a gain. Sure, there will be some National City branches closed. But, merging the corporate headquarters should bring a lot of jobs here. Just my two cents, though.

I think it will be a long-term net benefit as well... I wouldn't have any concerns if it wasn't for the overlap here... there are certain to be retail-level redundancies... and probably some synergy layoffs with NatCity's regional HQ functions here... but NatCity already shrunk their employment here by half since swallowing Integra in the 90s... so maybe there isn't much left to cut corporate-wise.

I also wonder how it will affect local community reinvestment now that NatCity is gone... will the new mega-PNC pick up that slack?

I would assume PNC... as long as it doesn't experience a NatCity-like fall from grace in the future... is now essentially impervious to takeover... especially given market conditions. It may not quite be "national" yet... but it's certainly gone from super-regional to super-super-regional.

And who knows... maybe they'll need a PNC 4 tower soon ;)

...

on to other news...

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08298/922472-53.stm

Buhl Building rehab unveiled

Friday, October 24, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Buhl Building, with blue and cream-colored terra-cotta tile gracing its exterior, has long been a Downtown gem. Now it could become part of Market Square's ongoing revival.

N&P Properties LLC has plans to restore the six-story building, at Fifth Avenue and Market Street, to its early-20th century grandeur and fill it with retail and office tenants.

The project also would involve partial demolition of two adjoining Market Street structures and construction of a new facade and floors that would connect to those in the Buhl Building, said Nick Nicholas, owner of Nicholas Coffee and a principal in N&P Properties.

At the Buhl Building, the developer plans to restore as much of the building's original facade as possible, including the large windows and transoms along Fifth Avenue. It also hopes to find a tile that will complement the original material that still covers much of the building, completed in 1913. The city's Historic Review Commission is expected to consider the plans next month.

N&P Properties hopes to start construction in December and have it completed in a year. Next door, the $40 million conversion of the G.C. Murphy store and other buildings into apartments, shops and fitness space is expected to be completed in mid-summer. About a block away, the new Three PNC Plaza building is set to open in phases next year.

The Buhl project also has the potential to add to the ongoing revitalization of Market Square, with its new restaurants and the Murphy's conversion. The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is revitalizing three buildings at the edge of the square on Fifth Avenue opposite the Buhl Building.

Mr. Nicholas said N&P Properties has negotiated a letter of intent with one company to occupy the second, third and sixth floors and part of the first floor of the Buhl Building. The fourth and fifth floors are still up for grabs. It also is hoping to secure additional retailers to supplement the existing retailers on the first floor of the building. Upper floors are vacant, Mr. Nicholas said.

With the new construction on Market behind the Buhl building, each of the first five floors will total 6,000 square feet. The sixth floor will feature 3,000 square feet of office space and a patio overlooking Market Square.

Before the project can start, the developer must negotiate a final lease with the prospective office tenant, which Mr. Nicholas would not identify. Because the Buhl Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, N&P Properties intends to secure historic tax credits to help finance the project. It also is seeking a city Urban Redevelopment Authority facade grant. The project is expected to cost several million dollars.

At one point, N&P had considered apartments for the upper floors of the Buhl Building. It switched to office space when a tenant expressed interest. It also was concerned about being in competition with the Murphy's redevelopment, which will feature 46 apartments.

N&P purchased the building for $1.35 million last December.

"I've always liked that building," Mr. Nicholas said, adding the redevelopment will be a "labor of love."

N&P has granted the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation an easement on the Buhl facade, protecting it in perpetuity.

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

Buhl Building on the other side of 3 PNC construction site last October
http://www.pbase.com/deadwing/image/86799421.jpg

37TimPPG

10-25-2008, 12:50 AM

PNC acquiring National City
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08298/922560-100.stm

The PNC Financial Services Group and National City Corp. today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for PNC to acquire National City for $2.23 per share, or approximately $5.2 billion in PNC stock.
...

Maybe when the economy improves in 2 or 3 years PNC can begin construction on 4 PNC??? Just think, now that PNC is the 5th LARGEST in the country...what about the largest skyscraper in Pittsburgh? 70 STORIES???

(Probably just a wild fantasy of mine!?):D

PA Pride

10-25-2008, 01:59 AM

And who knows... maybe they'll need a PNC 4 tower soon ;)

...

They have one: The national city tower.

I say it's time for a landmark headquarters tower though, like every other skyscraper enthusiast on this board.

Evergrey

10-25-2008, 02:08 AM

They have one: The national city tower.

I say it's time for a landmark headquarters tower though, like every other skyscraper enthusiast on this board.

good point... National City was looking to sublease much of its space at the building... so I wonder what will come of that now... (and also wonder what will come of the 4,000 layoffs NatCity had planned nationwide)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2084/2231368945_e9a425777a_b.jpg

AaronPGH

10-25-2008, 05:53 AM

I was wondering about a 4 PNC. I'd love to see something retake the tallest crown back from philly.

Evergrey

10-25-2008, 09:31 AM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08297/922100-53.stm

New hospital a boost for Lawrenceville and Bloomfield

Thursday, October 23, 2008
By Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ten years ago, the same Lawrenceville house might have gone for $30,000, says Tony Ceoffe. But this spring, the place two houses up from his went for five times that -- purchased, not incidentally, by a pediatrician. The home with a yard adjacent to his, on 39th Street, just sold for $190,000. A townhome five blocks away is under agreement for $180,000.

The new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, straddling Bloomfield and Lawrenceville, is opening next year and bringing with it thousands of employees who will eat, shop and in some cases live in the adjoining neighborhoods. And the big move is being preceded, anecdotally and statistically, by upswings in home prices and rental prices, and changes to the nearby business corridors of Penn and Liberty avenues and Butler Street.

Lawrenceville's transition from hard luck to hot stuff has been under way for some time, but Mr. Ceoffe, executive director of Lawrenceville United, said the transition has accelerated since the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced in 2002 that it would move its Children's Hospital to the old St. Francis Medical Center site on Penn Avenue.

"Smart people got in front of the Children's Hospital coming here," he said.

And newcomers are paying the premium. Neighborhood statistics published by Zillow real estate services show Bloomfield second-quarter home sale prices were up 10.2 percent over the same quarter in 2007, and up more than 6 percent over first-quarter prices.

In Lawrenceville, home prices were up 7 percent year-over-year, more than 5 percent higher than the first quarter of 2008.

One quarter does not a trend make, and in a city with 88 neighborhoods, winners and losers might switch places from month to month, thanks to small sample sizes. But what's going on in Bloomfield and Lawrenceville seems to be genuine, say real estate agents, property owners and neighborhood leaders.

"Lawrenceville, it's just amazing," said Coldwell Banker's Liz Duffy. And "the last time I looked, there were 23 active listings in all of Bloomfield ... There just isn't much inventory right now," unusual in a neighborhood of around 9,000, Ms. Duffy said. Some city neighborhoods, especially in a down market, might have 23 listings in just a few square blocks.

That's partly because Bloomfield, to a greater degree than other neighborhoods like Shadyside and the South Side, is populated by people who have been there forever, and who don't want to move just yet.

"It's not like a transient neighborhood," said Karla Owens of the Bloomfield Business Association. "The businesses are the same as the residences. They come in, and they come in for a long time."

So there aren't many empty storefronts along Liberty Avenue, and there aren't many homes for sale. When the homes do hit the market, they don't stay on it for long. It's an elementary illustration of supply and demand at work.

"We have a younger generation that wants to come in," Ms. Owens said, but an older generation that is staying in their homes. That's driving up prices -- sales prices and rental prices, too. The $300-a-month bargains in those neighborhoods are becoming less frequent, and $1,000 a month is becoming more common.

