[ctoocheck]

If that map of Summerset up there is correct....I can't believe they haven't planned to connect that new southern portion of the development to the existing street grid in Swissvale. Seems awfully gated and suburbanistic for trying to be a sustainable and "New Urbanistic" development.
Gross.

[Evergrey]

I can't believe they haven't planned to connect that new southern portion of the development to the existing street grid in Swissvale. Seems awfully gated and suburbanistic for trying to be a "New Urbanistic" development.
Gross.

You would think think it would make sense to extend the existing grid extending from Swisshelm Park into the southern hilltop portion of Summerset at Frick Park... but there are lots of issues that may prevent such linkages... and I would not lay the blame on the developers for this missed connection. While the present extent of Summerset may seem quasi-gated with its single outlet on Forward Ave... the fact that the buildout will connect to Browns Hill and that the development's main thoroughfare will now be a through route connecting these two corridors proves it is not a "gated suburbanistic" community. Actually, I'm rather impressed that that southern hilltop area is being developed... as it's rather small and is separated from the rest of Summerset by a rather steep, deep canyon. The lack of connectivity to Swisshelm Park could be due to any number of factors... topographic, hydrological, environmental, difficulty assembling property, etc. Though I doubt it's a topographic since a road is planned ascending the steep slope to the hilltop neighborhood. Most likely, the development would encounter a nightmare in trying to connect SIX dead end streets to Summerset. I imagine the residents of Swisshelm Park really value living on their dead end streets... and the prospect of trying to turn all those into gridded through streets is DOA. The map shows a second outlet to Forward/Commercial being built to the east... so if someone needs to get from the southern section of Summerset to Swisshelm Park... it won't be much of a hassle.

I can't quite tell since the word "planned" is blocking it... but from the map it looks like Summerset might possibly be connected to Beechwood Blvd as well.

[ctoocheck]

I understand the northern (mostly existing) portion of Summerset.... but there's also another portion across 9 Mile Run (adjacent to Swisshelm Park) which is quite dead-ended, with no connections to Swisshelm (or the little village to the west...what is it, Duck Hollow? This is more understandable though). Only that part is gross. You think they could have connected one or two streets. Also I hope they keep some topo (not that there's too much) instead of flattening all of it. Things are much less interesting when flat. Things in Pgh should not be flat! Looking at topo vs. proposed it doesn't seem topo will stay. Oh why?! I know it isn't so simple, but.... it tears at my urbanistic heart, especially seeing this inside City limits.

Also it does seem Summerset will be connected to Beechwood. See the master plan: http://www.summersetatfrickpark.com/UserFiles/PDF/masterPlan.pdf.

[Ditchdigger]

Also it does seem Summerset will be connected to Beechwood. See the master plan:

That master plan, and the graphic provided by the Trib, are outdated. (Particularly in the respect that there are already new houses standing at the point where the connection to Beechwood is shown.) It's my understanding that that proposed connection was eliminated several revisions ago.

The map shows a second outlet to Forward/Commercial being built to the east... so if someone needs to get from the southern section of Summerset to Swisshelm Park... it won't be much of a hassle.

The grading that has already taken place does indeed make allowance for the conector road running diagonally down the "south" face of the slag pile. There is a bridge proposed to cross the creek at the bottom, and the road would then continue on, to Forward Ave, at the bottom of the valley. Access to the Swisshelm Park side of the plan would be from that connector road. That access should be plenty hilly.

I suspect it'll be five or six years more before we see any of that happening. (Time for plenty more revisions...)

[Johnland]

Construction photo updates:

August Wilson center for African American Culture.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/downtown%20unusual%20angles/may%20construction%20pics/P1020952.jpg


Mt Washington condo building.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/downtown%20unusual%20angles/may%20construction%20pics/P1020893.jpg


Consol Energy Center progress.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/downtown%20unusual%20angles/may%20construction%20pics/P1020938.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/downtown%20unusual%20angles/may%20construction%20pics/P1020945.jpg


Exterior is now pretty much 100% complete on PNC 3.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/austindaniel/downtown%20unusual%20angles/may%20construction%20pics/P1020957.jpg

Those are excellent photos PA Pride.
The August Wilson Museum is a super contemporary building. I think it will add to Pittsburgh's cityscape beautifully.

I love how the century old building has been saved right next to Consol Energy arena. Not only is it a little gem in it's own right, but it gives the big new building next to it context to the street. The classic old building plays up the big, bold dimension of the new building.

As for the Mt. Wash. condo, that's are rather tired box plan, from what I can see so far.

But the all-time jewel is 3 PNC. Such color and style in its breezy, fresh design. I think it's perfect for a neighborhood whose stock and trade for over a century has been glass, steel and finance. All that industry and money is bound to produce wonderful architecture.

[Ditchdigger]

(Particularly in the respect that there are already new houses standing at the point where the connection to Beechwood is shown.)

I need to correct the above. I zoomed in on that master plan a little and took a closer look. While there are no houses built at the exact spot depicted, they did recently install a playground there.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09129/968512-30.stm?cmpid=lifestyle.xml

Green features add to South Side townhomes' appeal

Saturday, May 09, 2009
By Marylynne Pitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/20090510dsmews_livingroo_500.jpg
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette
A view of the living room from the staircase in this townhouse at the Riverside Mews on the South Side.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/20090510ds_riverside_mews_ext_500.jpg
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

This model at 1815 Merriman Way has 2,283 square feet of living space spread over three floors and an integral two-car garage.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/ds_reiverside_mews_bedroom__500.jpg
Darrell Sapp

The master bedroom in this townhouse at the Riverside Mews on the South Side.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/ds_reiverside_mews_stone_04_500.jpg
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

Recycled cobblestone are used in the planters and parts of the driveway at the Riverside Mews.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/images/200905/ds_riverside_mews_view_0428_500.jpg
Darrell Sapp/Post-Gazette

A view of the South Side from the livingroom windows.

On the South Side Flats along 18th Street, eco-friendly townhomes called Riverside Mews stretch toward the Monongahela River.

"The first eight are sold. We've sold one in the next phase, and they've already moved in," said Ernie Sota, the developer.

Diane Bossart, education manager for the Green Building Alliance, said Riverside Mews is eco-friendly for many reasons.

"It's already in an existing neighborhood. The South Side is a very interesting and historic district. You are also close to transportation such as the bus system," and the Light Rail Transit stop at Station Square is not far, either.

Mr. Sota used Energy Star appliances and fixtures, installed programmable thermostats and dual-flush toilets and included high-efficiency insulation in the roofs and walls.

Buyers have signed an agreement for this particular model at 1815 Merriman Way, where the asking price was $480,333. On the first floor is a foyer, an integral two-car garage to the left, a bathroom with a shower to the right and a bedroom. Off the bedroom is an outdoor patio enclosed by a 6-foot-tall fence.

Climb 16 stairs and you'll be on the second floor where there's a combined living room and dining room and large, eat-in kitchen.

Ample, natural light filters through 7-foot-tall transom-style windows and onto bamboo floors in the 15-by-14-foot living room and the dining room, which measures 15 by 11 feet.

The wooden windows have an extruded aluminum exterior that helps them stand up to the elements; on the interior, they are stained for warmth. These energy-efficient windows possess the high quality found in commercial versions, Mr. Sota said. Doors are made of solid-core birch and have commercial grade hardware, he added.

