PITTSBURGH | Rundown [Archive] - Page 54

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 05:25 AM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08346/934360-28.stm

BNY Mellon name to adorn One Mellon Center, while Consol buys rights to new arena

Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The venerable Mellon name has adorned the 54-story One Mellon Center skyscraper Downtown for more than a decade. But it's about to get some company.

Two years after the announced merger between The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial, the name atop one of the city's tallest buildings will change as well -- from Mellon to BNY Mellon.

But the Mellon name probably won't go with the Penguins to their new arena. Southpointe-based Consol Energy Inc. has reached a deal with the team for the naming rights to the new building, KDKA-TV reported last night.

Neither the Penguins nor Consol would comment. The agreement is believed to be similar to the deal, worth more than $5 million a year, that Prudential reached with the New Jersey Devils for the naming rights to their new arena.

The Bank of New York Mellon has asked city planners for permission to replace the name on the Downtown skyscraper. The change will cost the company an estimated $900,000, according to documents filed with the city's planning department. Construction is expected to start in June.

As planned, the BNY MELLON sign, 14 feet high and 137 feet long, will straddle the north and south sides of the building. A new corporate logo, a 24-foot-high gold, bronze and silver arrow, will occupy the east and west sides. The letters and logo are the same height as the current Mellon letters and symbol.

BNY Mellon won a variance from the city's zoning board of adjustment for the 24-foot-high logo. The zoning code currently limits the height of such signs to 20 feet, but the Mellon logo predated that law.

Lane Cigna, a BNY Mellon spokeswoman, said the change is part of a corporate rebranding initiative involving hundreds of properties across the globe. Some properties will carry The Bank of New York Mellon name while BNY Mellon will be on others.

"It depends on the geography and what we do there. It depends on what business lines are located there and how familiar residents and clients are with us," spokesman Ron Gruendl said.

The logo will be the same everywhere. The company already has changed banners within One Mellon Center to read BNY Mellon.

When the merger was announced two years ago, Chief Executive Officer Robert Kelly vowed that Mellon's Downtown buildings would keep their Mellon signs.

Mr. Gruendl said the new sign keeps that promise because "the name Mellon is in there. It's BNY Mellon."

However, the company will stick with the Mellon name on the arena until the end of its naming rights deal with the Penguins because "it's so well branded as Mellon Arena," Ms. Cigna said. It has changed the name on the arena dasher boards inside to BNY Mellon.

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

http://www.consolenergy.com/images/consollogo.gif

http://www.bnymellon.com/img/nav/tbnymlogo.gif

EventHorizon

12-11-2008, 10:32 AM

I'll miss that mellon logo... It added a great green tint to the nighttime skyline. BNYM has a nice clean logo though.

And will it be Consol Arena or Consol Energy Arena?

I like the former.

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 10:46 AM

we'll still have a green tint thanks to Citizens

http://i531.photobucket.com/albums/dd360/pittsburghrules/westwood/6b4a9bf0.jpg?t=1227678467

I really love the BNY Mellon logo... and am curious to see how it will appear illuminated on the tower

AaronPGH

12-11-2008, 04:01 PM

I like the old Mellon logo much more. The BNY Mellon logo is a lot less modern. Seems like it's trying to say "Financial" too hard.

pj3000

12-11-2008, 04:32 PM

I prefer New York Mellons.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2330467049_cc2c0d240c_o.jpg

PA Pride

12-11-2008, 04:36 PM

^That looks like monte carlo.

Consol Energy! Wow.... We have been seeing their ads everywhere lately.

pj3000

12-11-2008, 04:40 PM

^Yeah, it may very well be... that's NY Gov. Spitzer's "lady-friend".

themaguffin

12-11-2008, 05:09 PM

tooluther

12-11-2008, 05:15 PM

AaronPGH

12-11-2008, 05:18 PM

I don't understand why Consol has consumer advertising (and why in the world they will pay so much for the arena naming rights). Its not like you and I are heading to Giant Eagle to buy coal for our homes.

It's a PR thing. Working in advertising we handle clients like this all of the time. They have a less than favorable public image, so when they raise prices consumers bitch (even though they need the energy). These campaigns are designed to make the brand more "friendly", so that people will shrug off rate increases.

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 05:35 PM

Don Allen site developers pull plans for now
Thursday, December 11, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A development team pitching one of the biggest building projects on Pittsburgh's drawing board has withdrawn its application for zoning approvals because negotiations with community groups failed to resolve issues.

The withdrawal at today's packed Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting doesn't kill the seven-story, 120-unit hotel slated for 5210 Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield -- the developer DOC-Economou plans to rework its plans and reapply -- but it reflects the difficulty of getting agreement between the builders and at least a half dozen community groups.

"We've been meeting every night," said City Councilman William Peduto, who represents the area. "There were some issues that couldn't be resolved."

Neighbors want "a win-win situation between having a nice project and having something the homeowners can live with," said Janet Cercone Scullion, president of the Bloomfield Citizens Council. The withdrawal "gives everyone a cooling-off period and people can come back to the table with a better plan."

Representatives of the developer said there have been 50 meetings with more than 1,000 people from Bloomfield, Friendship and Shadyside, and numerous concessions.

"We seem to be at an impasse and the project lacks critical community support," said Richard Voelker, an owner of the former Don Allen's Auto City and part of the development team. "By withdrawing our application it will provide time for all parties involved to review the site plan and come together, supporting a development that will work for the majority of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods and for the greater good of this region."

The critical issues are the height of the proposed extended-stay hotel across from the car dealership, the flow of traffic from it, and rules for future development.

Residents want the hotel cut to five stories.

"Any lower [than seven stories] and we're starting to lose product," said Mark Dellana, executive vice president of construction and development for DOC-Economo, who added that his team already shaved seven feet from the proposed height. Going lower would also force the developer to elimate first-floor stores, he said.

Residents want traffic to flow on to Liberty Avenue, not narrow Powhattan Street. "They're planning to put the parking and the entrances and exits to the parking on our small, little residential street," said Laura Hodge, a Powhattan resident whose 6-year-old daughter uses the Osceola Parklet playground on the street.

DOC-Economou representatives said they're able to steer some vehicles, including all trucks, directly on to Liberty Avenue, but that city administrators don't want it all flowing straight to the main thoroughfare.

isn't that hotel directly across the street about 7 stories? Peduto himself helped develop a "high-density urban" vision for the Baum-Centre corridor a few years ago... I know that the community (and their countless "community groups") should be part of the process... but sometimes I feel like they would prefer a drive-thru Arby's.. or perhaps the existing sea of vacant parking lots... than to be inconvenienced by a new thriving development pumping tax dollars into this financially crippled municipality... I just don't trust a lot of these people... they can often have a very isolationist, myopic view on anything ever getting done... and they just go nuts over anything having to do with traffic, parking and height

here we have a developer who's bullish on Pittsburgh... who apparently has a very rare asset these days of frozen credit... financing... and we still can't get anything done

I don't want to come across as some "bulldoze everything" pro-development zealot... but Powhatan St. really sucks... there's a couple houses there... but it's an alleyway dominated by the ugly post office parking lot... the former Don Allen lots... Ritter's Diner lot... etc.

Are we to stop every potential development due to the protestations of every awful, lightly-populated glorified alleyway in the city?

AaronPGH

12-11-2008, 05:51 PM

Wow....absolutely insane. That's the project I was most looking forward to in PGH. I hope the delay is short.

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 05:56 PM

Wow....absolutely insane. That's the project I was most looking forward to in PGH. I hope the delay is short.

I kinda felt this would happen ever since the first difficulties with this nebulous consortium of community groups came to light a few months ago

pj3000

12-11-2008, 05:59 PM

These campaigns are designed to make the brand more "friendly", so that people will shrug off rate increases.

And overlook fact that consol has destroyed the landscape throughout West Virgina, western Maryland, and areas of SW Pa with strip mining for the dirtiest bituminous coal for the past 100 years.

pj3000

12-11-2008, 06:02 PM

I don't want to come across as some "bulldoze everything" pro-development zealot... but Powhatan St. really sucks... there's a couple houses there... but it's an alleyway dominated by the ugly post office parking lot... the former Don Allen lots... Ritter's Diner lot... etc.

I hate Ritter's Diner

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 06:05 PM

I hate Ritter's Diner

finally someone agrees with me! Terrible food! Raw service! It kinda represents the worst aspects of "Old Pittsburgh" IMO! :haha: (which is probably why it has such "hipster cred" these days)

Brentsters

12-11-2008, 06:29 PM

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 06:36 PM

Hmm I'm not so sure it's due to neighborhood resistance as it's no financing in place. They were supposed to start their hotel at Southside Works last summer and the last time I saw it nothing was happening.

This article says the URA hasn't even turned over the land to them because of financing doubts.

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2008/11/03/story6.html

I think it's just a convenient excuse for them. On the plus side, maybe the delay will give them time to come up with a less boring design.

Having trouble securing financing for the SSW project doesn't necessarily mean they faced the same problem in Bloomfield. According to articles I read over the summer, they had secured financing... but a key international financier was growing skittish due to the delays caused by the community process. Of course, Doc-Economou could've been bluffing... perhaps that international financier pulled out and they are indeed using community opposition as an excuse to meekly back off the project.

Now that the project is "pulled"... I worry that they may face a much more difficult challenge securing financing for this project in the future due to continued deterioration of global capital markets.

pj3000

12-11-2008, 06:42 PM

finally someone agrees with me! Terrible food! Raw service! It kinda represents the worst aspects of "Old Pittsburgh" IMO! :haha: (which is probably why it has such "hipster cred" these days)

YES! You're right about all of it. I hope they knock that place down too, with the owner and staff still in it... seriously.

PittPenn 03

12-11-2008, 07:08 PM

YES! You're right about all of it. I hope they knock that place down too, with the owner and staff still in it... seriously.

Without "Old Pittsburgh" we really become just another face in the crowd. Places like Ritter's is what sets us apart from any other cities our size. While their food is mediocre, the dinner atmosphere is a dying breed. What would you have there, another boring fusion restaurant with Ikea lighting for the Whole Foods set that is like any other in any other city? No thanks! I'd take Ritter's gruffness anyday -Pittsburgh to the core!

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 07:10 PM

more on the death of a development

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_602575.html

Plans for Bloomfield hotel, retail complex shelved

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

Plans to build a $230 million hotel and retail complex known as Baum Liberty Crossing in Bloomfield are on hold -- indefinitely.