On the commercial side, the three corridors are trying to anticipate how they can best serve the huge new hospital while preserving what already makes the streets unique. Liberty Avenue will remain Little Italy's main street, but will also become an important connector between the hospital on one end and the condo-hotel-commercial complex on the former Don Allen Auto City site.

"You're going to see a whole new area down there by the Bloomfield Bridge," Ms. Owens said. Already the former Roth Carpet building at 4039 Liberty is being converted into medical offices.

Butler Street in Lawrenceville will still be home to galleries, boutiques and bars, but is learning how to accommodate the newcomers.

"We're starving for new restaurants," Mr. Ceoffe said. "Piccolo Forno is constantly packed. Coco Cafe, the line is out the door on weekends."

The small stretch of Penn Avenue at 40th and Main streets, outside the hospital's front doors, is the one strip still searching for an identity, and the one that stands to benefit the most from the hospital's move. It's also the strip that suffered the most when St. Francis closed its doors, said Phil Spano, chairman of the Penn Main Business Association and owner of several properties.

A few sandwich shops remain, Brillobox bar has carved a nice niche for itself, and Tram's Vietnamese kitchen is still a favorite, but by and large there's little foot traffic there. That will change dramatically when the hospital's 3,000-plus employees and 3,000 or so patients begin moving in and out, Sunday through Saturday.

"A lot of people are going to be coming from out of state," Mr. Spano said, noting that Children's is one of the nation's best youth hospitals. "We want them to be able to walk out the front door, walk up and down the street and go into a restaurant, go into a bakery, a dry cleaner."

Bill Toland can be reached at btoland@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2625.

tooluther

10-25-2008, 06:47 PM

tooluther

10-25-2008, 06:49 PM

Also: I'm in Greenville this weekend, but I have an answer to Minivan's questions about at what point new office towers are possible. I'll get to that when I get home.

PA Pride

10-25-2008, 08:49 PM

The amount of articles, headlines and attention of the PNC deal is staggering. I've seen it everywhere.

MayDay

10-25-2008, 09:37 PM

"They do bring a up a good question. When is the Federal Reserve branch moving to Pittsburgh?"

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is one of the 12 Federal Reserve banks - not a branch. The Fed in Pittsburgh is a branch of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank - and there's waaay too much infrastructure involved to relocate. Regarding cleveland.com's comment section - it tends to bring out the dregs so take it with a grain of salt.

37TimPPG

10-25-2008, 10:19 PM

I was wondering about a 4 PNC. I'd love to see something retake the tallest crown back from philly.

Comcast Tower in Philly is 965 feet high (I think??)...to get the tallest title back would "probably" take a tower at least 1000 feet high!?

Now that PNC is the Nation's 5th largest bank, and considering the current shape of the economy, is there sufficient demand in Pittsburgh for a 1000 foot plus tower????? (Although if it did happen it would be AWESOME for Pittsburgh!)

More dancing bananas...:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

themaguffin

10-26-2008, 12:02 AM

37TimPPG

10-26-2008, 12:36 AM

Isn't downtown's office vacancy rate in the mid to upper teens...?

It would take a lower vacancy rate and some signed tenents to get more significant space I would think.

Isn't Philly building something taller than Comcast too?

In any case it does seem right that PNC should have a signature tower with most of its employees (they probably wouldn't use an entire tower and probably wouldn't have them all in one tower regardless, but still like most very large banks, they could and should have a true corporate hq building).

Wachovia Bank (before they went broke in the economic firestorm) in Charlotte, NC was/is(?) currently in the process of finishing 3 wachovia center and 4 wachovia center. So there is precedent for a 4 PNC...IF PNC so chooses?:banana:

Evergrey

10-26-2008, 06:07 AM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/columnists/daparma/s_594895.html

Building owners await next big decision

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 26, 2008

Now that Equitable Resources Inc. has made its choice for office space Downtown, what's next for the market?

Equitable ended months of speculation by announcing it would move its headquarters and two business units to the 32-story 625 Liberty Ave. building.

Equitable leased 257,000 square feet in the 620,000-square-foot building, previously known as Dominion Tower, bringing occupancy there to nearly 97 percent.

The decision left buildings like the new, mixed-use Piatt Place complex at the former Lazarus-Macy's Department Store still looking to fill about 180,000 square feet it has available for lease.

One of the next big decisions will be made by the state Department of General Services.

The agency is weighing bids submitted for the State Office Building at Gateway Center and for relocating the 800 workers who occupy 200,000 square feet there.

The state could put all of those workers at one site, but real estate officials say the agency may select several buildings to house different operations.

Another large tenant mulling options is Schneider Downs, an expanding public accounting firm now in the Strip District.

"We may have a decision within a couple of weeks," said Raymond W. Buehler Jr., CEO of the company, which has about 370 employees, including 280 in the city.

"We are one of the top 50 CPA firms in the country -- we're now ranked 36th, and every year since we were founded in 1956 we've been experiencing growth," Buehler said.

Employment stood at 175 in 2004 and at 221 last year, he said, noting that the expansion has accomplished without a merger.

If the company decides to move, it probably will need 70,000 square feet, he said.

That's about 22,000 more than it now occupies -- 42,000 square feet at the building it owns at 1133 Penn Ave. and 6,000 square feet it leases at a building on Penn, where it has an option to take another 12,000 square feet.

Just about every building with space to offer Downtown or in nearby neighborhoods such the Strip, North Side and South Side could be in play, Buehler said.

That includes Piatt Place, 11 Stanwix St. (the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. headquarters), and the Buncher Co.'s 200,000-square-foot building in the Strip that California-based Seagate Technology said it will abandon in June, he said.

"We're looking all over. Just about any building in town with enough space is fair game," he said.

...

• Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority will apply for a $500,000 grant from the state for the 56-unit Cassabill Estates development in the 31st Ward. The funds will pay for infrastructure including roads, curbs, sidewalks and street lights. The first phase of the complex by Allstate Development LLC, headed by William J. Rogers, was Gates Manor, a 26-unit housing area. To date, 20 lots have been sold and eight houses started.

hyperion1110

10-26-2008, 02:22 PM

Wow, these guys in Cleveland are going off the deep end. Read the comments at the bottom of the article:

http://blog.cleveland.com/business/2008/10/national_city_sold.html

I sympathize with them. If PNC were bought it would be about the only thing that would make me think we need to just pack up the city...but at the same time I agree with the "better us than them" mentality.

This is my favorite comment:

Posted by smackdown9d9 on 10/24/08 at 11:18AM
Cleveland is getting "Punked" by Pittsburgh yet again !!!!

I'll bury my money in my backyard before I give it to a Pittsburgh bank !!!!!!!

They do bring a up a good question. When is the Federal Reserve branch moving to Pittsburgh?

ps I promised my freind who is watching me type this I would use the dancing banana so...:banana:

Haha...yeah, it's kind of sad how they're reacting. This is my favorite, though:

"Posted by bigI011 on 10/24/08 at 10:27AM

Just amazing! We can't even keep ownership of our largest bank in town. More good paying jobs down the drain-headed straight to Pittsburg.

What the hell does Pittsburg have that we don't? Oh, I forgot. They have a local government that works, good leadership on the state level, cash flow, low business taxes,a vision for growth, a viable future for their citizens, ect.

What we have that they don't is a corrupt county government, a do nothing mayor, a worthless city council, an inept governor, an ineffective state legislature, and a state frozen in time.