Off the dining room is a kitchen that's 16 by 14 feet with maple cabinets stained in a rich chocolate brown. There's room for a table and two chairs; glass pendant lights illuminate an island. There's also a breakfast bar for two. There are traditional-style cabinets that open from one side; another style of cabinet covered in frosted glass opens upward when you lift a stainless-steel bar. The quartz counter tops "are far more stain resistant than granite," Mr. Sota said, because they are not porous and made of 93 percent recycled material.

A soft chocolate brown floor is made of Corkoleum, which is made from cork, wood chips and linseed oil.

"Everybody thinks it's concrete until you walk on it," said Kathryn Barry, a Realtor with Prudential Preferred Realty.

Climb another staircase to the third floor, where a master suite includes a walk-in closet. In the master bath, there's a glass-enclosed shower, lined in eco-friendly green ceramic tile called Stone Peak, and a skylight.

An especially handsome vanity mirror that is more than 5 feet wide and 4 feet high is lit from behind by two fluorescent strip lights, creating soft, inviting lighting. Below the mirror is a green glass counter top and sleek, stainless-steel wash basins topped with polished chrome Kohler faucets in a contemporary style called oblo.

To conserve water, all toilets installed in the townhomes are dual flush. The far right button on the top of the commode is for liquids; the one on the left is for solids. Down a hall from the master bedroom is a guest bathroom and bedroom.

The home's HVAC systems takes in fresh air and filters it; there are also energy recovery ventilators that remove all of the exhaust air.

From the model's higher levels, you can see a future phase of the development, which will be even closer to the river bank. Also visible are some of the 40,000 earth tone-colored Belgian blocks found during construction and incorporated into a driveway that services six townhomes. The Belgian blocks lend texture to the development and are a nice reminder of the community's early building style.

This particular model offers 2,283 square feet of living space spread over three floors. However, buyers can choose from nine floor plans that range from 1,800 to 2,400 square feet. The townhomes do not have interior load-bearing walls, so the plans are flexible, said Diana Lynn, project manager for Sota Construction Services Inc.

One satisfied buyer is Rick Hawkins. He attended college in Louisiana, lived in Los Angeles and traveled all over the world because of his work as a television writer and producer. Last August, he bought a 3,000-square-feet unit in Riverside Mews on 18th Street.

Mr. Hawkins drove to 10 cities before choosing Pittsburgh.

"It's just a perfectly wonderful city. We have a deck and a sky room. That's where my office is. We walked up here and saw this unobstructed view. I can see a barge on the river, bikes on the bike path, cars on the freeway, helicopters flying to the hospital. Oh, and the train. Where else can you live and see that?"

Most of the layouts, Ms. Lynn said, offer the option of adding a sky room that has 140 or 280 square feet of space. In the first phase, five of the eight townhomes had sky rooms.

Mr. Hawkins, who calls the quality of cultural activities in Pittsburgh "mind-blowing," likes being able to walk to the grocery store, the dry cleaner, the gym and the bicycle path on the river where he walks a 3-month-old puppy and also rides his bicycle.

He liked Riverside Mews because of its green construction.

"All of the materials that were used to build these were either natural, from the area or are composite or biodegradable. The house has been designed with cross ventilation. They are beautifully insulated."

In the development's final phase along the railroad tracks, Mr. Sota plans to build a parklet so residents have more green space.

So far, Mr. Sota has built 14 townhomes; plans call for 48. Phase one consisted of eight townhomes, including this one. An additional six have been built and one has sold.

To see this model, call Kathryn Barry at 412-833-7700, ext. 248.

Marylynne Pitz can be reached at mpitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1648.


...


http://www.riversidemews.com/files/siteplan_rev.jpg

Phase 1
http://www.riversidemews.com/files/phase1-1.jpg

http://www.riversidemews.com/files/slideshow/merrimancorner.jpg

http://www.riversidemews.com/files/slideshow/mews3.jpg

http://www.riversidemews.com/files/slideshow/facade18th.2_2_1.jpg

http://www.riversidemews.com/files/slideshow/dsc_0882.jpg

www.riversidemews.com

[Ditchdigger]

Recycled cobblestone are used in the planters and parts of the driveway at the Riverside Mews.

LOL! I love that. As if they'd end up in a landfill otherwise. :rolleyes:

Even "recycled" they cost more than an equivalent amount of concrete. They're in high enough demand that there are quarries in India that send them to the US by the shipload...

[themaguffin]

According to Fairmont Hotel's website, these are the hotels in development:

In Development
Abu Dhabi Fairmont Marina City, Abu Dhabi (2011)
Abu Dhabi Fairmont Abu Dhabi Creek (2009)
Cairo Fairmont Nile City, Cairo (2009)
Corfu Fairmont Corfu Resort & Spa, Greece (2012)
Dubai Fairmont Kingdom of Sheba (2011)
Dubai The Fairmont Palm Hotel & Resort (2010)
Fujairah Fairmont Fujairah (2010)
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh Fairmont Hyderabad (2010)
Jaipur Fairmont Jaipur, India (2010)
Kunshan Fairmont Yangcheng Lake Hotel, Kunshan (2009)

KwaZulu-Natal Fairmont Zimbali Resort (2009)
Kyiv Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv, Ukraine (2010)
Macau Fairmont Macau, Cotai Strip (2012)
Makkah Makkah Clock Royal Tower, A Fairmont Hotel (2010)
Manila Fairmont Manila, Philippines (2010)
Marrakech Fairmont Marrakech, Morocco (2011)
Monterey Bay Fairmont Seaside Resort, Monterey Bay (2012)
Muscat Fairmont The Wave, Muscat (2011)
Palm Desert Fairmont Avanterra, Palm Desert (2012)
Pittsburgh Fairmont Pittsburgh (2009)

Punta Cana Fairmont Roco Ki (2012)
Sanya, Hainan Island Fairmont Haitang Bay Resort, Sanya, China (2011)
Shanghai Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai (2010)
Vail Fairmont Vail (2012)
Vancouver Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver (2010)

Not much else domestically. That's quite a list of international locals though.

Overall 3 PNC is a nice addition yet another classy resident downtown.

[Evergrey]

which city sorta sticks out in that list? :haha: Hopefully the Fairmont doesn't go all Richard Chen after it arrives.

[chloride1]

I wonder if Steven Beemsterboer,the Chicago developer of the proposed Mt. Washington condo-hotel development, has a good idea of what fury is soon to be unleased against him. I'm sure he has experienced community opposition to his previous projects, but he is about to feel the full fury of an incredibly powerful and immovable force......old people from Mt. Washington.
I seriously doubt that this project will go forward, unless is scaled back in which case I personally wouldn't want it. Mr. Beemsterboer's best chance might be to bring in a boatload of money and start greasing palms. Or perhaps maybe he should use some of his old school Chicago mob connections to help"persuade" people. Oh wait, even that wouldn't work; they could just call in the A-Team. :twoguns:

Things are better than they appear. There are only a few people who oppose this development. The Mt Washington CDC is in favor. At public meetings, the support has been positive. Apparently, the reporter rooted out the people cited in the article. See our neighborhood blog: 15211.org

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09130/969156-53.stm

Grand visions for Uptown are developing

Community leaders target areas for improvement in the Fifth and Forbes corridor in an effort to reshape the gritty neighborhood into a hub for housing, offices and retail.

Sunday, May 10, 2009
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20090510uptown_initiatives.gif

Tens of thousands of people go through Uptown each day on their way to someplace else. Community leaders want to give them a reason to stop and stay awhile.

After half a year of work, Uptown residents, business interests and other stakeholders have devised a plan aimed at transforming the gritty neighborhood wedged between Downtown and Oakland into a hub for housing, professional offices and retail.