Neighbors are unhappy about the height of the building and the increased vehicle traffic it would bring to residential Powhattan Street, and the proximity to the street of the parking lot entrance and exit.

Developer DOC-Economou has made major changes to try to ally the residents' concerns, to no avail. DOC-Economou withdrew its requests for two required zoning variances today at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting attended by more than a dozen Bloomfield residents.

The developer was granted an indefinite delay to give it time to continue negotiating with neighbors in hopes of reaching a compromise.

"The developers, at considerable cost to them, have agreed to four continuances and multiple amendments to the original site plan to address the community's and the city's concerns from these meetings," said Richard Voelker, president of DA Diversified Inc., owner of the property that is the former site of Don Allen Auto City.

The changes include removing two floors of condominiums, cutting the amount of retail space on the first floor to 18,000 square feet, down from 84,000 square feet and reducing the height of the building from 97 feet to 90 feet (seven stories). The maximum permitted is 45 feet; anything higher requires a zoning variance.

"However, we seem to be at an impasse and the project lacks critical community support," Voelker said in a statement. "By withdrawing our application it will provide time for all parties involved to review the site plan and come together, supporting a development that will work for the majority of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods and for the greater good of this region."

Laura Hodge, who lives on Powhattan Street, said she's not against development, but she worries the 800 cars expected to travel her street to reach the hotel and retail space would endanger children at a nearby playground in Osceola Park.

"I would love to see them work with the neighbors and, you know, maybe not make a seven-story hotel ... the neighbors would like five stories, and to put the (parking) entrance and exit on Liberty Avenue, which is a main thoroughfare, and that's what main thoroughfares are for," Hodge said.

Janet Cercone Scullion, president of the Bloomfield Citizens Council, said the indefinite delay will give both sides a much-needed "cooling off period."

"People can come back to the table and have a better plan, maybe, and a more definite plan," she said.

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

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 07:18 PM

What would you have there, another boring fusion restaurant with Ikea lighting for the Whole Foods set that is like any other in any other city?

Yes!

btw, it's just the personal opinion of pj3000 and I... IMO there's good "Old Pittsburgh"... which there is a ton of and is truly the soul of the city and makes it special... the architecture of our historic neighborhoods... the cultural largess of industrial might... the walkability and the shopping districts dominated by so many independent businesses... the golden onion domes of St. John's Ukrainian... the old ladies that make Bulgarian soups in Homestead

but there's bad "Old Pittsburgh" too... elements of the Yinzer culture... elements that represent the vision-less economic climate of the last days of steel mid-century... elements that represent cultural hostility... elements that represent the fact that we were the only major metro to vote MORE REPUBLICAN in 2008... elements that speak to the long-term population decline... the economic malaise... the lack of newcomers... the self-loathing... things that defined Pittsburgh for so long as the rest of the country was moving forward... the types of things we are only very recently shaking off...

Ritters' bad food and surly service encapsulates much of that IMO... though it ironically has also become a "hip joint"...

btw, don't take this all too seriously.. I just don't like the place lol there's plenty of Pittsburgh institutions that do that sort of thing MUCH BETTER... Tom's for example (especially the new yuppified Tom's! lol )

Minivan Werner

12-11-2008, 07:27 PM

Speaking of that area, is there any motion on the Bakery Square project? Haven't been down there in a while.

Evergrey

12-11-2008, 07:51 PM

Speaking of that area, is there any motion on the Bakery Square project? Haven't been down there in a while.

it's moving along... I think they signed an Anthropologie for one of the retail spaces...

Grego43

12-11-2008, 11:33 PM

but there's bad "Old Pittsburgh" too... elements of the Yinzer culture... elements that represent the vision-less economic climate of the last days of steel mid-century... elements that represent cultural hostility... elements that represent the fact that we were the only major metro to vote MORE REPUBLICAN in 2008... elements that speak to the long-term population decline... the economic malaise... the lack of newcomers... the self-loathing... things that defined Pittsburgh for so long as the rest of the country was moving forward... the types of things we are only very recently shaking off...

Very well said, Evergrey. I think you've done a good job of summing my thoughts as well, thank you. I am a native who moved away but still has very strong ties to Pittsburgh. I've been reluctant to voice my opinions, lest I'm accused of being part of the root cause of Pittsburgh's decline (as I have been on this very board).

By the way, the increase in Republican votes this year can be attributed to racism, pure and simple. Such an embarrassment to a region with a once-proud Democratic history.

Johnland

12-11-2008, 11:49 PM

I can't believe two stories was a deal breaker. It's in the city!

Brentsters

12-12-2008, 12:46 AM

Having trouble securing financing for the SSW project doesn't necessarily mean they faced the same problem in Bloomfield. According to articles I read over the summer, they had secured financing...

Yes, they're 2 completely separate projects, probably with 2 different investors. But as the SSW hotel shows, even with financing in place they can still feel the effects of the tightening markets. It is, of course, entirely possible they just didn't want to battle the community anymore. I'm just raising the point that given the circumstances it's not unplausible especially since their other project suffered the same fate.

If it is because of community backlash, then that's pretty ridiculus considering Powhattan probably has less than 10 residents and Osceola not much more. It would be a nightmare emptying out on to Baum since people drive on it like it's a highway. If I'm biking, I already avoid it when possible.

I hope it does eventually get built since it's such a prominent location, but I'd be happier if it had more of a modern style similar to FDA's Glass Lofts or that new office building by West Penn (totally subjective of course).

DBR96A

12-12-2008, 12:47 AM

Very well said, Evergrey. I think you've done a good job of summing my thoughts as well, thank you. I am a native who moved away but still has very strong ties to Pittsburgh. I've been reluctant to voice my opinions, lest I'm accused of being part of the root cause of Pittsburgh's decline (as I have been on this very board).

By the way, the increase in Republican votes this year can be attributed to racism, pure and simple. Such an embarrassment to a region with a once-proud Democratic history.

If racism is at the root of the region's red shift, then maybe the "yinzer" culture is being exiled into the exurbs. Allegheny and Butler Counties both experienced a "blue shift" in 2008 compared to 2004, and they're the region's most important and fastest-growing counties, respectively. The "red shift" in Armstrong, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties didn't surprise me, though, considering I always thought of those three counties as rather backwards in comparison to Allegheny County.

The way I see it, Allegheny County is tolerant enough for the most part, with Butler County improving in recent years. Eventually Washington County will improve too, as the northern part of the county continues to grow and the eastern part of the county continues to shrink. Westmoreland and Fayette Counties will probably remain backwards in comparison to the rest of the region, though. I'm not sure what will happen to Beaver County.

Brentsters

12-12-2008, 01:23 AM

So I don't wanna keep hammering at this issue but I have time to kill since I finished finals today and won't be getting drunk for another hour. According to this Pittsburgh Business Times back issue it seems the primary investor is a capital group out of....wait for it....ICELAND. Just sayin.

http://www.doceconomou.com/media_room/DE-Pittsburgh%20Business%20Time%201_18_08.pdf

EDIT: I just realized saying Iceland without any explanation may not be clear to some. Iceland has been hit particularly hard by the economic crisis and is in danger of losing their currency. Refer to this thread (which Evergrey started)...http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=161055&highlight=iceland

dugdogmaster

12-12-2008, 01:57 AM

Evergrey

12-12-2008, 08:13 AM

I can't believe two stories was a deal breaker. It's in the city!

yeah... I know...

Yes, they're 2 completely separate projects, probably with 2 different investors. But as the SSW hotel shows, even with financing in place they can still feel the effects of the tightening markets. It is, of course, entirely possible they just didn't want to battle the community anymore. I'm just raising the point that given the circumstances it's not unplausible especially since their other project suffered the same fate.

If it is because of community backlash, then that's pretty ridiculus considering Powhattan probably has less than 10 residents and Osceola not much more. It would be a nightmare emptying out on to Baum since people drive on it like it's a highway. If I'm biking, I already avoid it when possible.

I hope it does eventually get built since it's such a prominent location, but I'd be happier if it had more of a modern style similar to FDA's Glass Lofts or that new office building by West Penn (totally subjective of course).

yeah... Baum Blvd is an awful hellish stretch of high-speed traffic... I hate it I hate it I hate it... to invoke Kunstler... it's an "automobile sewer"

If racism is at the root of the region's red shift, then maybe the "yinzer" culture is being exiled into the exurbs. Allegheny and Butler Counties both experienced a "blue shift" in 2008 compared to 2004, and they're the region's most important and fastest-growing counties, respectively. The "red shift" in Armstrong, Fayette and Westmoreland Counties didn't surprise me, though, considering I always thought of those three counties as rather backwards in comparison to Allegheny County.

The way I see it, Allegheny County is tolerant enough for the most part, with Butler County improving in recent years. Eventually Washington County will improve too, as the northern part of the county continues to grow and the eastern part of the county continues to shrink. Westmoreland and Fayette Counties will probably remain backwards in comparison to the rest of the region, though. I'm not sure what will happen to Beaver County.

While Allegheny is colored blue in that famous NY Times shift map... it actually didn't shift at all... it voted 15% margin for Dems in both 2004 and 2008... the only major urban county in the U.S. not to vote more blue in 2008 (even if you liked Palin... you gotta admit that Allegheny is an anomaly in this case and it says something really strange about our electorate)

As for Butler... it shifted blue by 2%... and that's more due to the fact that it has been so extremely red... how much redder could it possibly get? beyond Cranberry and maybe Adams Township... the vast majority of Butler county is rather disengaged from Metro Pittsburgh. Butler city has less connectivity with Pittsburgh than Greensburg or Washington. And most of the rest of the county is an inaccessible backwater.

So I don't wanna keep hammering at this issue but I have time to kill since I finished finals today and won't be getting drunk for another hour. According to this Pittsburgh Business Times back issue it seems the primary investor is a capital group out of....wait for it....ICELAND. Just sayin.

http://www.doceconomou.com/media_room/DE-Pittsburgh%20Business%20Time%201_18_08.pdf

EDIT: I just realized saying Iceland without any explanation may not be clear to some. Iceland has been hit particularly hard by the economic crisis and is in danger of losing their currency. Refer to this thread (which Evergrey started)...http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=161055&highlight=iceland

Hammer away all you want, Brentsters. Good research. For some reason I suspected this investor was Icelandic. That would certainly be a big reason why this project could fall through. You may be on to something about Doc-Economou using the protestations of the Powhatan St. population as an excuse to pull out...