Until the people of Ohio wise up and send all of the current politicians to the unemployment line, not a damn thing will change.

The only good paying jobs that will be left in this state will be with the FBI."

Does everyone think that the grass is always greener, in terms of government, the next city over??? Is there anyone who would say that we have good state and local government in Pittsburgh?

And now, an homage to 37Tim, and his dancing bananas...
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

37TimPPG

10-26-2008, 02:41 PM

Haha...yeah, it's kind of sad how they're reacting. This is my favorite, though:

"Posted by bigI011 on 10/24/08 at 10:27AM

Just amazing! We can't even keep ownership of our largest bank in town. More good paying jobs down the drain-headed straight to Pittsburg.

What the hell does Pittsburg have that we don't? Oh, I forgot. They have a local government that works, good leadership on the state level, cash flow, low business taxes,a vision for growth, a viable future for their citizens, ect.

What we have that they don't is a corrupt county government, a do nothing mayor, a worthless city council, an inept governor, an ineffective state legislature, and a state frozen in time.

Until the people of Ohio wise up and send all of the current politicians to the unemployment line, not a damn thing will change.

The only good paying jobs that will be left in this state will be with the FBI."

Does everyone think that the grass is always greener, in terms of government, the next city over??? Is there anyone who would say that we have good state and local government in Pittsburgh?

And now, an homage to 37Tim, and his dancing bananas...
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

Muchos Gracias, Amigo!:D

Evergrey

10-26-2008, 09:32 PM

I thought that comment about Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania having awesome government was hilarious too.

Wheelingman04

10-27-2008, 01:39 AM

I thought that comment about Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania having awesome government was hilarious too.

Me too.:yuck:

MayDay

10-27-2008, 03:50 PM

You guys know how it is - especially with the locals, the "grass is greener...".

fkohws

10-27-2008, 07:16 PM

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/08301/923260-100.stm

Pittsburgh seeks development proposal along Allegheny
Monday, October 27, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's development team is asking for ideas on bringing development to the swath of parking lots, industrial properties and brownfields that runs along the Allegheny River from the Strip District through Lawrenceville, Morningside and Highland Park.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority wants teams of consultants to submit their initial proposals for the 6.45-mile stretch by Nov. 14, and the best team with the most appropriate ideas will get a $250,000 to $300,000 contract to flesh out its proposal. The planning process would then start in February.

The URA wants "a major focus" of the plan to be the parking lot that runs from 16th Street to 21st Street, because of the closeness to Downtown, the potential for quality development, and the "appetite" of the property owner for redevelopment there, according to the agency's request for proposals. That owner is The Buncher Co.

The request also notes that the Allegheny River corridor offers the opportunity for trails, varied transportation options and links between the riverfront and the neighborhoods.

"It's time we return our riverfronts back to our neighborhoods, reclaiming our waterways as amenities and part of what makes Pittsburgh America's most livable city," Mr. Ravenstahl said in a press release.

PA Pride

10-27-2008, 07:29 PM

^Good; I hate those massive parking lots.

Evergrey

10-27-2008, 07:38 PM

finally Buncher feels like doing something with that massive dead zone... yay

Minivan Werner

10-27-2008, 07:49 PM

I think that'd be a great place for some Heinz/Cork style brick lofts.

The article doesn't mention it but what about the parking lot between 16th and Veterans bridge? Is that owned by the same dude? I could see some high-tech industries setting up shop there. Technology Drive North.

Evergrey

10-28-2008, 06:40 AM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_595488.html

Combined bank may use less office space

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

PNC Financial Services Group's $5.6 billion acquisition of National City Corp. could result in the combined bank occupying less office space than it now does in the Pittsburgh market, real estate experts said Monday.

But the pendulum could swing the opposite way if PNC consolidates in Pittsburgh any of National City's operations from its base in Cleveland.

And it may take time to find new uses for bank branches that PNC closes, experts believe.

National City leases 162,000 square feet at the 20-story National City Center on Stanwix Street, Downtown, and an additional 275,000 square feet at Allegheny Center on the North Side.

But it recently put more than 50,000 square feet at the Downtown site and 100,000-square-feet at Allegheny Center on the market for sublease, said Jeremy Kronman, commercial broker with CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh.

"National City already has done some downsizing, so I'm not sure anything really will change with the merger," said Kronman, who is in charge of leasing at National City Center.

Reed Smith LP, one of the city's largest law firms, is said to be interested in subleasing all of the available National City Center space.

According to a report by Grubb & Ellis Co., Pittsburgh's office vacancy rate declined to 15.5 percent as of Sept. 30 from 16 percent at the end of June.

The Pittsburgh office market could benefit further if PNC consolidates office functions here, Kronman said. "I think moving operations of another bank to Pittsburgh could be very positive, although maybe not so for Cleveland," he said.

Many of National City's retail branches are in prime locations, said Ned Doran, of GVA Oxford, the commercial leasing arm of Oxford Development Co. He worked with National City in recent years to find sites, including offices in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill.

National City operates 158 retail branches in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties, and PNC has 96 offices.

Alternative uses could include professional offices, medical facilities and fast food or small retail stores, Doran said.

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

Evergrey

10-28-2008, 06:57 AM

more on the Allegheny River

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08302/923346-53.stm

Mayor focuses on Allegheny redevelopment

Ravenstahl wants to transform riverfront from Strip District to Highland Park

Tuesday, October 28, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It's the Allegheny River's turn. All it needs is a plan.

That's the sentiment behind Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's effort, announced yesterday, to craft a plan to transform a six-mile stretch of riverfront from the Strip District to Highland Park. Plans for the brownfields astride the Monongahela River and the North Shore stadium district yielded big results, so why not plan for redoing the hodgepodge of parking lots, warehouses and industrial properties that stretch northeast from Downtown?

"It's almost like, 'Hey, now it's our turn,'" said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park. "This can really be Luke's legacy, as far as I'm concerned."

Despite global jitters, there's reason for optimism on the Allegheny, said Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Rob Stephany.

"I see really vibrant housing markets in Lawrenceville unfolding," he said. "I see the Strip continuing to be one of the most interesting amenities the city has to offer. I see the Cultural District really maturing."

He wants design teams to send in ideas for planning the area. The most experienced team, with the best concept, will get $250,000 to $300,000 to craft a plan.

The plan might suggest uses for the Buncher Co.'s parking lots and the city's tow pound in the Strip District; consider ways to extend Lawrenceville's street grid to the river; address the best uses for the vacant Tippins International mill site in Upper Lawrenceville; and discuss ways to complete the transformation of the Heth's Run part of Highland Park into an ecological and recreational zone.

Lisa Schroeder, executive director of the Riverlife Task Force, said the area is one "where there is activity beginning to perk that makes it the next frontier" in a decade-long push to remarry the city with its rivers.

The Allegheny may be the toughest frontier. Unlike the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland, SouthSide Works and the North Shore, there is no dominant property owner.

The planning team also may have to find middle ground between today's reality and community dreams. For instance, some parts of the Lawrenceville street grid can be extended to the river, Ms. Schroeder said, but other areas may have to settle for a pathway to the water.

Other parts of the target area have defied easy transformation. The Ravenstahl administration's announcement six months ago that it would seek a private operator willing to take over the tow pound and move it hasn't panned out yet. Until the tow pound is moved, that 2-acre site can't be redeveloped.

An easier site might be the parking lot between 16th and 21st streets. The administration wants planning teams to focus on that plot because it's close to Downtown, and the Buncher Co. wants to develop it.

"That is a site now that begs for a highest and best use, not a sea of parking lots," said Mr. Ferlo.