The Uptown Community Vision, put together with the help of a team of consultants, targets 12 areas for improvement in the Fifth and Forbes corridor, stretching from Washington Place and the new arena to the Birmingham Bridge and beyond, by 2020.

From one end to the other, there would be restaurants, apartments, professional offices, public art displays, trees and lighting, parks and bike trails, and programs to reduce crime and increase safety -- all designed to turn Uptown into a "national example of uniting people, institutions and assets to effect positive change."

It's a daunting task for a neighborhood with a population of 4,200 people, 3,500 of them students, which may be known more for parking lots and abandoned buildings than anything else.

Extreme makeover

The six-month visioning process was the first step in changing that image.

Consultants Metropulos Development, Rothschild Doyno Collaborative and GSP Consulting held a community forum, met with neighborhood stakeholders and worked with a steering committee to craft the proposal for an extreme makeover.

"I think as a first step, it was a great first step. It got everyone to the table who needed to be there. There was a lot of engagement, a lot of enthusiasm and the vision is a good one," said Linda Metropulos of Metropulos Development.

Of the 12 areas singled out for improvement, three are identified as "catalytic projects" designed to get the ball rolling. They are:

• Locust Street near UPMC Mercy, where the plan envisions a collaborative effort between the Uptown Partners community group and UPMC in developing new and restored homes, professional offices and neighborhood retail, perhaps in conjunction with a hospital expansion.

The project also would include new parks, street trees and lighting. A Locust Street "restaurant row and wellness center" would transition into a Gist Street arts district.

• The Pride Street corridor. Labeled a "transit hub," the report envisions mixed-use development in this area, with first-floor retail and upper-floor housing. There also would be integrated or structured parking.

The plan sees Pride Street as a natural link between ongoing redevelopment in the Bluff spawned by Duquesne University and UPMC Mercy and Crawford Square in the Hill District.

• Jumonville Street to the Birmingham Bridge. The report calls for creation of a "diverse, progressive weed and seed program in this sector to increase safety and eradicate crime," as well as development of parks and trails and restoration or demolition of blighted buildings.

"There's been a lot of crime in that neighborhood and location," Ms. Metropulos said. "The idea is to do a weed and seed, and try to eliminate some of the disincentive for living in that neighborhood."

Jeanne McNutt, chair of the housing and economic development committee for Uptown Partners, described the final product as a "very articulate plan ... that really captured the thoughts and ideas of the community."

Overall, the plan calls for as many as 750 new housing units, 400 for graduate students; as much as 275,000 square feet of professional medical office space and 100,000 square feet of research and tech space; and a mix of stores, entertainment venues, restaurants and services.

In step with Duquesne

Steve Schillo, Duquesne University vice president for management and business, said the Uptown blueprint meshes well with the school's master plan, part of which focuses on Forbes Avenue redevelopment.

The university already has invested some $43.5 million on Forbes in building the Power Center, which includes state-of-the-art recreation facilities, a Barnes & Noble bookstore and a sky bridge to its campus on the Bluff. It also has plans for housing, academic and office space, more retail and perhaps a theater on Forbes next to the Power Center.

"We expected and hoped that the kind of design standards and the vision we stirred in our master plan would go beyond our borders, and this plan does that," Mr. Schillo said.

He, for one, sees a great need for more housing in Uptown, noting Duquesne residence halls are at capacity. The school provides no graduate student housing.

"There is room for this development to take place alongside the existing residential population," he said.

Duquesne has 10,300 students, about 3,500 of whom live on campus. Mr. Schillo envisions a day when students will be able to leave campus to partake in restaurants, parks and amenities throughout Uptown.

Arena redevelopment

One area not initially targeted for redevelopment is Fifth Avenue near the new Consol Energy Center. While the plan calls for restaurants, street improvements and public art displays in this gateway, it sees no need to focus attention there at first. Ms. Metropulos said the arena project already is creating enough momentum.

"In a way, it didn't have to be one of the projects the community had to work on because it's already being worked on," she said.

However, while praising the overall report, city Urban Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Rob Stephany said he believes the arena area deserves immediate attention.

"We're not Miami. You can't assume you can create a spark and a wildfire will ensure," he said. "From my vantage point, the arena will be a success when it's part of an arena district, not an event by itself.

"I think we owe it to ourselves to be purposeful in making sure there's the right mix of uses to capture peoples' hearts and pocketbooks."

Finding resources

Regardless of the order, the plan will need significant capital investment, although it offered no cost estimates. Finding investors willing to take the risk during a period of recession and tight credit markets might be the biggest challenge of all.

"I'm not sure what the most doable is," said city Councilwoman Tonya Payne, who represents Uptown. "It depends on the capacity to raise enough money to do any of it."

She said community leaders must involve as many business interests as possible in the plan in hopes of attracting investment. She also sees a need for help from the URA, where she serves as a board member.

Ms. McNutt went a step further, saying any public-private collaboration "needs a strong buy-in from the mayor down to bring a full spectrum of city resources to the table. This is a vision that deserves all the resources they can send our way."

Mr. Stephany believes investors will be there, given Uptown's untapped potential. He thinks resources such as historic and new market tax credits, so instrumental in redeveloping Downtown, can be used to help finance projects. He also sees a role for local banks.

"I am optimistic that we are going to start to see people who want to take a risk and bring Uptown back," he said.

Mr. Schillo agrees. The university already has fielded inquiries from private investors interested in exploring possible partnerships. School studies have shown that about 1,000 cars drive the Fifth and Forbes corridor during the rush hour peak.

"If you're a private investor, you look at that and say, 'That's an opportunity,' " he said.

The URA, Mr. Stephany said, will continue to play a role in filling funding gaps. "We're going to close deals if we can close deals," he said.

An agent of change

One key private stakeholder in any effort to transform Uptown is Tony Williams, whose family by his count controls more than 150 properties in the neighborhood, many along Fifth Avenue.

More than a few are parking or vacant lots, a source of friction in the past. More recently, Mr. Williams has vowed to be an agent of change for the neighborhood. He called the final plan, part of which his family funded, "pretty darn good."

Mr. Williams is ready to invest. He hopes to start construction by year's end on a development in the 1600 block of Fifth, a couple of blocks from Pride Street.

There he has plans to build apartments geared toward UPMC Mercy employees and Duquesne graduate students mixed with first-floor retail, underground parking and a green roof.

"If the bank says OK, I'm going to do it," he said. "It looks like nobody else is going to do it. They're afraid. I don't know why. I think it's a great area."

Mr. Williams would like to build as many as 1,000 apartment units in Uptown over the next 10 years.

To help implement and drive the overall vision, the plan calls for creation of a public-private task force made up of neighborhood institutions such as Duquesne, UPMC and the Penguins; funders; and government agencies to work with Uptown Partners.

Building consensus and investment might be difficult given the various players. But the payoff could be huge.

"It's really a wonderful neighborhood in the city, and you can imagine what it would look like in 10 years with the right leadership and guidance," Ms. Metropulos said. "It really can be a gem in the city."

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

[Tombstoner]

:previous: Surprised to hear that there are only 700 residents in this entire area who are not students. One would think that would make it a relatively easy neighborhood to "turn around."

[Evergrey]

:previous: Surprised to hear that there are only 700 residents in this entire area who are not students. One would think that would make it a relatively easy neighborhood to "turn around."