Evergrey

12-12-2008, 09:24 AM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08347/934652-52.stm

Developer pulls Bloomfield hotel plan -- for now

Move comes after negotiations with community groups founder
Friday, December 12, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Too tall and too busy for neighbors, a proposed Bloomfield hotel that's a cornerstone of a $230 million complex was pulled off of the city of Pittsburgh's table yesterday after the developer and community groups couldn't come to terms, raising questions about the project's future.

The setback became evident at a Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, when developer DOC-Economou -- with scores of residents poised to testify against it -- asked for an indefinite postponement of a needed public hearing. Board members advised that it might as well just withdraw its request for special approvals and start over.

"The community and the developer appear to be at an impasse," Brenda Yurick, a principal at DOC-Economou, said later.

Is the entire project threatened? She paused, then said, "I don't believe it's jeopardized."

"If the community puts together its plan, if the city offers some creative alternatives on the traffic side, and the developer commits to a master plan, this thing can be put back together again," said a weary-looking City Councilman William Peduto, who represents the area and was in negotiating sessions with the developer and community leaders every night this week.

The full development centers on the Don Allen's Auto City site, but the hotel would be across the street, replacing the empty building at 5210 Liberty Ave. DOC-Economou wants to build a seven-story, 90-foot hotel. It needs the zoning board to approve the presence of a hotel in the neighborhood, and the height, which is double what's normally allowed. It could win approval without neighborhood ascent, but might then face court appeals that could block construction for a year.

"The homeowners are not happy with 90 feet," said Janet Cercone Scullion, president of the Bloomfield Citizens Council. They would accept a five-story hotel, she said.

Mark Dellana, executive vice president of construction and development for DOC-Economou, said cutting floors would mean fewer rooms and no street-level stores.

Residents also are upset that traffic would flow on to tiny Powhattan Street, rather than busy Liberty or Baum Boulevard.

"They're planning to put the parking and the entrances and exits to the parking on our small, little residential street," said Laura Hodge, a Powhattan resident whose 6-year-old daughter uses the Osceola Parklet playground on the street. She wants the developer "to put the entrance and exit on Liberty Avenue, which is a main thoroughfare. That's what main thoroughfares are for."

During the week of talks, DOC-Economou cut the hotel down from an original 97 feet, eliminated 50 condominiums from the hotel parcel, reduced the store space, shifted some parking from the basement to the ground floor and moved some traffic off of Powhattan.

"We have completely revised the composition of the building," said Ms. Yurick. She said her team has met with neighbors 50 times, and will meet again.

At least six groups from Bloomfield, Friendship and Shadyside are weighing in, and they are not always in agreement. A tentative deal put together Wednesday night was nixed yesterday morning when one group said it needed more time to consider it.

The developer is willing to put forth a master plan for the entire three-block development, which is also to include townhouses, stores, offices and medical space. It wants to get that plan approved through the standard city planning process, while some neighborhood leaders want a modified process and restrictions on what's built on the Don Allen parcel.

"I don't know of anybody in the community that's opposed to this area being developed," said Mr. Peduto. "I don't view this as an end. I view this as a cooling-off period."

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

Black-n-Gold

12-12-2008, 01:49 PM

Almost every big project in town that didn't have final financing in place as of about a month and a half ago is on indefinite hold until the financial markets start moving again. Final financing isn't typically in place on a commercial project until just before construction actually starts, so I think that's what most likely happened on this project in spite of what they're saying publicly.

I know of several other projects in town that are going through the same thing.

chucka

12-12-2008, 02:20 PM

Someone wanted an updated on the Mon Wharf project. This article from Pop City details the many riverfront projects underway.

Changemaker: Lisa Schroeder, Riverlife Task Force (http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/lisaschroeder1210.aspx)
By: Abby Mendelson

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Features/Issue%20138/Lisa%20Schroeder/ls_2914_450_2.jpg

December 10, 2008
Warming to her subject, she gestures across a large map spread across a conference room table in the Regional Enterprise Tower. South Shore Riverfront Park hither, Mon Wharf Landing thither, Convention Center Riverfront Park yon. And more.

Three Rivers Park, the area between the West End Bridge on the Ohio to the Hot Metal Bridge on the Monongahela River to the 31st Street Bridge on the Allegheny River -- 13 glorious miles of riverfront -- is what Riverlife Task Force Executive Director Lisa Schroeder calls the region’s first “large-scale holistic vision for connecting all of Pittsburgh’s assets to the rivers.” She pauses. “In so doing, we have set a new paradigm for involving the public in a planning process.

“Riverlife has involved five mayors, 12 non-profits, the support of the philanthropic, foundation, corporate and business communities,” Schroeder adds. “It’s the ultimate example of all hands making light work.”

As in any Renaissance or Russian play, there have been many actors in the drama, and many twists in the plot. Through it all, however, at center stage has been Schroeder, holding numerous planning and government and economic strings in her hand. Certainly, it’s credit that she immediately shares with many others, great and small. Nevertheless, here, at the still small center, in the eye of the hurricane, it’s been Lisa Schroeder all along, a woman who has brought infinite change to Pittsburgh.

Finding Her Inner Harbor
Born in Baltimore, into a family of land-use activists, she “grew up in a city rescuing and redoing its waterfront,” she recalls. Watching the world-famous Inner Harbor take shape, she went off to Hobart College, in Geneva, New York, took a master’s in urban planning and historical preservation from Columbia, and worked to reclaim the Hoboken, New Jersey, waterfront.

Consulting in New York and Connecticut, taking a six-year sojourn in Maine at the Greater Portland Landmarks Association, she landed in Pittsburgh a decade ago, getting involved in what was then a new Task Force, Riverlife. “The public wanted to get to the rivers,” she recalls. “Designers, planners, historians, business people wanted to make Pittsburgh a better place. They all found an umbrella in Riverlife. Riverlife combusted into being – and when it came together, it was a diverse group with nothing in common but bold thought and action. All those people dared to think long-term. They dared to think that all riverfront projects could be connected – all the bridges, trails, communities, water landings. That is the gift that Riverlife will leave behind.

“In many ways,” she continues, “they all discovered that the rivers offer a place where the community can gather at anytime. As such, the rivers become a whole new urban center. Coinciding with the drive for people to move back to cities, rivers are now seen as an urban resource second to none. So our task at Riverlife has been to restore the green edge of the rivers to Downtown.”

Officially coming aboard in January, 2000 to manage the Master Planning Consultant Team, Schroeder recalls that “was an absolute thrill for me.” Initiating a world-wide competition, seeking the world’s best talent to create a waterfront urban design, foster economic development, engender transportation, inspire public art and landscaping, Schroeder led Riverlife through a mind-bending 120 public meetings over two years. Working with her own Urban Design Committee, the Department of City Planning, and with disparate property owners, she moved the Riverlife task inexorably forward. As but one of her Herculean efforts, she negotiated with 20 different property owners. “It sounds basic now,” she allows, “but 10 years ago it was unheard of.”

In October, 2001 Riverlife presented A Vision Plan for Pittsburgh’s Riverfronts, outlining an urban river park that would open up the rivers to the community. Even then, she says, “people still thought of rivers as back doors to the city.” Now, seven years later, with Riverlife’s five major riverfront projects in final design and construction, that perception has completely changed:

Point State Park. Riverlife (along with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) has overseen the restoration of the 36-acre park, along with the installation of new waterfront amenities, including a water taxi stand, public splash pool, amphitheater, and boat dock. As the largest park project in Commonwealth history, construction will last another two years. “Here, Riverlife continues a tradition that started some 60 years ago,” Schroeder says. “Point State Park was the first national example of greening a city on a major scale.”

Mon Wharf Landing. In the construction bid stage, the five-acre parking lot will be transformed into a sustainable greenway, boat dock, trail linking Point State Park and the Eliza Furnace Trail (and the Great Allegheny Passage beyond), and floating park mounted on barges.

South Shore Riverfront Park. The lion’s share of the credit for the $10.6 million project goes to the Sofer organization and the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, Schroeder says, for an entirely new use that scales down some 30 feet from SouthSide Works to water level. There, there’ll be a landing, performance space, trails, boat docking, and walls from the original J&L mill. “This,” she says, “is a major riverfront project yet to come.”

Convention Center Riverfront Park. Now in final design, the area near the Convention Center will include green landscaping and a riverfront trail.

Majestic Star Casino. Including a riverfront park, major water landing, amphitheater, trail, and green bank plantings, the North Shore casino area is the final piece of the current puzzle. “That’s a tremendous amount of improvement to be completed in 18-24 months from now,” Schroeder says. “It’s a significant change in our park system.”

Well sure. Now for a little breathing room? Nah. Riverlife’s too smart to take the pressure off. Looking ahead to 2020 – a mere 11 years away – Schroeder et. al. are working on multiple major projects, including Ohio River Basin North, Ohio River Basin South, a spectacular re-design for the West End Bridge, and others. In addition, she says, “we want to lay the groundwork for water transportation,” water taxis that will whisk people door-to-door on the rivers. With at least a dozen embarkation points planned, “it should really open up the city,” she says.

“We’re on a roll,” Schroeder smiles. “Here we are, with all these major projects. And the best is yet to come.”

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Features/Issue%20138/Lisa%20Schroeder/motherdaughter_5149_300.jpg

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Features/Issue%20138/Lisa%20Schroeder/kayak_6250_300.jpg

DBR96A

12-12-2008, 04:22 PM

While Allegheny is colored blue in that famous NY Times shift map... it actually didn't shift at all... it voted 15% margin for Dems in both 2004 and 2008... the only major urban county in the U.S. not to vote more blue in 2008 (even if you liked Palin... you gotta admit that Allegheny is an anomaly in this case and it says something really strange about our electorate)

I know that the New York Times map said Democrats +15% in both 2004 and 2008 in Allegheny County, but the county is still colored blue, so I'm thinking that there could have been a difference in decimal points, like Democrats +15.1% in 2004, and +15.4% in 2008. Just speculation on my part, though. As for how much "redder" a county can get, Westmoreland County was pretty red in 2004, and it got redder still.

If you're looking for a kernel to be positive about in terms of cultural tolerance, consider this: Butler County is fast-growing, increasingly educated and affluent, and younger than any other outlying Pittsburgh metro county. It shifted blue. Westmoreland County is slowly shrinking, neither as educated nor as affluent as Butler County, and relatively old too. It shifted red.

Can we agree that among those who voted McCain for race-related reasons, that nine out of 10 such people are over the age of 50 or 55? That's why I'm not beside myself with embarrassment; it's more a reflection of the region's past than its present or future.