Results won't be immediate.

"You're talking about something that will take 20 years to do maybe," said Mr. Ferlo. "It starts with the master planning, laying out the vision, looking at the obstacles."

Proposals are due to the URA by Nov. 14, and the winning team would start the planning process in February.

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

Johnland

10-29-2008, 01:41 AM

biscuit

10-29-2008, 03:14 PM

While they're at it, they should turn some attention to Allegheny River Blvd. From the Highland Park Bridge to Verona, it's a pretty dismal strech. Dead, fallen over trees rotten everywhere, weedy, overgrown brush. The shame of it is that with the river views, it has so much potential to be more proper roadway.

Allegheny River Blvd. was intended as a natural gateway into the city, much like the G.W. Parkway going into DC. But when you consider that was also supposedly the plan for Rt. 51 in the South Hills, well, you can see how things went wrong.

PA Pride

10-29-2008, 06:00 PM

www.TheResidencesattheFairmont.com

http://theresidencespittsburgh.com/images/reside_VIP_invite_image_01.jpg

The first rendering of a condo at PNC 3.

dugdogmaster

10-29-2008, 06:33 PM

www.TheResidencesattheFairmont.com

http://theresidencespittsburgh.com/images/reside_VIP_invite_image_01.jpg

The first rendering of a condo at PNC 3.

*Sighs*
:slob:

Grego43

10-29-2008, 11:28 PM

www.TheResidencesattheFairmont.com (http://www.TheResidencesattheFairmont.com)

http://theresidencespittsburgh.com/images/reside_VIP_invite_image_01.jpg

The first rendering of a condo at PNC 3.

Less is more. Sexy simplicity. :tup:

Johnland

10-30-2008, 12:08 AM

www.TheResidencesattheFairmont.com

http://theresidencespittsburgh.com/images/reside_VIP_invite_image_01.jpg

The first rendering of a condo at PNC 3.

OK, that is one awsome view.

37TimPPG

10-30-2008, 12:26 AM

www.TheResidencesattheFairmont.com

http://theresidencespittsburgh.com/images/reside_VIP_invite_image_01.jpg

The first rendering of a condo at PNC 3.

Wow! That is one fantastic looking condo! I like the view of PNC Park - now if only we can do something about those suck ass Pirates!?:rolleyes:

Evergrey

10-30-2008, 07:43 AM

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/10/27/focus5.html?b=1225080000^1722208

Developers balance apartment demand with condo stigma

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley

As he and his partner embark on a plan to develop 46 residential units on a few large empty plots in an industrial stretch of Lawrenceville, Brian Mendelssohn wasn’t expecting the words “for sale” and “rental” to become synonyms for “rock” and “hard place.”

But after a month into a six-month contract with the Urban Redevelopment Authority to develop three parcels on Hatfield Street, Mendelssohn’s Botero Development and Denver-based Urban Villages have shifted their plan to develop a 50/50 mix between for-sale townhouses and lofts and apartments.

Because the neighborhood has signaled to him it is worried about rental property due to concerns over Section 8 housing, the developers have heeded the community’s requests and made the residential project entirely for sale.

Yet, this at the same time that lenders from here to Los Angeles have trained themselves to say “no” as soon as they hear the word condo.

“Just getting the community support behind rental properties is rather difficult, I find,” Mendelssohn said.

On the other hand, he added, “It’s tough to convince financial institutions to invest in a ‘for sale’ product. Even in markets where the projects make sense, there’s still a negative perception from a bank perspective.”

Such are the challenges right now for Pittsburgh’s residential developers to find the right formula for their projects, balancing remaining strong demand for apartments with a new stigma against condos.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the average sales price of condos nationwide declined 7.2 percent from last year, and the inventory of condos is estimated to be at a 14-month supply, far higher than three years ago, when there was less than five months of inventory.

While Pittsburgh’s condo market differs somewhat, such a glut can dampen interest in converting apartment projects to for sale condos.

“It is an ugly word,” said Mark Popovich, a managing director at HFF, Inc., of how condos are viewed right now. “For the cost to do them, especially now, it’s hard to make any money on them given what our thresholds are for sale.”

Chuck Hammel, an owner of the Cork Factory development in the Strip District, a 297-unit apartment project, expressed little interest in turning the property into condos, particularly given the market, the difficulty getting credit and the success of the project, which is almost fully occupied.

In the past, residents of the project have noted that ownership has queried for interest in would-be buyers at the Cork Factory, a project whose units won’t be eligible for sale for another three years because of restrictions from using historic tax credits.

“If we were able to do that today, I don’t know that we would because of the housing market and the flux that it’s in,” Hammel said. “You tend to do that when there’s demand.”

The answer for Mendelssohn?

Botero and Urban Villages have devised a plan to build 15 townhouses along with a few smaller buildings comprised of “flats” — single-floor for sale units of different sizes which can be marketed to varying kinds of buyers.

Mendelssohn describes the project and the units as a boutique kind of development with a more European flavor. He said he has seen a favorable response from the approach so far as the development team seeks to establish community support.

He remains bullish about the project, given the financial strength of his development partner, the URA’s resources for home buyers, and a neighborhood he said has seen values continue to increase enough to justify the cost of new construction.

“My personal belief is you can still do things in this market. It just takes a little more creativity,” Mendelssohn said. “You have to be more responsive to the nuances of the community.”

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

Evergrey

10-30-2008, 07:44 AM

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/10/27/focus4.html?b=1225080000^1722206

By never booming, region remains steady through crisis

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley

When it comes to Pittsburgh’s place in the development world, the ‘I’s’ still have it to Craig Dunham, a principal of the Rubinoff Co., a North Side-based development company.

That would be isolated, insulated and ignored.

Attending a recent credit conference in New York, Dunham said it was hard to find anyone who considered Pittsburgh, or any other markets beyond a few major metros, as a good place to invest right now as the global economy crumbles.

“They just can’t get their mind set beyond the corridor of Boston to D.C.,” Dunham said.

“That’s the only part of the world they think of as stable.”

With the financial world on a slow boil crisis from California to China, Pittsburgh’s economic fortunes so far have seemed to face the kind of contrarian fate that has served as an annual consolation prize: Because the region never booms, it never busts either.

So far, the region’s economy has maintained some strength, with lower levels of housing foreclosures and value declines, lower rates of job losses and an office real estate market that is seeing vacancies decline while it grows most everywhere else.

Yet it’s a source of frustration for Robert Rubinstein, director of economic development for Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, who sees a lot of projects in a holding pattern right now because of economic factors elsewhere more than any reality here.

“It’s one thing if we don’t participate in the boom,” he said.

“But we get penalized on the one side and don’t get rewarded on the other. It’s a troubling dilemma that we work with here.”

It wasn’t hard to find local developers who agreed.

Mark Delana, executive vice president of construction and development for Wexford-based DOC-Economou, is one of many development professionals here and elsewhere to face potential delays that come from a credit market that’s dried up.

DOC-Economou is developing a $55 million hotel and condo mixed-use project at the SouthSide Works, as well as a major redevelopment of the former Don Allen car dealership at Baum and Liberty in Bloomfield that is expected to total more than 800,000 square feet and cost more than $300 million to build.

“You still have very good projects out there that should be financeable. But with the banking crisis, you can’t get a loan,” he said.

“They didn’t slow down on lending, they stopped.”

Granted, lending has stopped just about everywhere, say observers.

On Mount Washington, developer Craig Cozza continues to delay his plans to build two new condo projects there. While he said he has financing available to build, he is reluctant now because of the prospect of would-be buyers facing difficulty getting financed.