That surprised me too... and I agree... less NIMBY opposition!

btw, here's a photo thread on Uptown I did about a year ago... shows a lot of the sites we're talking about

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=150132

[themaguffin]

Uptown is perfect to large scale change. It really is vacant outside of Duquese and what is there is burdened with crime. I would add that they should redo the streets to block off side streets from accessing to Blvd of the Allies. That road has reasonbly high speeds up there and cars simply make a right turn - no ramp, just a turn like it's another street and at that section of the blvd, it's not merely a street.

Uptown could look fantastic. Definitely some of the old homes could be saved and well some should go. There is just so much potential along that stretch.

[PA Pride]

Uptown is perfect to large scale change. It really is vacant outside of Duquese and what is there is burdened with crime. I would add that they should redo the streets to block off side streets from accessing to Blvd of the Allies. That road has reasonbly high speeds up there and cars simply make a right turn - no ramp, just a turn like it's another street and at that section of the blvd, it's not merely a street.

Uptown could look fantastic. Definitely some of the old homes could be saved and well some should go. There is just so much potential along that stretch.

Good post. I agree with your assessment.

[Evergrey]

just came across this Downtown Pittsburgh Retail Market Analysis by MJB Consulting

http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/_files/docs/retail-full-report-final.pdf

[AaronPGH]

just came across this Downtown Pittsburgh Retail Market Analysis by MJB Consulting

http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/_files/docs/retail-full-report-final.pdf

Extremely interesting read! Trying to get through the whole thing tonight. Thanks for posting Evergrey.

[Evergrey]

Extremely interesting read! Trying to get through the whole thing tonight. Thanks for posting Evergrey.

It is quite interesting and thorough... they make a lot of reasonable observations and recommendations... though I would not want to see a Cordish-like "Cultural District Live!" on the Riverparc property. Sure... ANYTHING would be better than a Goodyear tire store and a massive parking lot... but that parcel is an opportunity for something truly transformative for Downtown (like Riverparc would've been). I do really like the suggestion for a place similar to Irving's bagelry in State College downtown. That would be awesome... and really... it's surprising that there doesn't seem to be a place like that in Downtown Pittsburgh. Downtown also needs more "third place" coffee shops where people can linger and socialize... the Cultural District Crazy Mocha kinda hits the mark... though they close a little early on weeknights IMO...

[AaronPGH]

It is quite interesting and thorough... they make a lot of reasonable observations and recommendations... though I would not want to see a Cordish-like "Cultural District Live!" on the Riverparc property. Sure... ANYTHING would be better than a Goodyear tire store and a massive parking lot... but that parcel is an opportunity for something truly transformative for Downtown (like Riverparc would've been). I do really like the suggestion for a place similar to Irving's bagelry in State College downtown. That would be awesome... and really... it's surprising that there doesn't seem to be a place like that in Downtown Pittsburgh. Downtown also needs more "third place" coffee shops where people can linger and socialize... the Cultural District Crazy Mocha kinda hits the mark... though they close a little early on weeknights IMO...

Yea...I got through the beginning and liked every point they made except for that Cordish part. Made my stomach turn a bit. At least they also follow it up by explaining that there are serious risks with that...unless I read it wrong.

[JackStraw]

A Irving's bagelry would be awesome downtown, and would be a great place for workers for breakfast and lunch, and a cool place to chill in the evening. God, I miss the efficiency off Irving's and Delancy st. in Philly. The Bagel Factory in S. Hill takes an hour an a half to get a bagel and coffee, but that is way off topic. The coffee shops downtown suck, as do many bars IMO. There is one independent one in the cultural district it seems like it could be cool, but it has no personality.

The only thing Cordish does well it seems is to bring suburbinites to the city to spend their money. I am going to read this through work. I can make it full screen, as it looks like I may actually be reading something for work.

[themaguffin]

I agree I haven't had a chance to read all of it, but it is mostly sound. I didn't get the Cordish Cultural District point, but year the third place element is lacking significantly.

It's really, really unfortunate that B&N closed. Great location and was a central place to go to. I remember when they opened that they were open to at least 9 on weeknights too and then it changed to 7 sadly.

It lasted long enough to kill the Waldon Books at Warner Ctr and the bookstore in Kaufmann's (maybe that had already been closed?).

Books a Million is very cheap looking, I hope that they don't become involved for downtown (or the city).

Borders is dying. It's pathetic that there are not more players and worse that there is no chance for a non chain to compete in that industry (not on that level).

Did they give any specifics on what to do with the Mellon Bank/L&T building?
I read something about that corridor in the report, but don't remember anything specific and that is a key building and place I would think...

[AaronPGH]

Honestly, it's a little depressing for me personally to read over and over about the "third place" or gathering bar that downtown needs...mainly because I've had a small bar/cafe concept idea in my head for upper liberty or the cultural district for about two years. One I know would work. The problem is that it's nearly impossible to get funding to open something like this. If you talk to a bank about opening a bar, they'll laugh you right out of the office. Success rates are abysmal. Even though I feel I definitely have enough experience in bars and nightlife to pull it off and the concept is foolproof, I'm lacking in the actual business side of things. There are a lot of obstacles in the way of pulling something off like this.

My idea was to have a fast casual cafe for lunch with some interesting drinks...smoothies, healthy items, coffee, etc. The place would be somewhat modular so that at night it could shift to a venue of about 200 people. It would be geared more towards DJs, have a great sound system, and some sort of garage door at the front to open up to the sidewalk. I'd involve a lot of different promoters that I trust....combine it with the arts community. A lot of the lawrenceville DJ scene (brillo, new amsterdam, remedy) is one in the same with the arts scene. At night headliners and locals could be brought in to play, and then at 2 am we would lock the bar down (it would be built this way), so that it could continue on as an afterhours legally....late night food would come back as would coffee, smoothies, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.

It would be perfect. That's my dream spot that I've been cooking up with a friend for about 2 years. NO idea how to actually take it from an idea to reality though.

[raynist]

Those are excellent photos PA Pride.
The August Wilson Museum is a super contemporary building. I think it will add to Pittsburgh's cityscape beautifully.

That August Wilson center looks nice, however, that is prime Golden Triangle land for just a 2 story building.

[PA Pride]

My idea was to have a fast casual cafe for lunch with some interesting drinks...smoothies, healthy items, coffee, etc. The place would be somewhat modular so that at night it could shift to a venue of about 200 people. It would be geared more towards DJs, have a great sound system, and some sort of garage door at the front to open up to the sidewalk. I'd involve a lot of different promoters that I trust....combine it with the arts community. A lot of the lawrenceville DJ scene (brillo, new amsterdam, remedy) is one in the same with the arts scene. At night headliners and locals could be brought in to play, and then at 2 am we would lock the bar down (it would be built this way), so that it could continue on as an afterhours legally....late night food would come back as would coffee, smoothies, non-alcoholic drinks, etc.


Nice idea Aaron. Maybe when lending to small businesses starts to pick up again you could shop it around. I certainly feel confident that you know what would work with all your event experience. Wish I had some dough to fund you... Did you ever draw up some rough numbers to see what kind of funding you would need?

[AaronPGH]

Nice idea Aaron. Maybe when lending to small businesses starts to pick up again you could shop it around. I certainly feel confident that you know what would work with all your event experience. Wish I had some dough to fund you... Did you ever draw up some rough numbers to see what kind of funding you would need?

Thanks Austin. Haven't ever drawn any numbers up, but honestly this report has lit a fire under my ass a little bit. I just realized I have all the missing components I'd have needed with some of my friends from Denver...namely food and bar management...so I may actually try to work on something. We'll see.