Evergrey

12-12-2008, 04:29 PM

McCain did win the national white vote by like 10 points... and Pittsburgh is the whitest major metro in the country at about 89% (though that's probably declined slightly since 2000)... Minneapolis is right behind at about 88%... though they shifted bluer

heck... my home county of Elk... in the middle of nowhere... older population than Pittsburgh... and 98.6% white... can shift blue and actually give Obama a 51-46 victory margin... kinda embarrassing that Elk County could go blue when not a single Metro Pittsburgh county could (besides Allegheny)

but enough about the election... Obama won, thank god... and the red-shift was just a minor point in my cultural ramblings about Ritter's poor food

...

nice post, chucka!

Minivan Werner

12-12-2008, 05:08 PM

If I may speak for Butler County.. I don't want to comment on whether or not it's racist, I wouldn't want to generalize that much. But as a long-time resident I can comment on a few things; It's definitely no no bluer than it was 4 or 8 years ago. You might think that there would be a demographic shift around Butler's newer neighborhoods and in Cranberry Township towards the blue side, but I saw more McCain/Palin signs in the big new housing developments than I did anywhere else. In the Seven Fields area it was about a 4-1 ratio. In Center Twp. it might have been 5-1.

I also saw more than a couple Obama/Biden signs that had been hit with buck shot the day after the election in Butler Twp. One yard had tire tracks through it. All I know is it's best to keep my party affiliation (and my support of a candidate that is a visible-minority) to myself.

tooluther

12-12-2008, 05:15 PM

Changemaker: Lisa Schroeder, Riverlife Task Force

Lisa Schroeder is awesome. She deserves the title "Changemaker" as much if not more than anyone is the city.

dugdogmaster

12-12-2008, 05:37 PM

Mon Wharf Landing. In the construction bid stage, the five-acre parking lot will be transformed into a sustainable greenway, boat dock, trail linking Point State Park and the Eliza Furnace Trail (and the Great Allegheny Passage beyond), and floating park mounted on barges.

A floating park, eh? Interesting:tup:

pj3000

12-12-2008, 06:28 PM

Without "Old Pittsburgh" we really become just another face in the crowd. Places like Ritter's is what sets us apart from any other cities our size. While their food is mediocre, the dinner atmosphere is a dying breed. What would you have there, another boring fusion restaurant with Ikea lighting for the Whole Foods set that is like any other in any other city? No thanks! I'd take Ritter's gruffness anyday -Pittsburgh to the core!

Evergrey already summed up my feelings on Ritter's (and what it represents) quite well.

My main issue with that establishment (aside from the terrible food... but, I don't expect a gourmet feast at 2:30 AM) is the fact that the owners and staff simply have no class. If that is your idea of "Pittsburgh to the core", then we obviously have very different views of this city.

pj3000

12-12-2008, 06:35 PM

Thanks for the info on the riverfront projects, chucka.

Sorry everyone that my comment about hating Ritter's Diner led back into the election discussion on this thread. Intetresting points though, Evergrey.

Evergrey

12-14-2008, 01:05 PM

I was thinking about the doomed Baum-Liberty project some more... and then I noticed Fidelity Bank is building a 1-story drive-thru bank (which has a sign ironically proclaiming it as "green"... yeah... a green drive-thru) at the corner of Centre and Morewood... just a couple blocks from Doc-Economou's proposed 7-story hotel... where are the community groups protesting this crappy drive-thru bank? I thought Centre-Baum was supposed to be re-visioned as a high-quality urban thoroughfare... but instead we have a proliferation of drive-thru banks (like the National City at the corner of Baum and Millvale built last year) and gigantic Chipotle billboards... I guess your development is ok as long as it's small and shitty... build all the Taco Bells and drive-thru banks you want... but if you try to build something URBAN... you're gonna pay

enough of my ranting...

btw, try not to read the Trib's Opinion section today *Joel Kotkin alert!* :haha:

...

here's Ron DeParma's weekly regional real estate piece... I incuded the "notes" dealing with urban projects of interest to people on here at the end... but I also included a note on some sprawl subdivisions in the east hills... due to the hilarity of the subdivision names....

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_602494.html

Region a housing hot spot

By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 14, 2008

When looking for bright spots in the housing market, look at Pittsburgh, an executive says.

The city has been one of region's strongest markets, said Helen Hanna Casey, president of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.

Market strength is not only evident Downtown, where condominium and apartment projects have been built or are under construction, she said.
The Hanna company's sales have been strong citywide, and Casey said certain neighborhoods -- such as Morningside, the South Side Slopes, Allentown and Lawrenceville -- have become more popular because prices there are more affordable.

Elsewhere, areas of Butler County continue to show strength, Hanna said, giving credit there to construction of Westinghouse Electric Co.'s headquarters campus in Cranberry.

Delmont in Westmoreland County and North Strabane and Nottingham in Washington County are areas to watch, she said.

Universities and the health care industry have been creating hundreds of jobs in the region, and that has helped the market perform better than other parts of the country during housing crisis, Casey said.

The stability in the local market also is a factor.

"There was no housing price boom here over the past few years that communities in other states experienced, and that has helped keep the average house price this year at $151,000 as of the end of October, compared to $150,000 last year," said Casey.

Prices in Western Pennsylvania appreciated 4-6 percent a year in recent years but today they are level, she said.

"That's a plus. I think they would gladly take that in San Diego or in Miami," she said, referring to cities where home values have dropped dramatically.

New home listings are down this year -- 16,100 compared to 17,000 last year, according to figures Hanna quoted from West Penn Multi-List Inc., the area's major home-listing service.

She blamed the decline on the slowing economy and lack of confidence in the market by homeowners.

"People are buying homes but not at the same pace as previous years," she said.

"The biggest thing here is confidence in the marketplace," she said. "There is lots of mortgage money available, there's lots of the right product available, but giving people a sense of security is the biggest difficulty we are having right now."

Hanna said buyers have increased the use of government-backed home loans, primarily from the Federal Housing Administration.

She expects government-backed loans to account for up to 20 percent of all mortgages here in 2009, up from just under 12 percent this year.

Conventional fixed-rate loans make up about 80 percent of the market, she said.

"Today's buyer wants both good condition and quality in the house, from the finishes to the furnace, where they can move in within a few days without having to make any repairs," she said.

Houses selling for less than $200,000 remain good with mortgage payments usually below $1,200-per-month rental rates, thanks to low mortgage rates, she said.

Real estate notes:

• Meritage Group of Murrysville has selected Howard Hanna Real Estate Services to market three of its developments: the 50-unit The Isles at the Highlands in Plum where prices start at $204,750; the 27-lot Mallard Landing in Murrysville where prices start at $500,000; and the eight-lot Clearview Estates in Murrysville where prices begin at $400,000.

• The Northside Leadership Conference will receive a $25,000 Community Development Investment Fund grant from the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority for its Gateway Project in the 600 block of East Ohio Street, North Side. This is a proposed mixed-use redevelopment and rehabilitation project of old properties to create about 30,000 square feet of office and retail space. Total cost is $553,800.

• The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority approved a $2.5 million loan to Bakery Square Holdings LP for the Bakery Square project in the Larimer-East Liberty area. The $111 million project consists of a 932-car parking garage, 136,000 square feet of retail space and 216,000 square feet of offices on a 6.5 acre site. About 420 construction jobs are being created and 1,100 full-time jobs are projected for the complex, scheduled to open in the fall.

tooluther

12-15-2008, 03:07 PM

I thought Centre-Baum was supposed to be re-visioned as a high-quality urban thoroughfare... but instead we have a proliferation of drive-thru banks (like the National City at the corner of Baum and Millvale built last year) and gigantic Chipotle billboards... I guess your development is ok as long as it's small and shitty... build all the Taco Bells and drive-thru banks you want... but if you try to build something URBAN... you're gonna pay

I know city planning/zoning are working hard on this issue. The problem is that if it meets current zoning, they have very little in the way of ammunition to confront national development concepts. This was the case with the north side McDonalds. The city presented them with urban alternatives elsewhere and they were told to basically take a hike…luckily there are stopgaps in place Downtown, Oakland, and in the historic districts.

btw, try not to read the Trib's Opinion section today *Joel Kotkin alert!* :haha:

Thanks for the heads up. He's a sure fire way to ruin my morning. Luckily the Trib's website has been sucking it up as of late (its been down three out of the last four days)

themaguffin

12-15-2008, 04:21 PM

Luckily the Trib's website has been sucking it up as of late (its been down three out of the last four days)

Maybe Scaife is having trouble paying his bills since spending a fortune on funding rightwing smear groups...?

PittPenn 03

12-15-2008, 07:02 PM

btw, try not to read the Trib's Opinion section today *Joel Kotkin alert!* :haha:

.

I read this piece and have to wonder what Kotkin's motivations were for writing this. Whether or not he is right, I just see no reason for him to try to take the wind out of our sails. The tone of the article did not lead me to believe he truly has what is best in mind for Pittsburgh. Perhaps he is worried what a strong Pittsburgh might do to his precious suburbs of the south and west if we cut off a major population supply by actually possibly retaining or gaining in our population during the current economic storm. I would so love for him to be proved wrong!

PA Pride

12-15-2008, 08:37 PM

http://post-gazette.com/pg/08350/935312-100.stm

Consol buys naming rights to new hockey arena

Monday, December 15, 2008
By Milan Simonich, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nate Guidry/Post-GazetteFrom left, Penguins president David Morehouse, Consol President and CEO J. Brett Harvey and Penguins owner Mario Lemieux at a press conference today.
The Penguins today announced that Consol Energy has signed a 21-year deal for naming rights to the team's new arena, scheduled to open in 2010. The team did not announce the price.

The building will be known as the Consol Energy Center.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
First published on December 15, 2008 at 10:29 am

Gilamonster

12-15-2008, 10:45 PM

My curiosity is now satisfied as to who would get the naming rights. Consol is a logical and not suprising choice. They are one of the few local firms with the current financial strength to spend this amount of money and this helps them tremendously in their recent PR push.

Gilamonster

12-15-2008, 11:05 PM

On a different note, A coworker of mine who lives in Mt. Washington reported to me that demolition has started on the old Edge restaurant and an adjacent building. I'm guessing that this is the beginning of stage one of the Steven Beemsterboer development. For a refresher: stage one includes a five star hotel, 60 condos starting at $300,000, 2 restauarants, and the obligatory parking garage among other things. Stage two is the giant enclosed staircase going from Grandview to Carson St. which I would imagine be somehow tied into the phase one development.
I'm eager to see what if anything happens after demolition is complete. Still, this seems like rather quick progress as the development plans were announced in the post-gazette in September.