This despite the fact that Pittsburgh’s condo development isn’t awash in the kind of failure and glut found in such boom towns as Miami and Las Vegas.

“There hasn’t been a failed condo project here,” he said. “They’re all doing fine.”

Dunham sees a major barrier for the region’s ability to attract financing and investment in its ongoing population decline.

“If we could just get some population growth, they’d be here in droves,” he said.

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

Evergrey

10-31-2008, 08:21 AM

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/aviary1029.aspx

$23M LEED-certified expansion project unveiled at Pittsburgh's National Aviary

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%20133/aviary_300.jpg

On Oct. 28, The National Aviary unveiled plans for a major $23 million expansion.

A comprehensive revitalization of its 56-year old facility, the project will help The Aviary produce more immersive programming, upgrade visitor amenities and establish a stronger link to Allegheny Commons park.

A new 225-seat FliteZoneTM Theater—outfitted with high-definition videos, sound and moveable stages—will feature free-flight indoor bird shows, while a 4,000-square-foot open-air rooftop theater will host bird-of-prey demonstrations and special events. The nation’s first-of-its-kind in the country, the theater will educate visitors about the importance of wildlife, biodiversity and habitat preservation.

The project, which will seek LEED-silver certification, will also house a café, flexible classrooms and expanded exhibitions. And or the first time, the Aviary will have a recognizable main entrance facing Arch St.

South Side-based SPRINGBOARD is designing the facility’s overall reconstruction and new façades. St. Louis-based PGAV is designing the theaters and interior exhibits.

“A key component is to raise the organization’s visibility from a visual and experiential standpoint and create an iconic face for the Aviary,” says Paul Rosenblatt, with SPRINGBOARD. “The Aviary is so much more than birds—it’s a vehicle for talking about the environment, conservation and our place in the world. This will create a sense of place, not just an interior experience.”

SPRINGBOARD’s design for translucent wing-like elements flanking the entrance will soften the building, provide a cohesive look and integrate the building within its natural setting.

Construction will begin in spring 2009. The National Aviary has raised $16.9 million to support the project, which is expected to open in June 2010.

To receive Pop City free every week, click here.

Writer: Jennifer Baron
Source: Paul Rosenblatt, principal, SPRINGBOARD Architecture Communication Design

Image courtesy National Aviary

Evergrey

11-02-2008, 05:02 AM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_596427.html

Hotel construction thrives here, but failing economy could change all that

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, November 2, 2008

From Downtown to the North Shore, South Side and Strip District, hotel construction has been booming in Pittsburgh.

In those areas and other city neighborhoods, 17 hotels that are under construction or planned could add more than 2,400 rooms to the existing inventory by 2010, according to a Tribune-Review review of projects announced by developers, property owners and others.

That doesn't include a long-stalled 500-room convention center hotel in the Strip District that still hasn't been able to get off the drawing board.

But the weakening national economy, tightened credit and the realities of increased competition eventually could derail the ongoing march of hospitality industry construction, some experts say.

It may not happen this year, but lenders and hotel operators may soon start to think twice about continuing to support some projects, experts believe.

"If you are asking if hotel construction is due to slow down, the answer, unfortunately, is yes," said Jeff Burd, president of the Tall Timber Group, a Ross-based construction market tracking firm.

"In the downward economic cycle, the next level of erosion is going to be travel," Burd said. "Travel already is being restricted by businesses, and travel plans also are going to be set aside by consumers. It's probably going to be that way for 15 or 18 months."

"We look for things to get tougher before they get better," said Randy Smith, CEO of Smith Travel Research in Henderson, Tenn.

Smith Travel's most recent projections show hotel occupancy nationally will end 2008 at 61.2 percent, down 3 percent from year-end 2007, and continue on a downward slope through 2009.

Another 3.5-percent year-over-year decline next year would send occupancy to 59.1 percent -- the lowest level since 2003, it said.

Surprisingly, occupancy in the Pittsburgh area marketplace is holding up very well, according to Smith Travel's statistics.

"In fact, so far this year it's been the No. 5 market in the country as far as occupancy growth," said Bobby Bowers, Smith Travel's senior vice president-operations.

Through Sept. 30, occupancy in the 22,014 rooms the company tracks in the seven-county Pittsburgh region stood at 65.7 percent, up 1.7 percentage points, or 2.6 percent year-to-date, over 64 percent at the same time last year.

Pittsburgh's occupancy to date has trailed only Lousiville among the 12 cities considered its peer competitors for conventions, meetings and other events, said Craig Davis, vice president, sales and marketing for VisitPittsburgh, the local convention and visitors bureau.

The others are Milwaulkee, Cincinnati, Detroit, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis, Cleveland and Baltimore.

"Group business is way up this year, and until we've had these issues with the national economy and banking market, business travel has been strong," Davis said.

For group meetings, the bureau has helped book 14,000 more hotel rooms in the city this year than in 2007, which was a record for those events, he said.

Market conditions aren't discouraging Harmar-based Kratsa Properties, one of the region's most active hotel developers.

Its current projects include a 177-room Marriott Residence Inn at Mazeroski Way on the North Shore and a 156-room HIlton Garden Inn at the former Allegheny County jail annex and Jones Law building site on Ross Street, Downtown.

"We have financing secured for both," said William Kratsa Jr., general partner.

The company's Downtown site is near government offices and major office buildings, and North Shore location is not only near PNC Park and Heinz Field, but the new gambling casino under construction near Carnegie Science Center.

Continental Real Estate Cos. is targeting the North Shore area for a hotel, a 178-room Hyatt, near Del Monte Foods local headquarters.

"The Pittsburgh hotel market still is strong as compared to other cities in the U.S., which have been impacted by the economy," said Keith McGraw, partner with Raleigh, N.C.-based Concord Hotels.

Concord has 55 hotels in operation in the United States and Canada, including eight Marriott brand hotels in Pittsburgh. It just recently started to build 124-room Courtyard by Marriott in Robinson, and will soon start construction of a 112-room hotel at Walnut Capital Partners' $113-million Bakery Square project in Larimer near East Liberty.

"We had a $440 million hotel portfolio sale last year so we have been able to sustain growth even with the problems in the credit market," McGraw said. The company has a strong capital position and a positive track record with lenders, he said.

"We anticipate that 2009 in the Pittsburgh hotel market will be challenging because of the economy and impact on corporate and leisure budgets," he said. "Hotel demand will diminish with the economy and with hotel supply increasing, the hotel market will be impacted."

Nonetheless, a number of hotels targeting specific segments of the market will likely be built no matter what happens in the overall market, said Burd of the Tall Timber Group.

"We've got some uniqueness here in that we've got several hotels planned for very specific under-served points," he said.

An example is a 142-room hotel planned Uptown near the site of the Pittsburgh Penguins' new $290 million hockey arena Uptown. That project likely will be built no matter what happens in the national economy, he said.

"Also on the North Side, I think developers know with a high degree of certainty that is an under-served neighborhood," Burd said.

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

Evergrey

11-02-2008, 05:03 AM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08307/924777-53.stm

Undeveloped Strip District land a focus of riverfront master plan

Sunday, November 02, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tom Balestrieri is raring to go.

For years, a prime Strip District riverfront parcel owned by the firm he heads has served as a parking lot for shoppers, revelers and commuters. But Mr. Balestrieri, the Buncher Co.'s chief executive officer and president, doesn't want it to stay that way much longer.

"I'm not a young man and I want to see it happen on my watch. From our standpoint, if the right project comes about, we're poised to go," he said.