[Evergrey]

Did they give any specifics on what to do with the Mellon Bank/L&T building?
I read something about that corridor in the report, but don't remember anything specific and that is a key building and place I would think...

the intersection of Smithfield and Fifth Avenue is Downtown's
"100% corner", and the re-tenanting of the Mellon Bank Building (the former
Lord & Taylor), at that pivot, is the critical piece.

...

Re-tenanting of the Mellon Bank Building (former Lord & Taylor), at the pivot
of Fifth Avenue and Smithfield, would serve to accelerate the process on
Fifth, yet while it offers a large chunk of space -- 150,000 sq.ft. on three
tiers -- the owner, Pittsburgh, PA-based J.J. Gumberg & Co., has failed to
land a retailer in the 3.5 years since purchasing the building, and is also
considering the structure for other uses.

...

given their importance to Downtown retail, it is critical that the
Mellon Bank Building and the parcel at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue
and Wood be in the right hands. J.J. Gumberg & Co. has been unable to
secure a tenant for the former in 3.5 years, and the current owner of the
latter is unwilling either to sell the property at a reasonable price or to invest
in improvements on its own.

[Evergrey]

anyone have any photos of the small commercial buildings on Liberty that were demolished to make way for the August Wilson Center? Several of the buildings were in extremely poor condition... some were vacant or housed things like adult bookstores and strip clubs... the owner of Tonic owned the Liberty Tavern across the street... two buildings were torn down in 2002 and the rest came tumbling down a few years later as the city finally acquired all the properties

here's an interesting article on this process from 2002:

http://www.post-gazette.com/neigh_city/20020815liberty5.asp

[UrbaniDesDev]

They were 2, maybe 3 stories. There were only a handful of buildings there. Most was a lot. I'm disapointed they didn't follow through with the early proposal of an apartment tower above a section of the AWC. I have pics, I'll find them

[themaguffin]

I also agree where the advocate the potential of Firstside. Point Park's plans will certainly bring life to parts of it, but there are a few spots of potential apartment buildings.

[AaronPGH]

An H&M would absolutely wreck it over on Blvd of the Allies or First side.

[Evergrey]

Upscale Piatt Place Ready for New Tenants


video:

http://kdka.com/video/?id=57411@kdka.dayport.com

[PA Pride]

Upscale Piatt Place Ready for New Tenants


video:

http://kdka.com/video/?id=57411@kdka.dayport.com

Man, the views from that rooftop must be amazing. That intersection is exactly in the middle of downtown. That should at least help move a view of those overpriced units. :tup:

[Johnland]

That August Wilson center looks nice, however, that is prime Golden Triangle land for just a 2 story building.

Yes, while the building itself looks good, its location seems a bit mismatched. The museum is overwhelmed by the surrounding soaring 1920's and 30's modern and classic office towers. As mentioned, one would've thought that block's land value would command denser development.

[PA Pride]

Yes, while the building itself looks good, its location seems a bit mismatched. The museum is overwhelmed by the surrounding soaring 1920's and 30's modern and classic office towers. As mentioned, one would've thought that block's land value would command denser development.

Yes, everyone i've talked to on this board and otherwise all wish there were something much bigger and taller there; However, i have come to the conclusion that there hasn't been any demand for anything bigger; There are still several amazing locations downtown to build huge buildings so this isn't like the loss of the last great parcel. I do think this cultural center will be a great asset for Pittsburgh's residents and visitors. :cheers:

[Evergrey]

Yes, everyone i've talked to on this board and otherwise all wish there were something much bigger and taller there; However, i have come to the conclusion that there hasn't been any demand for anything bigger; There are still several amazing locations downtown to build huge buildings so this isn't like the loss of the last great parcel. I do think this cultural center will be a great asset for Pittsburgh's residents and visitors. :cheers:

Well, according to that 2002 article I posted today... a developer did want to build a hotel and retail development on the site of the August Wilson Center... but was rebuffed by the city's strong-armed development tactics.

[Evergrey]

I doubt very many people here have ever heard of Ridgemont (also known as Chicken Hill)... it's a tiny obscure neighborhood tucked in between the West End and Parkway Center Plaza (Green Tree)... it's just up the hill from the Old Stone Inn. I did a photo tour on it last year:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=156675

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Pgh_locator_ridgemont.svg/746px-Pgh_locator_ridgemont.svg.png

http://www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/cp/maps/images/map_gifs/ridgemont.gif


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_624862.html

Ridgemont boy crafts plea to save kickball lot from development

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, May 13, 2009



Tre Hanis wants to stop a 418-unit housing development that threatens to overrun his favorite kickball lot on Hamburg Street with traffic.

Hundreds of vehicles traveling to and from City Vista at Parkway could endanger the 9-year-old's playmates and further load car-clogged Greentree Road if the proposed development wins a key rezoning approval today from Pittsburgh City Council.

In a YouTube video clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X7chrM5Oh0) filmed by Hanis' mother, Beth, Tre implores viewers not to add a housing development that would more than double the size of Ridgemont, his neighborhood.

"Our town doesn't want to be super-sized!" the third-grader said in the video.

"We're a quiet oasis," said Beth Hanis, 44, a teacher. "When you have these huge, seven-story high-rises, it's like putting a bunch of Best Westerns inside a residential neighborhood."

Council is set to take a preliminary vote on whether to rezone a forested 10 acres of a 26-acre site straddling Pittsburgh's border with Green Tree. The rezoning would permit the 10-building residential development to be built. The remaining 16 acres fall within Green Tree, which approved the rezoning.

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission approved the rezoning in September.

A council public hearing Tuesday did little to resolve differences between residents opposed to the development and City Vista's Florida-based developer, SouthStar Development.

"I find it unbelievable that there's a plan afoot to turn Greentree Road into more of a parking lot," said Kathleen Walsh, 66, who lives on nearby McKinney Lane.

"We don't need any development. I'm tired of it. I'm sick of it. We don't want it," said Mary Ann Muransky, 63, another McKinney resident.

Irving Firman, an attorney for SouthStar, said the company altered its plans to exclude Hamburg as an entrance and exit for the development with the hope of gaining public favor.

"It eliminates the direct flow of traffic in or out of their neighborhood," he said.

Councilwoman Theresa Smith, who represents Ridgemont, said the plan hasn't changed her constituents' minds.

Councilman Bruce Kraus said SouthStar hasn't addressed how 400 to 600 vehicles would access City Vista via Greentree Road near Parkway Center Mall.

"Anybody who has lived here understands what a nightmare this is every day," he said.

"I'm definitely against trying to force anything that residents don't want," said Councilwoman Tonya Payne.

If council rejects the rezoning, development of some kind will happen on the Green Tree side of the site, said Lynn R. DeLorenzo, principal with Moon-based DeLorenzo & Co., SouthStar's partner. (and they'll get the tax revenues!)

She said the single-family units would sell for $175,000 to $300,000. They would range in size from 800 to 2,000 square feet. The development would cater to families working in or near the city who want to cut commute times, DeLorenzo said.

Councilman Ricky Burgess said he supports the rezoning because he believes a residential development would create less traffic than an office park.

"If we say no, they're going to put a big, commercial development right on your back porch ... and it's going to be 100 times worse," he said.

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




...



Here's the aforementioned youtube clip featuring the young child... curiously titled "Small Town America vs. New Urbanism"... interesting... because as isolated and comatose and Ridgemont may seem... it is part of a municipality of over 300,000 people smack dab in the middle of a metropolitan area of 2.4 million people...

2X7chrM5Oh0

[Evergrey]

farewell to nightmarish urban design!