Evergrey

12-16-2008, 01:42 AM

I read this piece and have to wonder what Kotkin's motivations were for writing this. Whether or not he is right, I just see no reason for him to try to take the wind out of our sails. The tone of the article did not lead me to believe he truly has what is best in mind for Pittsburgh. Perhaps he is worried what a strong Pittsburgh might do to his precious suburbs of the south and west if we cut off a major population supply by actually possibly retaining or gaining in our population during the current economic storm. I would so love for him to be proved wrong!

I assume the Trib contacted Kotkin to write a scathing piece about Pittsburgh in response to the favorable media attention we've been receiving lately. There's nothing in Kotkin's piece we haven't heard before... he's a hack.

UrbaniDesDev

12-16-2008, 11:38 AM

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00474-rust-belt-realities-pittsburgh-needs-new-leaders-new-ideas-and-new-citizens

Rust Belt Realities: Pittsburgh Needs New Leaders, New Ideas and New Citizens
by Joel Kotkin 12/15/2008
The current recession provides a new opportunity for Pittsburgh's elite to feel good about itself. With other boom economies from Phoenix to Miami on the skids – and other old Rust Belt cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo even more down on their luck – the slow-growth achievements of the Pittsburgh region may seem rather impressive.

Yet at the same time, the downturn also poses longer-term challenges for which the local leadership is likely to have no answers.

In large part, Pittsburgh's "success," such as it is, has been based on what may be called a "legacy economy," essentially funded by the residues of its rich entrepreneurial past. This includes the hospitals, universities and nonprofits whose endowments have underwritten the expansion of medical services and education, which have emerged as among the region's few growth sectors.

The other great advantage Pittsburgh has – as do potentially other shrinking Rust Belt burgs – is lower housing prices. That's the good news. But the lack of a great surge in housing prices during the real estate "bubble" also testifies to the region's general lack of overall attractiveness and its languid job market.

The current national economic meltdown now changes these realities, and in ways that may not allow Pittsburgh and other slow-growth burgs as much comfort as they might wish.

For one thing, the "legacy" economy is almost certain to start shrinking as the portfolio investments of universities, hospitals and nonprofits begin to erode. After all, these institutions rode the boom elsewhere for a long time; they now will reap the consequences of that dependence.

Perhaps even more important, the great housing advantage seems certain to weaken as a net positive. As prices in Florida, Arizona and even California begin to decline, Rust Belt residents who've been thinking of moving to warm weather, more dynamic economies and lively entrepreneurial environments will now have their chance.

To thrive, Pittsburgh simply cannot rely on being somewhere that is a good place to go to school, get sick or die. It needs to offer restless, entrepreneurial people an opportunity to succeed and do something new.

As local blogger Jim Russell notes, the real problem with his hometown is not that people leave, but that others do not come to replace them. People always leave places, but exciting locales – Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Houston or San Francisco – also attract large numbers of new people. The immigrants, many of them seeking the "main chance," are generally the people who shake things up and bring new energy to places.

Who seeks their "main chance" in Pittsburgh? Certainly not foreign immigrants, who are staying away in droves. Metropolitan Pittsburgh has one of the lowest percentages of foreign-born residents in the nation. Even Detroit, with its sizable Arab population, has some sort of ethnic vibe.

In the short run, some might argue, not having immigrants relieves the stress on schools and eases potential social tensions. Yet in the America that is emerging, these newcomers represent arguably the most dynamic new element and harbingers of the future. By 2000, one in five American children already were the progeny of immigrants, mostly Asian or Latino; by 2015 they will make up as much as one-third of American kids.

Rather than compliment itself on not exhausting itself by running too fast, the Pittsburgh region should think about producing enough of a pulse to attract immigrants and aggressive young people. A place that reassures itself on the basis of its stable, homogeneous and rapidly aging population seems doomed to achieve little better than self-satisfied stagnation.

City leaders may be proud to see Pittsburgh hailed in the media – most recently by USA Today and the Cleveland Plain Dealer – as a poster child for urban "renaissance," yet these glowing accounts are clearly not inspiring many people to settle there.

Indeed, in a nation with the most vigorous demographics in the advanced industrial world, the City of Pittsburgh continues to suffer one of the most precipitous declines in population. Like the former East Germany, the town needs more coffins than cribs. Even the suburbs of Pittsburgh have been losing population.

More worrisome, there seems no strategy – or even an inclination of needing one – to change this reality. Rather than stimulate the grassroots economy, the region for decades has sought to revive itself by spending billions on new stadia, arenas, convention centers and cultural facilities, sometimes in the process demolishing vibrant working-class neighborhoods or local business districts. Meanwhile, the roads and bridges of the city – which continues to battle bankruptcy – are in a constant state of disrepair.

Every time I read about or visit Pittsburgh, the powers that be have a new project to prove to themselves that the city actually has a life. Most recently, it's a lame-brained scheme to create a 1.2-mile, $435 million (at least) transit tunnel under the Allegheny River to connect Downtown's heavily subsidized office towers to the North Shore's even more heavily taxpayer-funded pro sports stadiums and a future casino.

Yet, in reality, Pittsburgh's "Tunnel to Nowhere" is simply part of the same old brain-dead development strategy that may impress visiting journalists or conventioneers but creates little in the way of good new jobs or long-term opportunities.

You have to think about what the energetic people who come to a community really want – things like economic opportunities, single-family houses and good schools for their kids. Who but speculators and city officials cares about luring the latest ESPN Zone or Planet Hollywood? These kinds of venues are simply commodities now, with no sense of place and available in any city of decent size willing to subsidize them.

So what should the Pittsburgh region do differently?

The first thing would be to consider using its scarce public funds to revive the old urban neighborhoods and leafy suburbs that constitute Pittsburgh's greatest competitive advantage. These are places that may attract students now, but to matter in the long term, some of these young people must stay after they graduate. This will be particularly critical as the current "echo boom" begins to fade and the now record-high number of students begins to drop.

Second, the region should target growing small businesses. The era when Pittsburgh was a big-business town is all but over. In 1960, 22 Fortune 500 companies were headquartered there. Now it's roughly a third that number. High taxes, tiresome regulatory regimes and the enormous burden created by outsized city employee pensions have hit the small entrepreneur hardest. Addressing these issues is more important to them than new arts venues or jazz clubs.

Finally, the city needs a shtick to call its own. It might look at its historic strengths as an innovative engineering city. Pittsburgh could look also to its hinterland, a region rich in beauty and resources, as part of its competitive advantage.

All of these things could provide linchpins for a true renaissance – one driven not by public relations and shiny new subsidized edifices, but by the energy of its people.

That's what has always made for great cities – and what will do so well after this current recession has passed into memory. Pittsburgh has the potential to catch the inevitable next wave that will emerge after the crisis, but only if it can get past its long-standing celebration of mediocrity.

This article originally appeared at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and is a presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University. He is author of The City: A Global History and is finishing a book on the American future.

Evergrey

12-16-2008, 02:49 PM

^self-loathing Pittsburgher Bill Steigerwald wrote a "piece" for New Geographer on our 250th birthday... filled with factual inaccuracies and outdated stereotypes in order to push his agenda (thank god KDKA radio fired him last week... what a pox on local radio he was)

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00439-pittsburgh-turns-250-years-old-today

...

however... despite the damning fact that New Geography features such discredited "urban" thinkers like Joel Kotkin, Wendell Cox and Bill Steigerwald... Jim Russell of the blog Burgh Diaspora wrote a thoughtful piece last month about the fallacy of Pittsburgh's supposed "brain drain" and the misguided attempts toward addressing a problem that doesn't exist

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00399-pittsburghs-brain-drain-game

...

Here's Jim Russell's blog... one of the most interesting Pittsburgh economy blogs

http://burghdiaspora.blogspot.com/

he responded to Steigerwald's piece here...

http://burghdiaspora.blogspot.com/2008/11/raining-on-pittsburghs-parade.html

hyperion1110

12-16-2008, 03:01 PM

:previous: That dude's just an ass. What he says doesn't even make sense. Heavily subsidized office towers?? If he's referring to 3 PNC, then I guess he has a point. But I don't know of any subsidized office towers downtown other than that.

As for his general commentary on attracting supposedly new and hip people, I must disagree with him again. His assumption that the US is and must remain "running" (to where, one wonders?) in order to have an identity is truly naive. Pittsburgh is not stagnant or in decline...it's STABLE. That is something to be proud of, I think. While other cities sprall with more McMansions and swell with crime and poverty, Pittsburgh reinvents itself, slowly and with a sense of purpose. Pittsburgh is called the Renaissance City for a reason. Like our Florentine compatriots, the rebirth of this city has been a long process. Our role as responsible citizens is to shepherd our "slow" growth, no hasten it.

Einstein published three great papers in 1905, any one of which would have assured his place in history. But his magnum opus, General Relativity, took him a further 11 years to perfect...and that was "merely" a scientific theory. Our opus is an entire city. Shouldn't we, like Einstein, take the proper time to bring it to perfection? I, for one, am in no rush.

Tombstoner

12-16-2008, 04:03 PM

Evergrey

12-16-2008, 04:35 PM

As a former Pittsburgher who doesn't get to follow the rise and fall of local personalities, I have to say that Kotkin's article didn't really seem that bad or poorly reasoned. Something all cities would do well to avoid is hype (and I currently live in the belly of the beast). Feel-goodism is something that will suck the life out of a city faster than you can say "We're Number One!" One of the things I have always LOVED about Pittsburgh is its modesty and lack of pretention. I read Kotkin as saying that actions speak louder than words and that Pittsburgh's civic leaders are in danger of buying their own wares -- that seems like a very Pittsburgh thing to say.

I can't claim to know about the current economic situation well enough to critique it intelligently, and this guy may indeed be a total moron, but from where I sit, I thought Kotkin was making some good (if debateable) points. When you really love a place its hard to hear others criticize it, but criticism helps us grow (now I'm sounding like Mr. Rogers). People in the forum seem a little too quick and eager to dismiss his views as ranting...frankly, I just didn't read it as pejoratively as others.