The city is hoping so. It has singled out the Buncher property, stretching from 16th Street to 21st Street, bordering the Allegheny River on one side and Smallman Street on the other, as a "major focus" of a proposed master plan aimed at transforming the riverfront from Downtown to Highland Park.

Rob Stephany, executive director of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, which is seeking design teams to help craft the plan, sees the Buncher property as the "catalytic piece of the equation" for the entire six-mile stretch of proposed redevelopment.

"You've got essentially undeveloped property adjacent to Downtown, the cultural district, the convention center. There's probably not many people you would talk to who wouldn't acknowledge that what happens there sets the tone for what happens elsewhere," he said.

Mr. Balestrieri said Buncher is pleased the city is taking the lead in developing the master plan. It is keenly interested in developing its Strip District property, he said. But there could be a catch.

Terminal plans unknown

To be successful, any master plan, he said, must include the URA-owned produce terminal, an iconic 140,000-square-foot building that served as the city's shipping center for many years.

Part of Buncher's property runs behind the produce terminal to the riverfront. Mr. Balestrieri said the firm has rejected "numerous opportunities" to redevelop the property in the past because it did not know what would happen with the terminal.

"Until we know what the future of the produce terminal is, it's been challenging for us to decide whether to accept something back there," he said.

Mr. Stephany said the terminal would definitely be part of the master plan. The URA has been working with Neighbors in the Strip to lease about 12,000 to 14,000 square feet of the building to local retail vendors to fill vacancies beside the produce wholesalers. There also are plans for a demonstration kitchen, a stage area and classroom space.

Buncher in the past has expressed an interest in cutting the produce terminal into sections to connect at least part of the Strip's street grid into its property behind the building. But that plan has run afoul of some tenants and preservationists who see it as a Strip landmark.

Mr. Stephany said there may be an opportunity to open up part of the property in a way that wouldn't affect the wholesalers "if the master plan calls for that." Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation would oppose any effort to cut up the building, President Arthur Ziegler said.

"I don't think you should take a building that is quite handsome architecturally, unique in its size and configuration, and a symbol of the history of the area and continuing in use, and cut it into pieces," he said.

Rather than chop up the terminal, designers could place pathways to the river on both sides of it, he said.

Make it blend

Becky Rodgers, executive director of Neighbors in the Strip, said whatever development occurs between 16th and 21st streets must "blend in" with the existing amenities.

"I think what gives the Strip its national appeal is that it is uncompromisingly authentic. It's home to more entrepreneurial, mom-and-pop-type businesses than most other neighborhoods. What can make it better and not take it down?" she said.

Of the six miles of riverfront targeted for redevelopment, the Strip probably has been the most studied. Four years ago, graduate students at Arizona State University won an Urban Land Institute competition by developing a master plan for the Buncher property.

It featured loft-style housing inspired by the Strip's warehouse buildings as well as retail and office space, all built around a fan-shaped plaza that connected with the riverfront. There was also a marina near the plaza and a proposed water taxi to link people to PNC Park and Heinz Field. It recommended that the produce terminal be converted to retail.

While the ULI analysis could be a "good jumping off point" for the Strip component of the master plan, Mr. Stephany said, the broader study area could prove to be just a bit more challenging.

Overall, the city has identified some 544 parcels in the study area, not exactly a recipe for consensus. And unlike SouthSide Works, the North Shore between PNC Park and Heinz Field, and the Pittsburgh Technology Center along Second Avenue, neither the city nor its agents control all of the land.

Still Mr. Stephany relishes the opportunity before him.

"Welcome to community development, right? I don't think the city needs to be reborn by having the city or one of its authorities controlling all the land," he said. "I think multiple stakeholders can share a vision and key stakeholders can start to implement it and get it going."

Building blocks

In some respects, turning vision into reality may not be as difficult as it would seem at first. One reason is that there are large tracts of land under the control of a handful of developers, and that land could serve as building blocks for the rest of the corridor.

Buncher, for instance, has control over the Strip District land and additional property upriver. The URA owns the 21.7-acre former Tippins International Inc. site in Lawrenceville. The Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania is redeveloping the former Heppenstall steel mill adjacent to the Tippins site.

The city is marketing 14 acres in the Strip between 29th and 31st streets, now home to the tow pound and other buildings, for redevelopment. Chuck Hammel, president of the Pitt Ohio Express trucking company, controls about 27 acres of real estate in the master plan area and is co-owner of the Cork Factory residential development.

"There are a lot of significant things you can weave together to redefine this corridor," said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park.

Mr. Hammel said he would like to move his company's operation from its location at 26th and 27th streets in the Strip to another site and develop housing along the river. His company is "very interested" in the Tippins site but was told by the URA it doesn't know what it will do with the property.

"If I had a place to move the trucking operation I would get serious about the plans and do something quickly," he said.

Mr. Hammel, however, believes the scope of the proposed city master plan is too broad and could inhibit development from taking hold quickly. He believes it should be broken into two segments, one from 11th Street to 36th Street, and another for property beyond.

"We can get a plan finished so that development can begin. I think it can be done a lot quicker if it were cut into pieces," he said.

Aaron Stauber, principal and president of Rugby Realty, which owns property at the corner of 21st and Smallman streets in the Strip, welcomed the proposed master plan.

He said it could help developers tailor their projects to complement each other rather than stepping on each other's toes. A master plan done more than two decades ago to guide development in the city's cultural district has paid huge dividends, he said.

Mr. Stauber hopes to turn his Strip property into a 45,000-square-foot retail center that would feature a drugstore, perhaps a bank and some type of food service designed to complement other Strip retailers and restaurateurs.

Whether he would be open to other uses under a master plan "depends on where we are" with the proposed development, he said.

Reconnect to the river

Mr. Stephany conceded that implementing the master plan probably is a 20-year endeavor, but he added, "We'd love to see a lot of the tone established in that first decade."

One of Mr. Stephany's main goals in the planning is to see neighborhoods, cut off from the river by industrial development, reconnected to the waterfront as much as possible.

"I think our big general excitement about this is what happens to city neighborhoods if they're intimately connected to the rivers again," he said.

He also wants to make sure new development becomes not an island unto itself but an impetus to spur growth in the broader neighborhood, using the South Side and the SouthSide Works complex as an example.

Even if it takes 15 to 20 years, Mr. Ferlo sees nothing but promise in the master planning endeavor.

"It's exciting. It's the next area of big development for this administration and a lot of stakeholders," he said. "This can really be a signature project for Pittsburgh."

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

PA Pride

11-02-2008, 06:08 PM

17 hotels under construction?!? That could really send our occupancy rates soaring.

acenturi

11-03-2008, 12:27 AM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_596427.html.......................

Pittsburgh's occupancy to date has trailed only Lousiville among the 12 cities considered its peer competitors for conventions, meetings and other events, said Craig Davis, vice president, sales and marketing for VisitPittsburgh, the local convention and visitors bureau.

The others are Milwaulkee, Cincinnati, Detroit, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Columbus, Indianapolis, Memphis, Cleveland and Baltimore..............

It's tough to understand how Pittsburgh is a "peer competitor" in this area to Philadelphia, let alone Detroit or Baltimore. Is this some made up statistic, or are there historical facts to support it? Nothing against Pittsburgh, but this seems to be a (big) stretch.

Evergrey

11-03-2008, 12:51 AM

I would assume Philadelphia is measured since it's in-state, Metro Baltimore is similar in size to Metro Pittsburgh and Detroit is a nearby city with traditionally similar "Rust Belt" aspects... actually... I'd think those three cities would be more relevant comparisons than Memphis. All three are used as "benchmark regions" in the Pittsburgh Regional Indicators project, for example (though Memphis is excluded). http://www.pittsburghtoday.org/web/home.jsp

What a strange, innocuous detail to seize upon in this thread, however.