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_624857.html

Empty East Liberty public housing high-rise to fall Sunday

By Matthew Santoni
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, May 13, 2009



Contractors will collapse an empty high-rise apartment building in East Liberty this weekend, removing the last of three public housing towers that formerly dominated the neighborhood skyline.

At 9 a.m. Sunday, subcontractors from Phoenix, Md.-based Controlled Demolition Inc. — the same firm that demolished Three Rivers Stadium in 2001 and the Davis Avenue Bridge in Brighton Heights last week — will use as much as 500 pounds of explosives on the first, fourth, ninth and 15th floors to demolish the 20-story Penn Circle Apartments, said CDI Vice President Doug Loizeaux.

"This will eliminate the last of what's referred to as 'blight' in our community," said Ernie Hogan, deputy director of the neighborhood group East Liberty Development Inc.

Explosives on the first floor will cut support columns and start to topple the building, while the rest will break up falling debris into manageable pieces for removal, Loizeaux said.

Some houses along Broad Street, north of the complex, might need to be evacuated for the demolition, Loizeaux said. The primary contractor, Buffalo-based Titan Wrecking & Environmental LLC, is expected to finalize a list of road closures in the area today, company officials said.

Penn Circle is the last tower standing of three the city built in East Liberty in the late 1960s and early 1970s — the others being the Liberty Park and East Mall buildings. Back then, planners sought to remake the city's "second downtown" as an outdoor urban mall surrounded by towering apartment buildings, said Sabina Dietrick, an associate professor of urban affairs at the University of Pittsburgh.

By the end of the 1990s, the high rises had fallen into disrepair and become unsafe, so the city made plans to revitalize the neighborhood and remove them. The first two towers were torn down in 2005 and are slowly being replaced with new, smaller developments. So far, 450 units have been built with another 140 in the planning stages, Hogan said.

The Mosites Co. is redeveloping the five-acre site bordered by Penn Avenue, Penn Circle East, Broad Street and the East Busway, and national retailer Target is seeking approval to build a two-level store there, said Mark Minnerly, director of real estate development for Mosites. Across Penn Avenue, the developer is working with Port Authority of Allegheny County on a transit center providing extra parking and station amenities for riders along the busway, he said.

Matthew Santoni can be reached at msantoni@tribweb.com or 412-380-5625.
Back to headlines



....



and in river development


http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_624909.html

$1M grant to finance building of 26 docks on Allegheny River

By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, May 13, 2009



The Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission awarded almost $1 million in federal money Tuesday to construct docks on the Allegheny River near the Convention Center Riverfront Park.

The $985,991 Boating Infrastructure Grant will be used to build docks for 26 large boats, of which 16 will be for transient boaters and day dockage.

"This is the second time the commission has successfully secured federal funding of this magnitude for the Pittsburgh area," Executive Director Douglas Austen said. "This is a great project for Pennsylvania's boating program. Building these docks will positively impact tourism and the local economy in the Pittsburgh area for years to come."

The commission secured a $1.35 million grant last year for construction of transient docks on the Monongahela River near the SouthSide Works.

[AaronPGH]

Upscale Piatt Place Ready for New Tenants


video:

http://kdka.com/video/?id=57411@kdka.dayport.com

Looks like they hired my grandmother to decorate those model units.

[biscuit]

x

[hyperion1110]

:previous: That little kid in the video was freakin' annoying!

[PA Pride]

Here's the aforementioned youtube clip featuring the young child... curiously titled "Small Town America vs. New Urbanism"... interesting... because as isolated and comatose and Ridgemont may seem... it is part of a municipality of over 300,000 people smack dab in the middle of a metropolitan area of 2.4 million people...


Good point. What is with people in big cities who think they live in small towns? It seems to be a real issue of denial.



Looks like they hired my grandmother to decorate those model units.


Oh Aaron, you just can't stand the dark cabinets/granite counter kitchen look can you? In my business it's a known fact that you must make homes look like a pottery barn or restoration hardware catalog to make them sell.

Bright, multi-colored lofts with CDJ's and 15inch club speakers set up in the corner just don't sell units in the 300k - 2 mill. price range too well! :yes:

[Evergrey]

Oh Aaron, you just can't stand the dark cabinets/granite counter kitchen look can you? In my business it's a known fact that you must make homes look like a pottery barn or restoration hardware catalog to make them sell.

Bright, multi-colored lofts with CDJ's and 15inch club speakers set up in the corner just don't sell units in the 300k - 2 mill. price range too well! :yes:

Plus the only people that can afford those places are people who've amassed a lifetime of income... which is why the decor is designed to appeal to those in their golden years.

x

I was quite excited to see what you had to say... since you always have great insights... but alas. :(

[Evergrey]

well maybe GreenTree can let them build twice as high! :haha:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_624998.html

City Council tentative vote spoils plans for housing development

By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Pittsburgh lawmakers today spoiled plans to build 418-unit residential development that would straddle the city's border with Green Tree.

City Council tentatively voted 6-1, with one abstention and one member absent, against rezoning about 10 acres in the Ridgemont neighborhood where Florida-based SouthStar Development Partners wants to build City Vista at Parkway, a 10-building high-rise complex.

The rezoning is required because only single-family homes, not high-rises, are permitted on the land.

An additional 16 acres on the Green Tree side already was rezoned to allow the project.

City Council is set to take a final vote on the rezoning measure May 21.




...


here's the development website... as you can see... the development site barely borders the residential community of Chicken Hill... this is just about the least obtrusive large site in city limits... the city border does a jagged little dance in that area... it looks like the portion of the site in city limits is actually that wooded section in the southeast:

http://www.southstardevelopment.net/folio/cVista.cfm

CITY VISTA

Parcel Size:
26 Contiguous Acres

Location:
Pittsburgh, PA. 16 acres is located in the Borough of Green Tree and 10 acres is located in the City of Pittsburgh

Zoning:
Planned Residential Development (similar designation in both jurisdictions)

Product & Density :
418 multi-family residential units in multiple buildings ranging from 3 to 7 stories, a clubhouse, a swimming pool and structured and surface parking. Extensive open space and preserved natural environment.

http://www.southstardevelopment.net/graphics/cStudies/cVista02.gif

http://www.southstardevelopment.net/graphics/cStudies/cVista04.gif

http://www.southstardevelopment.net/graphics/cStudies/cVista01.jpg

http://www.southstardevelopment.net/graphics/cStudies/cVista03.jpg

...


admittedly.. it's not really my thing... and it does have kinda that cheesy Florida type feel to it from the renderings (makes sense being it's a Florida developer)... but this site is currently a wasteland and an example of the missed opportunities of Parkway Center... this site is perfect for this type of development... I imagine the view of Downtown from a few stories up at that location is pretty interesting. It's also potentially a few hundred new residents with healthy incomes for the City of Pittsburgh. Being that the city government is perpetually in financial dire straits... stalling developments into oblivion due to the paranoid myopic histrionics of a few locals is dangerous. Developers will find much more accommodating municipal partners further afield (like GreenTree!). The imaginary inconveniences of a vocal few should not kill developments over and over again. (Now the Bloomfield/Friendship/Shadyside contingent is whining about how nobody will develop the Don Allen site they complained so vociferously about!)

I don't want to come across as a development-at-all-costs blowhard... I am quite aware of the critical importance of community outreach and concession in the development process... and it's important to have well-designed projects sensitive to the existing urban environment... but sometimes you just have to shake your head... often it seems that it wouldn't matter what concessions a developer would make... NIMBYism merely wants to kill the project... at the very least... this developer is getting a lesson in Pennsylvanian municipal hyper-fragmentation!