If you don't know who Joel Kotkin is... then you might think it's a reasonable piece... and I would agree that much of the political leadership here has been inept over the years... but then... certain elements of the political/civic/corporate leadership don't get enough credit for helping transform the region from "hell on earth" with no vision of an economic future into a clean, vibrant and beautiful city with improving demographics and a diversified, resilient economy. While there's a risk inherent in ignoring problems and rampant boosterism... there is also a risk in dwelling on the same old stereotypes... Kotkin can fly by at 30,000 feet and peg us as just another dead rust belt city... and espouse his patented brand of right-wing automobile suburbia rhetoric... but he's clueless about the complex, nuanced dynamics that have been reshaping the region

if you knew who Joel Kotkin is... and understood why he is so universally disdained amongst those interested in urban centers (besides Houston boosters, which is the model of utopia according to Kotkin)... you'd realize why we are so quick to dismiss his tripe.

He's exactly the type of faux-expert the Tribune-Review would enlist to take potshots at Pittsburgh... as he fits perfectly into their agenda shaped by their regional political disenfranchisement and myopia

pj3000

12-16-2008, 05:06 PM

^ I couldn't agree more.

As for Steigerwald, the only area where I think he has been right on is in his criticism of "Steelerism" in the region and all that it represents.

PA Pride

12-16-2008, 06:08 PM

if you knew who Joel Kotkin is... and understood why he is so universally disdained amongst those interested in urban centers (besides Houston boosters, which is the model of utopia according to Kotkin)... you'd realize why we are so quick to dismiss his tripe.

Evergrey, I'm with you on this one. This guy is a joke.

Evergrey

12-17-2008, 03:11 PM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08352/935590-53.stm

URA funnels $500,000 into Manchester project

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A blank space on the map of Manchester may soon be filled with homes selling for as much as $255,000.

Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority agreed yesterday to pass on $500,000 from the state's Growing Greener II fund to help the Manchester Citizens Corp. and Fourth River Development to reconnect Juniata Street through the site of the former American Electric plant, and rework water and sewer lines. The bill for clearing the site and putting in the first five of an eventual 31 houses is expected to be $3 million, said Mark Schneider of Fourth River. Much of that will be publicly funded.

"There's an awful lot of public subsidy," said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, a URA board member, before voting for the project.

Mr. Schneider said that connecting the two parts of Juniata Street will cost $1.29 million, and preparing the site is expensive.

"I think it will do good for the market in Manchester," said Jerome Jackson, associate director of the nonprofit Manchester Citizens Corp. He said that homes two blocks from the site already sell for around $200,000, and the addition of new housing could keep that trend strong.

Mr. Schneider said the homes would have three or four bedrooms and sell for $179,000 to $255,000. The development team is putting together a mortgage program to help lower-income buyers get fixed-rate loans with interest rates below 4 percent.

Groundbreaking could occur in March.

The URA board also voted to commit $2.75 million of its Pittsburgh Development Fund to cover cost overruns at the emerging $321 million Consol Energy Center, if ticket surcharges and other leftover money don't fill a gap. That's the final approval needed to cover the overruns.

The board also voted to pay Sal Williams Real Estate $240,000 for an option to buy property around the intersection of Dinwiddie and Colwell streets in the Lower Hill District. The firm must use the payment to make promised community agreements, and the URA gets to count the payment against the cost of the properties if it later buys them for their appraised value.

URA Executive Director Rob Stephany said there is not yet a development plan for the parcels.

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

Evergrey

12-17-2008, 03:19 PM

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08352/935589-53.stm

Planners OK last of casino plans

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Nearly two years after the first review of its master plan for development, the North Shore casino cleared its final hurdle before city planners yesterday.

The planning commission's approval of the Rivers Casino's lighting, signs and site amenities, including a riverfront promenade and amphitheater, ends an often contentious process marred by lawsuits over traffic-related issues and the size of the facility's garage, the latter one still pending.

At the same time, the casino endured a change of ownership, from Detroit businessman Don Barden to a new company headed by Chicago businessman Neil Bluhm, and a work stoppage of nearly two months after Mr. Barden ran out of money.

"There's been so many challenges along the way. It's great to see it going ahead. I think everyone's going to be pleasantly surprised [in] what a great facility it is," said architect Michael Stern, who has shepherded the casino through the planning process.

Yesterday's approval of the last piece of the master plan came with some caveats, the primary one relating to public access to the riverfront trail that will cut through the casino property.

Before opening, the casino must grant the city an easement that allows the public to use the trail, including a promenade in front of the slots parlor itself, year round.

Some commission members also wanted a similar agreement regarding the 800-seat outdoor riverfront amphitheater to be built as part of the project but dropped the idea at the urging of the city Law Department and casino officials.

"We really need to keep control of the amphitheater and dock," said Michael Levin, an owner's representative, adding the casino intends to allow as much public access as possible.

In other conditions, the casino also must get city approval for its lighting plans and displays. It also has agreed to limit the brightness of the exterior lighting.

Also yesterday, the commission recommended approval of legislation that would require newly constructed or renovated city-owned buildings or those receiving tax increment financing to achieve an environmentally friendly LEED silver designation or face possible penalties.

The legislation would apply to new construction, on city-owned property, of buildings totaling more than 5,000 square feet or renovations exceeding $2 million, as well as the TIF projects.

Projects that fail to meet the standards could face penalties totaling as much as $1 million. The penalties would be prepaid into a trust fund, with the money returned when certification is achieved, which could take two to three years from the start of construction. To avoid the requirement, a developer would need to get a variance before the city zoning board of adjustment. The proposal now goes before council.

Separately, the commission approved plans for a 142-room upscale hotel next to the new arena on Centre Avenue near the Hill District.

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

UrbaniDesDev

12-18-2008, 04:35 AM

[QUOTE=Evergrey;3978886]http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08352/935590-53.stm

URA funnels $500,000 into Manchester project

Wednesday, December 17, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A blank space on the map of Manchester may soon be filled with homes selling for as much as $255,000.QUOTE]

It's time the North Side gets a good injection. It is lagging compared to other near neighborhoods. The crime has taken it's toll there. The possibilities of this North Side aren't nearly being tapped.

hyperion1110

12-18-2008, 02:36 PM

So, I was driving into work this morning, and I noticed something interesting. On the new bridge over Forbes in Oakland, there is a 15 foot high, sunken engraving on the side of the bridge. From what I can tell, it's an eagle (I don't think it's finished yet). Anyone have any clue what it is supposed to be? You can get a good look at it on the off ramp from the Blvd of the Allies onto Forbes.

gallacus

12-18-2008, 04:44 PM

I believe this video explains what it is that you saw. Fast forward to approx. 2:05.

http://www.postgazette.com/multimedia/?videoid=101235

gallacus

12-18-2008, 06:22 PM

Not sure if this has been posted before, but if you go to Sheila Klein's website (http://www.sheilaklein.com/pages/pittsburgh_photos.htm), you can check on the progress of the new pedestrian bridge being installed over the busway to connect East Liberty and Shadyside.

http://www.sheilaklein.com/images/pittsburgh_011.jpg

http://www.sheilaklein.com/images/pittsburgh_010.jpg

There's also an article in the City Paper from February of 2008 (http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A42254)that describes the project.

Looks like a great design! I'm excited to see it all finished!

hyperion1110

12-18-2008, 08:51 PM

I believe this video explains what it is that you saw. Fast forward to approx. 2:05.

http://www.postgazette.com/multimedia/?videoid=101235

Thanks, gallacus.

Minivan Werner

12-18-2008, 09:21 PM

Pittsburgh releases stimulus package wish-list..

http://postgazette.com/pg/08353/936037-100.stm

City releases stimulus package wish list
Thursday, December 18, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today released a list of 110 projects totaling $1.07 billion for which the city could seek federal stimulus package support.

Tops on the list, dollar-wise, were water projects, including the need for $180 million to make changes needed to reduce the flow of sewage into the rivers. Another $252 million would go for installing new disinfection systems in the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority's plant, constructing tanks and eliminating a microfiltration plant at the Highland Park Reservoir, and replacement of old or undersized water mains.

The Department of Public Safety wants $40 million to renovate its facilities citywide. The Riverlife Task Force wants $18 million to construct walkways on the West End Bridge, plus funds to stabilize parts of the Allegheny River's banks, restore part of Point State Park, and improve trails, among other things.

Among the smaller items by dollar value are the renovation of the Beechview Senior Center, a walkway near the new Penguins arena, and a pedestrian bridge in East Liberty.

The administration estimates the projects will create 26,447 jobs, primarily construction jobs, but also permanent positions.

The latest estimates from President-elect Barack Obama's camp are that the stimulus package could reach $850 billion, though not all of that would go for public infrastructure. Though the rules aren't yet set, it's believed the emerging process will involve consideration of the readiness of the projects, and their job creation potential.

Appearing on KDKA Radio this morning, the mayor bristled at suggestions by some on council that the city has lagged behind other cities in its preparation for the stimulus package. The criticisms stemmed from the appearance on the U.S. Conference of Mayors Web site of stimulus package wants of some 400 cities -- a roster from which Pittsburgh was absent.

"We are prepared. We have been prepared. We've made every deadline. We have all of our lists. We're trying to work with private engineers" to craft detailed plans to complete projects, he said. "We are doing everything we can, and we're going above and beyond anything we've ever done in city government to be prepared."

First published on December 18, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Surprised there's no mention of highway projects. I know most of the Mon-Fayette and Southern Beltway is outside of the city limits, but some of it isn't. Including a new bridge that would span the Mon, as I recall.

Evergrey

12-18-2008, 10:12 PM

Allegheny County also released a wish list.. which includes the notorious Mon Fayette Expressway

AaronPGH

12-18-2008, 11:19 PM

Allegheny County also released a wish list.. which includes the notorious Mon Fayette Expressway

Anything involving light rail? :rolleyes:

Evergrey

12-19-2008, 12:04 PM

Anything involving light rail? :rolleyes:

It's interesting how the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County are often working at cross purposes.

PA Pride

12-22-2008, 04:36 PM

New lunar robot company formed in Pittsburgh (Oakland):

http://post-gazette.com/pg/08357/936838-96.stm

Renowned CMU roboticist sets his sights on the moon
Monday, December 22, 2008
By David Templeton, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://post-gazette.com/pg/images/200812/20081222lf_robot_loc.1_500.jpg

Lake Fong/Post-GazetteDavid Gump, left, and William "Red" Whittaker, of Astrobotic Technology, with their robot "Red Rover."When William "Red" Whittaker gazes to the heavens, he doesn't see that mystical man in the moon.

For now at least, the renowned Carnegie Mellon University roboticist, who led his Tartan Racing team to victory in the Urban Challenge robotic car race Nov. 3, 2007, sees robots.