PA Pride

11-03-2008, 07:51 PM

BREAKING NEWS!

Howard Hanna Real Estate of Pittsburgh has just purchased Realty One based in Columbus, Ohio but which operates in Northeast Ohio. This gives Howard Hanna 37% market share in northeast Ohio and makes Howard Hanna the nations 4th largest privately held real estate company.

From my email:

Good Afternoon:

Howard Hanna has acquired Realty One in Cleveland.

The transaction was officially completed late Friday evening. Regrettably, the cat got out of the bag and phones were ringing off the hook everywhere in Cleveland yesterday. Rather than let the rumor mill swirl out of control, we chose to get the accurate news to you as quickly as possible…via e-mail. It is unfortunate that we have to affirm this momentous event this way as our plans were quite different. We were going to announce the union of Realty One and Howard Hanna in person where we would share the facts…and our reasons for excitement. Your Manager was going to call an office meeting for tomorrow, Monday 11/3.

Cleveland’s newspaper, The Plain Dealer, ran their story on the front page of today’s edition. (article attached to this email)

Realty One was a corporate-owned franchise of Columbus, Ohio-based Real Living. Howard Hanna - Northeast Ohio’s largest real estate brokerage – with the acquisition of Northeast Ohio competitor, Realty One, we have nearly doubled the size of our sales there. Realty One had 34 sales offices and 1,400 Sales Associates.

“We’ve had a lot of opportunity to go into other markets, but we believe in the market we’re already in,” said Howard W. “Hoby” Hanna, IV. “We want to invest in communities that have great significance and great hope like Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.”

Howard Hanna will control approximately 37% of the real estate market in Northeastern Ohio. The size and timing of the deal sends a strong message both regionally and nationally. Our company’s presence in the region now doubles to 79 office locations with 2,800 Sales Associates in 21 counties. Companywide, Howard Hanna has 4,400 Sales Associates and 157 offices in OH, PA, NY and WV.

YOU – our Sales Associates, are the heart of Howard Hanna. Thank you.

Respectfully,

The Hanna Family

Howard Hanna targeted Cleveland by purchasing their first and second largest real estate companies in the last 5 years (first Smythe Cramer, and now Realty One). They have quietly mentioned that they will be targeting Columbus and Philadelphia next for expansion.

As a residential real estate agent working for Howard Hanna, I am proud of my companies growth and well run management.

Grego43

11-03-2008, 08:25 PM

First National City, then Realty One. What's next for Pittsburgh, the Browns?

PA Pride

11-03-2008, 08:32 PM

First National City, then Realty One. What's next for Pittsburgh, the Browns?

Nah, we don't want the Browns. I kinda like that Rock and Roll hall of fame though; And we don't have an NBA team... ;)

dugdogmaster

11-04-2008, 03:23 AM

First National City, then Realty One. What's next for Pittsburgh, the Browns?

We already own the Browns:haha:

dugdogmaster

11-04-2008, 03:25 AM

Brandon716

11-04-2008, 03:42 AM

Cool deal Austin, I guess that means your job just got somewhat more secure.

AaronPGH

11-04-2008, 05:40 AM

Good shit!

Evergrey

11-04-2008, 09:30 AM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_596658.html

Not all agree W.Pa. will stay on decline

By Brian Bowling
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The state predicts that Western Pennsylvania will keep losing people over the next two decades, but two economists think the region is poised for growth.

The Pennsylvania State Data Center, the state's official source of population and economic statistics, on Monday released its 2030 county-level population projections. While the forecast shows growth in Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties, it predicts the entire region will have about 176,000 fewer people in 2030 than it had in 2000. That translates into an average annual loss of about 0.2 percent of the region's population as compared to a 0.2 percent annual gain statewide.

Sue Copella, the data center's director, said the numbers reflect an aging population in which deaths continue to outnumber births. Compared to most other major metropolitan areas, the Pittsburgh region doesn't attract the migrants that would make up for that natural loss in population.

Butler County is the usual exception -- with an average annual growth rate of 0.8 percent -- but the state is also projecting growth in Washington and Westmoreland counties after years of decline. Copella said that is based on 2006 data from the Internal Revenue Service that shows more people moving into than out of the two counties.

"We saw that that's starting to turn around for them," she said.

Otherwise, the state estimates the 10-county region will continue to see the same slide in population it's experienced since the collapse of the local steel industry in the 1980s. The state's modest growth will be driven by counties near New York City, according to the center.

Chris Briem, an economist with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Social and Urban Research, however, said his own projections show that decline slowing and then reversing by 2020. From 2020 to 2030, Briem projects Allegheny County and the region will grow by 5 percent to 6 percent.

He said his calculations effectively correspond with the state's projections for the region's births and deaths. The difference is that he uses more economic modeling in predicting what will happen with migration.

The question isn't how well the economy compares to those of Pittsburgh's past, but rather how it compares to economies in other parts of the country, Briem said. Recently, the region's unemployment rate has been lower than the national average, and the local economy has taken less of a hit from the financial crisis than most metropolitan areas'.

If Pittsburgh's economy remains relatively stable, people in the region will be less likely to leave, and people from nearby areas such as Cleveland will be more likely to move here, he said.

"We might be growing right now for all I know," Briem said.

Copella agreed the state's figures don't capture that kind of economic modeling, and the kind of shift Briem describes would increase the region's population.

Martin Holdrich, a senior economist for Woods & Poole Economics in Washington, said his firm's calculations show the region's population decline has bottomed out, and Western Pennsylvania should start growing in the next couple of years. The growth will be slow, giving the region about 14,000 more people in 2030 than it had in 2000, he said.

Since 2000, Western Pennsylvania's population has been shrinking by 0.44 percent annually, but gaining jobs at a 0.45 percent clip, Holdrich said. Woods & Poole projects that job growth will continue, bringing people to the region.

"It's really an amazing transformation in your economy," Holdrich said.

Brian Bowling can be reached at bbowling@tribweb.com or 412-320-7910.

PA Pride

11-04-2008, 03:33 PM

Cool deal Austin, I guess that means your job just got somewhat more secure.

It's pretty secure as is; But it probably made my company less likely to get bought by someone else.

PA Pride

11-04-2008, 03:34 PM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_596658.html
[SIZE="5"]

[B]Copella agreed the state's figures don't capture that kind of economic modeling, and the kind of shift Briem describes would increase the region's population.

Martin Holdrich, a senior economist for Woods & Poole Economics in Washington, said his firm's calculations show the region's population decline has bottomed out, and Western Pennsylvania should start growing in the next couple of years. The growth will be slow, giving the region about 14,000 more people in 2030 than it had in 2000, he said.

Since 2000, Western Pennsylvania's population has been shrinking by 0.44 percent annually, but gaining jobs at a 0.45 percent clip, Holdrich said. Woods & Poole projects that job growth will continue, bringing people to the region.

"It's really an amazing transformation in your economy," Holdrich said.

Brian Bowling can be reached at bbowling@tribweb.com or 412-320-7910.

That's a really slow shift. I think we have a good chance to grow faster than that.

DBR96A

11-04-2008, 05:48 PM

First National City, then Realty One. What's next for Pittsburgh, the Browns?