[Evergrey]

previous website was for the developer... this website is specific to the development... just look at that prime piece of FLAT LAND deceptively close to Downtown... develop the hell out of it IMO!:

http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/

http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/CVista%20CoverArt90908.gif

The Opportunity:
SouthStar Development Partners of Pennsylvania, LLC has acquired this 26 acre parcel spanning two jurisdictions and is in the process of obtaining the approvals to develop a multifamily village project consisting of approximately 418 dwelling units.

City Vista at Parkway Center is a proposed mixed-use, transit-accessed development located immediately adjacent to I-279, less than 5 minutes from the City of Pittsburgh CBD. This ideal location provides a ready market to a region that currently has a limited choice of new housing stock, particularly in such close proximity to downtown Pittsburgh. The surrounding uses include the Parkway Center Office Park, a prominent suburban business center consisting of nearly 1 million square feet, and an array of amenities including a new day care facility, a fitness center, restaurants, a post office, a bank and a Giant Eagle grocery store. Major tenants include Quest Diagnostics, PA, Comcast and Aetna Insurance.

Please contact SouthStar Development Partners for further information at
305-476-1515.

Pittsburgh Gets Top Rankings
•# 1 Most Livable City 2007 (Places Rated Almanac)
•# 1 most cost-effective North American City (Financial Times)
•Top Ranked airport in the U.S. (J.D. Powers & Assoc.)
•# 2 highest ranked workforce in the U.S. (Business Facilities)
•Home to 7 Fortune 500 headquarters
•Top 10 smartest places to live based on affordability, culture and
leisure activities (Kiplinger)
•Top 3 Best Hospitals in the U.S. (US News & World Report)


http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/Location/aerial_view_large.jpg

http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/SitePlan_Zoning/SitePlans123008.gif

http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/SitePlan_Zoning/Site-Context_Small123008.jpg

Site Plan/Zoning:

Size:
26 contiguous acres. 16 acres are located in the Borough of Green Tree and 10 acres are located in the City of Pittsburgh.
Zoning:
Planned Residential Development (similar designation in both jurisdictions).

The Site Plan:
The unique site plan takes full advantage of the allowable densities thereby incorporating the principles of urbanism and sustainability, yet allocating over 50% of the site to natural and open spaces. The plan creates a sense of place and promotes pedestrian activity and easy access to public transportation. The proposed 10 building plan, includes low and midrise flat over flat units as well as townhomes, garden apartments and popular loft units. A community clubhouse and swimming pool is provided adjacent to a pond, which serves as the central focus of the development. Parking is incorporated in several structures and on surface lots adjacent to the buildings. Two dedicated entries, one with a guard house, are proposed and will provide easy access and offers a quick route to the surface streets and Interstate system. The primary entry consists of an approved easement through the Parkway Center.

http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/Product/Building-2-Elev_121008.jpg

http://www.cityvista-pittsburgh.com/Product/Clubhouse121008/images/clubhouse_121108_r1_c1.jpg

[Minivan Werner]

Hard to blame the kid because his folks are feeding him propaganda and using him as a prop.

But it looks like he won't have to worry about the ducks; I see a home for them in those renderings. ;)

[ctoocheck]

The Site Plan:
The unique site plan takes full advantage of the allowable densities thereby incorporating the principles of urbanism and sustainability, yet allocating over 50% of the site to natural and open spaces. The plan creates a sense of place and promotes pedestrian activity and easy access to public transportation.

What a load. Just because it is built to max allowable density doesn't at all mean it incorporates "the principles of urbanism and sustainability" if the maximum densities are low, or if there is poor urban design (as seems the case). Just because there is lots of "natural and open spaces" doesn't mean they will be positive open spaces. "Sense of place...promotes pedestrian activity".... I dunno about that. "Easy access to public transportation"... only due to the good fortune that a bus runs down McKinney, across the parking lot from the site. Bah.


just look at that prime piece of FLAT LAND deceptively close to Downtown... develop the hell out of it IMO!:

I'm all for developing this piece of land, just not as proposed. It really seems quite suburban (and Floridian, like you said). It also only has one access point, and despite being mostly high-rise, the actual site is sparsely built and doesn't seem to have much positive open space (besides for maybe the space between buildings 6-10).

[Evergrey]

Hard to blame the kid because his folks are feeding him propaganda and using him as a prop.

But it looks like he won't have to worry about the ducks; I see a home for them in those renderings. ;)

It is sad that his parents are using him like that... placing the helpless child in the middle of such a contentious issue and potentially subjecting him to withering criticism...

from the looks of the topographic profile of the site and adjacent neighborhood... it seems unlikely that 99% of the neighborhood would even have their view "marred" by this development (other than the 6 houses across the street at the crest of the hill)...

i swear.. some neighborhoods around here like to pretend they live in the middle of nowhere...

I don't have a particularly strong opinion in favor of this development... it's not really my thing and I would never live there... but it's an opportunity to create some value in a spot that has been fallow for decades. I could come up with some design criticisms... but this is a pretty isolated site... this isn't the Mexican War Streets or Squirrel Hill...

It would be interesting to see what type of development the Chicken Hill Coalition would come up with for that site? 26 one-acre lots for single-family houses? More multi-unit buildings with lower heights? Or no development whatsoever? I assume that would be the answer. It's that "American suburbanite" mentality... I was here first... so nobody else is allowed to come here and ruin my isolation!

[themaguffin]

Not only should that get built, but down the road additional housing as there is a lot of land up there, but sooner than later it would be great to see Parkway Center Mall just go away and replace it with a nice mixed use development.

[PA Pride]

It's that "American suburbanite" mentality... I was here first... so nobody else is allowed to come here and ruin my isolation!


I have to say, that pretty much sums it up. Also people's irrational fear of change contributes. Don't forget the old slogan that many people seem to live by: "Nothing is ever as good as is was".

[Ditchdigger]

less than 5 minutes from the City of Pittsburgh CBD.

Yeah, at midnight...

[DBR96A]

While the development does look kind of cheesy, I took the time to respond to the YouTube video:

"Small town"? Are you kidding me? Sure, if you never leave your neighborhood, you might get the sense that you live in a small town, but I have a newsflash: your neighborhood is one of 88 in a LARGE CITY! And that large city is surrounded by a LARGE METROPOLITAN AREA, in which over 2,000,000 people live! In the entire United States, there are only 21 centers of population that are LARGER! Pittsburgh ain't a "small tahn," and the more people pretend it is, the less likely it is to grow.

That video was fuckin' yinzer parochialism at its worst. :rolleyes:

[PittPenn 03]

Oh Aaron, you just can't stand the dark cabinets/granite counter kitchen look can you? In my business it's a known fact that you must make homes look like a pottery barn or restoration hardware catalog to make them sell.

Bright, multi-colored lofts with CDJ's and 15inch club speakers set up in the corner just don't sell units in the 300k - 2 mill. price range too well! :yes:

I plan to do my kitchen in dark cherry or walnut with dark counter tops when I scrape the money together to remodel my kitchen and I am only in my 30's. -I will admit the dining room chairs look very grandmotherish.

I don't know about these units. They seem like they might always feel like you are living in an office and never at home -just way too modern for my tastes.

[AaronPGH]

^ Yeah it was mainly just the dining room furniture. Barf.