The ones he envisions on the moon will be lunar versions of Lewis and Clark. "Robots can be our eyes, ears and hands on other planets," he said.

Dr. Whittaker and team have created Astrobotic Technology Inc. in Oakland to transform exploration into a moonbeam business ready to tap some of the $90 billion expected to be spent on lunar exploration in the next 10 years.

The company says the robots it develops will transport payloads, do exploration, prepare for human colonization and tourism, and provide educational and entertainment opportunities.

"This is a time of great opportunity," Dr. Whittaker said. "The prize is just a bonus."

He's referring to the $20 million Google Lunar X Prize, which will go to the first team to land a robot on the moon. To win, the robot must send back high-definition mooncasts and travel at least 500 meters on the lunar surface. The robot can win $5 million more by beaming back images of a previous lunar mission and surviving one frigid lunar night.

For Astrobotic, the X Prize will provide liftoff for its lunar enterprise.

"The Google Lunar X Prize had my name written on it," Dr. Whittaker said. "In 20 years the moon will be an ambitious destination for people, just like tourist flights are an adventure for some people today."

William Pomerantz, X Prize senior director for space projects, said Astrobotic's success to date is '"incredibly exciting."

"They've put together an exceedingly competent team around Red Whittaker, who has won competitions before and built robots that work in extreme environments," he said. "They seem to have more hardware built than anyone in the game."

He also noted that Raytheon Co., which produces precision propulsion and navigational systems, has joined the Astrobotic team to build the lander.

For now, the competition has 16 registered teams, with six others planning to register. Several, including Astrobotic, have sights set on a late 2010 launch date.

The Google Lunar X Prize, designed to inspire lunar exploration that's faster and one-tenth as expensive as government programs, represents only the first of many missions for Astrobotic. It also plans several missions to the lunar north and south poles by the end of 2013.

Astrobotic President David Gump said his company's robots will drill core samples, take seismic readings, measure solar winds and temperatures, and evaluate moondust's impact on equipment. They also can explore for ice to provide water, oxygen and hydrogen fuel and scope out underground lava tubes, which could house and protect people.

Astrobotic, now seeking investors, plans to hire as many as 80 people in 2009. Its brochure says the new industry could spend up to $300 billion by 2025 and $500 billion beyond 2025 in exploration, colonization, tourism, education and the mining of platinum-group metals and helium-3, thought to be an ideal fusion-energy source.

Corporate customers could have robot tire treads imprint their corporate logos into moon dust. Robots will send e-mails to people on Earth and provide live Web broadcasts from the moon.

Mr. Gump also anticipates contests and programs during which people on Earth can guide robots across the lunar surface.

"Anything a robot can do will save money and be much more effective," Mr. Gump said. "The public will be paying attention to the lunar story."

David Templeton can be reached at dtempleton@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1578.
First published on December 22, 2008 at 12:00 am

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 08:24 PM

I wonder if David is related to Forrest Gump?:haha:

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 08:29 PM

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/elane1217.aspx

Ben and Ann Bonham are the husband and wife team behind E Lane @ Carnegie, a unique energy efficient condo community five miles from Downtown Pittsburgh. Starting at $199,900, the single-floor units are stylishly designed with sustainable bamboo flooring, low VOC paints and Energy Star appliances. Future Building of America Company built the partially solar powered, all electric homes with structural insulated panels (SIPs) chosen for their high energy efficiency, mold resistance and low labor cost.

“SIPs construction is amazing. Despite temperatures in the teens, these units require little more than a space heater to keep warm,” says Ben Bonham. “It should only cost about $480 per year to heat and cool each unit.”

Just four blocks from Carnegie’s main business district, the community will consist of four paired two-bedroom dwellings and a single unit with a centralized edible garden/orchard sited on the natural grade of a re-claimed in-fill urban lot. “We just love Carnegie,” says Bonham. “It has a great downtown area with nice restaurants, shopping and plenty of culture. Plus it’s close to mass transit so you can easily do without a car. It is really a cool bohemian neighborhood.”

One model is completed and as of Jan. 1 the property will be listed with certified Howard Hanna EcoBroker Coral Stengel. “When I first learned of E Lane, I knew it was a perfect match for me,” says Stengel who has been trained in energy and environmental issues and strategies for capitalizing on the growing green market. “I really respect and admire what the Bonham’s are doing. They’ve gone all the way with this property.”

To receive Pop City free every week, click here.

Writer: Lauren Urbschat
Source: Ben Bonham, Bonham Asset Management, LLC
Coral Stengel, Howard Hanna Real Estate

Image courtesy Bonham Asset management, LLC

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 08:31 PM

http://www.popcitymedia.com/developmentnews/coop1217.aspx

East End Food Co-op considers expansion into other Pittsburgh markets
The East End Food Co-op (EEFC) is currently involved in a major market research study of Allegheny County. The EEFC’s current location at 7516 Meade St. in Point Breeze has been in business since 1986 and does about $7.5M in annual sales. “Our store is successful, but its size and lack of adequate parking have prompted discussions about where to go from here,” says Rob Baran, general manager. “I initially considered moving the current store to a larger location but a cost analysis showed it would be just as expensive to open a second location and the potential for profit was much greater with two stores.”

Funded by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the market study will specifically focus on Lawrenceville and Carnegie but will also analyze potential locations throughout the city. “We’re at a point now where we are committed to expansion, but we want to be sure about the markets we enter into,” says Baran. “Carnegie has a lot of potential with its proximity to 79 and 279, because not only do with have members in Green Tree and Mt. Lebanon, but West Virginia and Ohio too.”

The EEFC is also engaged in conversations with city and state officials about a new model of smaller convenience based stores for under-served neighborhoods in need of local, healthy groceries.

“Our growth is part of a national trend. The National Cooperative Grocers Association, which has 110 members with 140 locations, actually outgrew Whole Foods this year. Co-ops have a solid business model and our success benefits the whole community.”

To receive Pop City free every week, click here.

Writer: Lauren Urbschat
Source: Rob Baran, General Manager, East End Food Co-op

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 08:32 PM

Is Evergrey on vacation?:shrug: :haha:

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 08:40 PM

http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/mikeedwards1217.aspx

Changemaker: Mike Edwards and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership

By: Abby Mendelson
December 17, 2008
Lanky, athletic, affable – on a bright morning Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) President and CEO Mike Edwards is still aglow from a three-day bicycle trip he’s just taken to his hometown of Buffalo. Most days he bikes to work from his home in Mt. Lebanon. This day, relaxing in lovely digs in the rehabbed Ewart Building, on Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District, Edwards waxes expansive. “I came here for my wife,” he says of Mary Jordan Edwards, Pittsburgh native and Houston Harbaugh bond attorney, “But Pittsburgh grows on people. It’s happened to me.” He pauses. “There are some pretty amazing parts of Pittsburgh. It surprises me all the time.”

In his role as head of the PDP, Edwards is in the position where he can affect change and create a few surprises of his own. So what's his charge? Cleaning public spaces, for one. Providing safety liaison assistance. Supporting improvements in Downtown. And marketing it as the regional business and cultural center and the premier location to live, work and play. Since 1994, the PDP has been on a mission to foster a welcoming, economically viable Downtown.

Edwards’ turf is some 100 blocks square, containing roughly 4,000 businesses, 350 property owners, attracting 140,000 commuters daily – plus dining and top-notch cultural attractions daily. These days, following the national trend, Downtown is increasingly hot, drawing both ends of the spectrum, aging Boomers (some 77 million nationwide), who want smaller, closer places to live, to young Millenniums (70 million), who want to be where the action is. “They both like the urban environment,” Edwards says.

And they’re only the tip of the iceberg. Reliable projections indicate that in 40 years the population of the United States will be a cool 500 million. As Edwards, known for his wit and humor says, “they have to live somewhere.”

Live Here!
Somewhere is what he calls “a dense, walkable environment. So downtowns seem the logical place for future investment.” As is already happening. Since January, 2006, the total completed or actively planned Downtown investment is an astounding $4.5 billion.

But with that number come the challenges. Downtowns can no longer merely locus, or focus. They have to be thrilling – and clean! In The Downtown Gospel According to Mike Edwards, there are two reasons. First, Disney. “Because of Disney,” he says, “downtowns have to be places that are exceptionally clean, safe, and interesting.”

Second, TV. Hit shows, such as Seinfeld, Friends, and Sex in the City, all present downtowns as “exciting, youthful, positive,” he says. “They’re places to have a great time, even fall in love. Both of these factors helped change the perception that downtowns were dark, dirty, and dangerous,” Edwards says, “places to be avoided in favor of the mall. Now, of course, we have to exceed people’s expectations. We have to make downtowns as wonderful an experience as they can be. That’s what we’re striving to do.”

It begins from the ground up. As glorious as downtowns can be, with lights and music and soaring hearts, they are decidedly not fairylands. Or Disneylands, where hefty admission prices, high fences, and private security services regulate the trade. Cities are wide open, changeable, messy – physically and politically. As such, Edwards’ duties go all the way from broad brush strokes to tiny touch-ups, business plans to clean-ups. It’s not uncommon for him to spend Monday, say, working on tactics to accelerate more Downtown housing, then Tuesday on strategies to clean up litter. “I can put in a whole day on trash cans, street grates, and cigarette butts -- the down and dirty of downtowns,” he says.

Nevertheless, Edwards never loses focus that “Downtowns are thrilling because people are doing all kinds of different things.” Indeed, he says, Downtown is heading for the Tipping Point, “when people say, ‘hey, let’s go Downtown,’ regardless of not knowing what’s happening. We’re not there yet,” Edwards admits. “But we’re getting there.”

That’s another vantage point for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership – and where Edwards can act as a true changemaker. “We can stand back,” he says. “We can provide a more objective view. We try to get ahead of the curve. To convince investors that it’s a good place for their money. We can ask people, ‘why don’t you be part of this action?’”

While daily management is important, this is where Edwards shines. As a Pitt-trained public administrator, he’s worked from Northeast, Pennsylvania to Spokane, Washington, bringing a strong hand in both economic development and urban planning. He’s a man who can meld the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and the evolution of Downtown.

To that end, Edwards is working to encourage a comprehensive Downtown Plan. Now a Plan, with a capital P, is an official government document that outlines an approved course of civic action, where official priorities are articulated, boundaries are set for private development, destinations for public funds, and so on. “A Downtown Plan is not ours to do,” Edwards says. “It is a legal document. Our task would be to build support for such a Downtown Plan” – for example, by lobbying the various Downtown players, including Riverlife, the Department of City Planning, Allegheny Conference, Cultural Trust, and so on. “It’s all about relationship building,” Edwards says.