We already own the Browns. :whip:

DBR96A

11-04-2008, 05:49 PM

We already own the Browns:haha:

Dammit, someone stole my thunder. :hell:

PA Pride

11-05-2008, 03:47 AM

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 5:18 PM EST
Planning commission approves Oakland office building development
Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

A seven-story office building will soon rise on one of Oakland’s last vacant parcels.

The project, which Uptown-based developer The Elmhurst Group has pursued for more than two years, received approval Tuesday from Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission — the last major hurdle in the approval process.

Elmhurst will develop the building, designed by architecture firm Burt Hill, on the 0.6-acre parking lot of Oakland’s First Baptist Church at the intersection of Bigelow Boulevard and Bayard Street.

Bill Hunt, president of Elmhurst, said the company will begin construction on the 100,000-square-foot building, expected to cost over $15 million, in the spring, with an 18-month construction window.

The approval is the culmination of a controversial battle between the developer and local residents over the building’s size, originally proposed at 10 stories and 140,000 square feet. While the Planning Commission had previously approved the project, the city’s Historical Review Commission had objected to its height and set-back from the street. The conflict resulted in a court ruling and successful appeal last year that effectively blocked a larger version of the project.

But Elmhurst began seeking approval for the smaller project this summer and gained unanimous approval from the Historical Review Commission in September.

Also at Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting, North Side-based developer a.m. Rodriguez Associates Inc. received approval to move forward with its plan to convert the former South Hills High School property on Mount Washington into a 106-unit senior housing development.

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

Which building was this? Do we have a rendering?

Johnland

11-06-2008, 01:26 AM

Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - 5:18 PM EST
Planning commission approves Oakland office building development
Pittsburgh Business Times - by Ben Semmes

A seven-story office building will soon rise on one of Oakland’s last vacant parcels.

Which building was this? Do we have a rendering?

Well at least this is something to look forward to in Oakland. Seven stories sound pretty unspectacular size-wise. Hopefully the design will make up for the short height. I am amazed Oakland doesn't have more exciting development going on, given it's eminent position in the economic hiearchy of jobs (health/education/research) location (3 miles from Downtown, on the doorstep to great East End neighborhoods) and demographics (large student population).

dugdogmaster

11-06-2008, 03:07 AM

Dammit, someone stole my thunder. :hell:
My bad, you can have the next one

Smoker

11-06-2008, 06:26 AM

I've often heard the comment that Pitt owns most of Oakland. I thought this was in reference to houses turned into apartments/student housing. Do they own any significant amount of commercial properties?

Evergrey

11-06-2008, 07:15 AM

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_597016.html

Prime North Shore site sold

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, November 6, 2008

The city Stadium Authority has completed the sale of one of two prime pieces of North Shore property where the Pittsburgh Steelers want to build a 178-room Hyatt Place and a companion year-round entertainment complex.

The purchase price for the 3.96-acre site near Heinz Field was $1.38 million, according to documents filed Tuesday with the Allegheny County Real Estate Department.

The buyer was PSSI Stadium Corp., which manages Heinz Field.

The price was approved by the authority for the entertainment portion of the development.

"We are pleased that we were able to close on the purchase of the property for the entertainment center," said Steelers President Art Rooney II in a statement. "We are looking forward to moving ahead with the final planning and development phase of the property."

Rooney said the plan is to develop an indoor/outdoor year-round entertainment venue that would seat 5,000 people outdoors and 2,000 indoors.

Officials previously said PromoWest Productions of Columbus, Ohio, will operate a concert venue at the site similar to one it operates in Ohio.

The sale is another blow for North Side United, a pro-labor neighborhood group that filed a lawsuit to stop the sports team from buying an adjoining property known as Lot 6 that is targeted for the hotel.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Joseph James threw out the lawsuit in a ruling last month.

The Stadium Authority voted Aug. 6 to sell that 3.53-acre site for a price of $1.32 million. Officials of the authority could not be reached for comment.

North Side United claimed that price shortchanged taxpayers because it was 10 times under its market value. However, the authority argued in court papers that the group's members don't have legal standing to stop the authority from selling the parcel.

With the sale, the land would go on the tax rolls.

The Stadium Authority has set a Dec. 1 deadline for Continental Real Estate Cos., the Columbus-based developer working with the Steelers and Pirates to develop property between Heinz Field and PNC Park.

That deadline could be extended to April 1, 2009, if Continental is "diligently" pursuing efforts to secure government approvals past Nov. 30.

"We are working to get the various approvals needed so we can get the development started," Frank Kass, Continental's chairman, said yesterday.

Kass previously said Continental would seek $4 million in state funds to support the development.

"We strongly object to this land deal," said Michael Glass, co-chair of North Side United.

He said the group plans to appeal James' ruling on the lawsuit and will oppose any public funding allocation for the project.

"We see this as virtually free land based on a back-door deal ... that was done with complete disregard to the needs of North Side residents," he said.

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

...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_597069.html

New building planned for Bloomfield site

By The Tribune-Review
Thursday, November 6, 2008

Developers planning a seven-story building at the former Don Allen Auto City site in Bloomfield have acquired another piece of land. Doc Legacy L.P., representing developer Doc Economou, which with members of the Voelker family is developing the $230 million Baum-Liberty Crossing complex, paid $3 million to the U.S. Postal Service for a vacant parcel at 5216 Liberty Ave., according to a deed filed in Allegheny County.

Evergrey

11-06-2008, 09:38 AM

didn't see this coming!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08311/925813-147.stm

Delta to begin nonstop flights to Paris

Spring startup seen as coup for region

Thursday, November 06, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It will be Paris in the springtime from Pittsburgh International Airport.

Local political and business leaders are expected to announce today that Delta Air Lines will begin nonstop service between Pittsburgh and Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport starting this spring, most likely in April.

The commitment represents a major coup for the region, which has been without nonstop international flights since November 2004, when US Airways dropped service to London and Frankfurt as part of a dramatic downsizing at Pittsburgh International.

"If this is true, it's a great achievement for the county and represents tremendous progress for Pittsburgh and the region. Pittsburgh needs this. Especially in this kind of economy, any good news is great news," said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who has been working with Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato to restore flights to Europe.

The service is expected to start with four to five flights a week, with at least two of those originating in Pittsburgh.

Delta currently is the airport's third-largest carrier, with about 11 percent of all traffic. Its Pittsburgh service includes nonstop flights to Atlanta, Cincinnati, and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City.

"We do not have any announcement at this time," Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said last night.

Mr. Onorato, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, and other political and business leaders have been working for years to find a carrier willing to give nonstop European flights from Pittsburgh a shot after the loss of the US Airways service.

Over the past few years, they had reached out to a number of major international carriers, including British Airways, Lufthansa, and Northwest and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, as part of that effort.

Officials also tried repeatedly to persuade US Airways to resume flights to London or Frankfurt without success.

Last year, Pittsburgh did end up on a short list of airports Northwest and KLM were considering for nonstop service to Amsterdam.

But more recently, the dramatic spike in fuel prices, coupled with cutbacks by all major airlines in response, seemed to make the resumption of European service from Pittsburgh a long shot at best.

Delta and Northwest merged last spring in a $17.7 billion deal that creates the world's largest airline. The merger announcement came a year after both carriers emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The U.S. Justice Department approved the merger last month.

Although Pittsburgh has suffered the loss of hundreds of daily flights because of the US Airways cutbacks, local leaders repeatedly made the pitch that the region could support nonstop international service, in part because of the presence of major firms like Bayer, U.S. Steel, Reed Smith, PPG Industries, and Medrad.

The Allegheny Conference estimated earlier this year that on average 325 people a day leave Pittsburgh for destinations in Europe and beyond and the same number return each day.

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