Translating into English, that means “downtowns work by cajoling,” he says, “arm twisting, politicking, public relations, aligning interests, and making things happen.” As such, the Downtown Plan “could be a watershed event. It should deliver significant political, public, and private buy-ins. It should deliver a lot of stuff.” Edwards pauses. “These are the big things we do and think about. To make the future look even better.”

Good ideas, but how real are they? While no one currently knows, perhaps an indication came not long after Edwards discussed his thoughts for the future. One day, two men were Downtown, discussing an upcoming creative project. Finding themselves in the Cultural District, they stopped for coffee at the Sonoma Grille on Penn Avenue. Sitting under an awning, one man reflected back on what Penn Avenue – and Pittsburgh – once was. Looking at the sidewalk café, nearly glowing on a sun-dappled morning, he smiled. “New York, perhaps,” he mused. “Paris, certainly. But Pittsburgh?”

“That,” Mike Edwards says, “is more or less the point.”

PA Pride

12-22-2008, 08:44 PM

^Forumer tooluther probably knows Mike Edwards.

Tooluther: Is it true? Is Mike Edwards Lanky, athletic & affable?

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 08:45 PM

^Forumer tooluther probably knows Mike Edwards.

Tooluther: Is it true? Is Mike Edwards Lanky, athletic & affable?

He looks it from the pictures in the link:yes:

PA Pride

12-22-2008, 09:06 PM

dugdogmaster: The new Evergrey.

dugdogmaster

12-22-2008, 10:38 PM

dugdogmaster: The new Evergrey.

Mmm...Not quite, but I'm flattered. :haha:

Tombstoner

12-23-2008, 03:09 PM

^Forumer tooluther probably knows Mike Edwards.

Tooluther: Is it true? Is Mike Edwards Lanky, athletic & affable?

Hi, -- I'm trying to PM you with a real estate question, PA Pride, but your personal emailbox is full (sorry to reveal this disgraceful situation in public, but I didn't know how else to contact you ;))

PA Pride

12-23-2008, 04:02 PM

Hi, -- I'm trying to PM you with a real estate question, PA Pride, but your personal emailbox is full (sorry to reveal this disgraceful situation in public, but I didn't know how else to contact you ;))

fixed!

tooluther

12-23-2008, 05:34 PM

^Forumer tooluther probably knows Mike Edwards.

Tooluther: Is it true? Is Mike Edwards Lanky, athletic & affable?

I just showed the question to Mike...he was busy stuffing his face with pizza but got a good chuckle. However, I think I can confrim the statement.

Of course, anyone who bikes over Mt. Washington twice a day better be lanky and athletic!

AaronPGH

12-24-2008, 01:20 AM

Anyone heard of the Transit-Oriented Development Symposium & Tour going on in the beginning of January? I just got an invite to it and I have no clue why... but I'm really intrigued! I may take the day off work and be a part of it.

dugdogmaster

12-24-2008, 05:33 AM

AaronPGH

12-24-2008, 09:36 PM

Dooo it! Dooo it!:haha:

Then report back to us.

I really want to....just wondering why I got the invite. The language in the invite makes me think it's going to be all politicians or something. lol...I wonder if I'm going to be out of place there?

UrbaniDesDev

12-26-2008, 09:43 AM

I'm LOVING it!

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0023.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0031.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0024.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0018.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0028.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0029.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0032.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0033.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0034.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0035.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0043.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0042.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0041.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0044.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0047.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0045.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0046.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0012.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0053.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0026.jpg

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/UrbaniDesDev/100_0027.jpg

MERRY Xmas!

Johnland

12-26-2008, 12:45 PM

I am just always amazed by the fact that Pittsburgh, with a declining metro area population manages to have much, much more interesting downtown development in progress than Tampa, which keeps growing. And what's more, Pittsburgh's projects are all packed in the tightl, compact area of Downtown.

AaronPGH

12-26-2008, 05:11 PM

BEAUTIFUL pics....thanks! PNC is really looking sharp! :cool:

PA Pride

12-26-2008, 05:17 PM

Wow, urbandes you managed to get a lot of projects covered with those photos. Nice work.

dugdogmaster

12-26-2008, 07:38 PM

Sweet updates, thanks.:cheers: 3 PNC is looking really, really nice. I also love the funky design of the African American Historical and Cultural Center.

PGHFan

12-28-2008, 06:45 AM

Does anyone know if there is anything new on possible uses for the Lord & Taylor buidling downtown? Does anyone know if the interior columns that were dismantled are stored somewhere?

Wheelingman04

12-29-2008, 12:21 AM

Great updates and photos.

Minivan Werner

12-29-2008, 01:18 AM

More positives from the downtown office market..

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08363/937860-28.stm
'Hotbed of activity' in Downtown real estate
Prime office buildings at near capacity, lease rates at highest point since late '90s

dugdogmaster

12-29-2008, 06:36 AM

marinog

12-30-2008, 01:52 PM

I cant believe no one posted this yesterday...

Peduto wants city to study possible service to Hazelwood, Oakland and Lawrenceville (http://post-gazette.com/pg/08364/938223-85.stm)
Monday, December 29, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
With Oakland congestion getting worse and federal transportation money expected to flow, Pittsburgh Councilman William Peduto thinks it's time to move ahead with an idea he's advocated for five years: a commuter rail line through the heart of the university district.

Tomorrow, Mr. Peduto plans to introduce legislation to spend $9,000 to study turning a freight line that runs from Hazelwood through Oakland to Lawrenceville into an artery for people. The study would lead to a proposal, submitted to U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-forest Hills, in the spring, for federal funding for the project.

"What this option would provide is a relief from the critical need of space based on the expanding industries of the education and medical community, and also the opportunity to revitalize city neighborhoods through transit-oriented development," Mr. Peduto said on Friday. "Areas of the city that have seen no growth or limited growth could begin to see the rewards of a new economy."

That new economy, he said, is causing Oakland to bulge at the seams. A study drafted within the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in 2006 predicted a need for 3 million square feet of buildings in Oakland, and room for just 1 million square feet.

Already, many of the community conflicts in Shadyside, Bloomfield and Friendship stem from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's expansions.

A rail line operated by the Allegheny Valley Railroad cuts through the heart of Oakland. One end is conveniently near Carnegie Mellon University's National Robotics Engineering Center in Lawrenceville, and the other is right by the brownfields of Hazelwood's former LTV Coke Works site, now owned by a development entity backed by four local foundations.

Mr. Peduto said the line is lightly used. Diesel passenger trains could use it during the day, carrying campus researchers and hospital employees between Oakland and Lawrenceville, and potentially driving redevelopment of the coke works site.

The Allegheny Conference research estimated the cost of putting heavy rail cars on the line at $25 million, plus the unspecified cost of a maintenance facility. The study put the costs of operating it at $6.2 million to $18.7 million a year, depending on the frequency of service.

"It works on existing track, so you don't have to tear the track out and build new," Mr. Peduto said. "It can be done very cost-effectively and very quickly."

He doubts a study and preliminary design work can be ready quickly enough to enter the project in the infrastructure funding sweepstakes driven by President-elect Barack Obama's plan to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in roads, bridges, transit and environmental projects. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has produced a $1.15 billion wish list for that process, and it doesn't include the commuter rail concept.

Later next year, though, Congress is set to write one of its periodic transportation funding bills, which might give the city an opportunity, Mr. Peduto said.

His legislation needs a majority vote from council. He's asking the Law Department whether the study should be competitively bid, or can be awarded to a firm that has done pro bono work on the commuter rail idea.

He said the study should look at whether it's best accomplished by a public transit agency or through a public-private partnership with a company that might build revenue-raising parking garages.

Minivan Werner

12-30-2008, 03:10 PM

A river-to-river, north-south light rail line would be very useful, and a step towards connecting the T to Oakland.

AaronPGH

12-30-2008, 03:38 PM

I cant believe no one posted this yesterday...

This is being discussed in the northeastern states section:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=162913

tooluther

01-02-2009, 03:16 PM

ok, I posted my responce over there to keep organized. I will say here that isn't a stupid idea :D

Valsek

01-03-2009, 01:28 AM

(I already posted this in the other Northeastern States section, but perhaps it will get more attention here)

Just a quick thought about a possible configuration for new "T" lines in case anybody is able to put a possible visual layout together:

1) Red Line: Keep existing line to south hills "as is" and make it's endpoint at one of the Downtown locations (possibly, but not necessarily Gateway).

2) Gold Line: After completing current North Shore expansion, build new "T" station on southern side of Monongahela river to allow trains to turn south (rather than the current turn toward Station Square). As mentioned in a previous post, this station could be above ground and be very similar to First Ave Station complete with parking garage(s). The reasoning behind having a new station at this spot is to avoid having to travel the wrong direction in order to get to the South Side regardless of your start point. I would suggest new stations at 12th street & Carson, as well as somewhere near the SouthSide Works & Carson. Possible names could be Monongahela Station, Market House, and SSW or Hot Metal. There are a lot of possibilities (and question marks) as to where the line could/should go from here, but I think this in and of itself is great start. I think it makes a lot of sense to have the North Shore with it's new T stations to use the existing path across downtown and then connect directly to the South Side.

3) Blue Line: New "T" line using Steel Plaza as a turning/connection point to existing T line and new with a route going somewhat (somehow) along the path of Forbes to stations at Duquesne University, Carlow & Magee, PITT, Carnegie Mellon, and Frick Park. I'd also utilize the existing (but "limited") stop at Penn Station and follow a route somewhat similar to either Penn Ave and/or Liberty with new Stations to be determined but at least somewhere near the Strip District, new Children's Hospital, and the East Liberty shopping district (obviously with other stations at places to be determined in between).

I know that this is a rough idea, but at least its something that everybody can use in order to brain-storm. I think it's important that everybody really think various station stops through as well as the routes to determine how Pittsburgh as a whole can benefit from such a potential transformation. Some people may know a certain area better than others and can better decide where a stop may make the most sense. Hopefully we can all start some sort of movement and join together in formulating one cohesive plan to one day present to our politicians. That may be a long way down the road and funding will always be a question, but at least "the people" will have taken action and had the chance to voice our opinion.

Please feel free to make comments! If you can (or know somebody who can) put together what this new layout would look like it would be much appreciated and make a lot more sense.