[bradjl2009]

While the development does look kind of cheesy, I took the time to respond to the YouTube video:



That video was fuckin' yinzer parochialism at its worst. :rolleyes:

That is so true. I'm going to watch it later and leave some comments on their small town ignorance within a major metro area. Oh yea I've been reading this forum for over 2 years now, and I felt like joining after seeing all of this talk about the development in Ridgemont. I really hope it comes to work especially for the city. The city could use the residences and tax money. I'm sick of the yinzers who think they are the only ones who have the right to live in a neighborhood and who think they are in the country.

[themaguffin]

I can't even bring myself to watch a video that it titles "Small town..."
that alone discredits the entire "argument'

If I were registered at youtube I would tell them that, but I see comments have been made. What selfish clueless pieces of shit to put that out there.

[bruchaus]

While I agree with most, that the family is kidding themselves about living in a small town, the design for that development is AWFUL. If that were going up in my back yard I'd be pissed too. While I wouldn't object to any development at all, it would have to be a hell of a lot better looking than that terrible crap. It looks like a retirement home for the blind.

[hyperion1110]

The person who designed those POS McMansion-esque buildings is probably the same dolt that thought Allegheny Center Mall was a good idea :koko:

[bradjl2009]

While I agree with most, that the family is kidding themselves about living in a small town, the design for that development is AWFUL. If that were going up in my back yard I'd be pissed too. While I wouldn't object to any development at all, it would have to be a hell of a lot better looking than that terrible crap. It looks like a retirement home for the blind.

I agree I support developement but it looks like something for people 55+ in Fla. or Charlotte. They can make it look better and if you live in the city and think you are in a small town; just leave. The times are finally changing here.

[PA Pride]

I agree I support developement but it looks like something for people 55+ in Fla. or Charlotte.

Good. Maybe this development is what we need for the diaspora to return.

[Grego43]

Good. Maybe this development is what we need for the diaspora to return.

LMFAO! Just what Pgh needs, PAP...more retirees. (BTW, I live in South Florida...you want 'em, take 'em.)

[PA Pride]

LMFAO! Just what Pgh needs, PAP...more retirees. (BTW, I live in South Florida...you want 'em, take 'em.)

Yes! We need everyone we can get. Allegheny County is sick and tired of being in 2nd place for oldest population after south Florida. It's time we take over the title of "God's waiting room".

[JackStraw]

I agree I support developement but it looks like something for people 55+ in Fla. or Charlotte. They can make it look better and if you live in the city and think you are in a small town; just leave. The times are finally changing here.

I kept having that, "I was born in a small town" song in my head. I loved when that little dude was talking about deer getting killed, and duck shit or something. Kind of like the points I made when they decided to put 150 more homes in my parents Mcsubdivision when I ws a kid, but in Greentree?

[bradjl2009]

I kept having that, "I was born in a small town" song in my head. I loved when that little dude was talking about deer getting killed, and duck shit or something. Kind of like the points I made when they decided to put 150 more homes in my parents Mcsubdivision when I ws a kid, but in Greentree?
In all serousness there are way too many deer in PA so a few less in the urbans areas would be a good thing. I can imagine deer there; hell I've seen them in Spring Hill/City-View and Morningside.

[bradjl2009]

Good. Maybe this development is what we need for the diaspora to return.

We should let go of the disporia from the 80's now lol and worry about keeping the youth that live here stay put and other families in their 20's and 30's.

[Evergrey]

We should let go of the disporia from the 80's now lol and worry about keeping the youth that live here stay put and other families in their 20's and 30's.

Let go of Grego43? Perish the thought!

[Grego43]

Thank you Evergrey, I'm all choked up. ;)

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_625250.html

Converted Manchester factory celebrated for re-energizing North Side

By Jeremy Boren
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 15, 2009



Transforming a dilapidated mattress factory into sleek offices has edged Manchester closer to Bill Strickland's vision of a bustling corporate and cultural district.

"It was a ghost town when we moved down here," Strickland, CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corp., told about 40 employees of FiveStar Development Inc., the newest neighbor of his acclaimed trade school and jazz performance center.

FiveStar, a private management consultant, invested about $5 million late last year to renovate the six-story factory into a cheery, modern office building overlooking the Ohio River from Preble Avenue.

"You kind of validate my whole theory of what the inner-city should be all about," Strickland said Thursday. "When we moved in here 23 years ago, everybody literally thought I was crazy for building this thing in this tough neighborhood, on the North Side with a lousy reputation. Well, we're now having traffic jams in front of my building."

The 151,000-square-foot FiveStar building is attracting other companies to the North Side, including a Warrendale security company and another firm thinking of signing a lease, said Justin Dumont, director of product strategy and development.

FiveStar's largest client is Visa. The company is helping the credit giant create user-friendly software to improve communication between Visa, banks and other lenders.

"A concern people had about moving down here was safety," Dumont said. "We have had zero problems down here. This is an area where there are opportunities. We haven't had break-ins, we haven't had graffiti on our walls."

New and relocating businesses have sprouted elsewhere in the North Side, including East Ohio Street, Federal Street and Western Avenue, said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference.

"Our strategy has been to strengthen the major arteries," he said.

A coalition of government and nonprofit organizations is midway through a $1.7 million renovation of the Western Avenue business corridor to equip it with new sidewalks and better lighting and bury ugly overhead utility lines.

Fatla said promising signs for East Ohio Street include the newly opened Rita's Water Ice and restaurant Bistro To Go.

A few blocks away, the second construction phase of Federal North townhomes on Federal Street is about to begin. The first phase sold well and likely played a part in attracting a Crazy Mocha Coffee Co. store, Fatla said.

Loans to North Side small businesses are on the rise, said Mark Masterson, executive director of Northside Community Development. The development fund distributed an average of $556,550 in loans in 2007 and 2008 — a $115,722 increase in the average amount of loans awarded between 2000-06.

Since 2000, the group has given 78 loans, a growing number of them to women- or minority-owned businesses, he said.

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

[Evergrey]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_625253.html

Urban Redevelopment Authority OKs $8.73M for East Liberty

By Sam Spatter, FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 15, 2009

Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood got the lion's share — $8.73 million worth — of projects approved Thursday by the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Up to $2 million will be sought from the state for a $7 million project to convert portions of Penn Circle from one-way to two-way traffic to accommodate a planned Target store. And up to $730,000 will be used to help pay for $1.53 million in roadway and plaza construction on the 5900 block of Broad Street to help control storm water at the new Indigo Hotel.

Another $2 million will be used for a $5 million, 148-space parking garage on Penn and Centre avenues and Broad Street, to be built adjacent to the Stadterman Building.

In addition, the URA board approved seeking up to $4 million for Walnut Capital's $113 million Bakery Square project, expected to open this fall. The funds — authorized in April by Gov. Ed Rendell — will help rehabilitate the former Nabisco plant building.

Bakery Square will include retail, offices, restaurants, a new parking garage, a fitness center and a 120-room hotel. The site in the Larimer neighborhood is expected to retain and create 1,182 jobs, developers say.

In other action, the URA approved:

• Seeking a $500,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for a proposed eight-tenth of a mile test track by Bombardier Transportation Holdings USA on a site being developed by Almono LP in Hazelwood. The 178-acre site is owned by four local foundations and has the Regional Industrial Development Corp. as a general partner.

Bombardier said it wants to test enhancements to its Innovia automatic people mover system, to improve its marketability. After testing, it may extend the track as a people mover to link with Oakland and, perhaps, the South Side, said Paul Overby of Paul Overby Associates, a consultant to Bombardier.

He said the company has a half-mile test track behind its West Mifflin plant, but can only test the vehicle up to 35 miles an hour. The Almono site would permit speeds of up to 50 miles an hour, which offers more market promise.

"We support Bombardier getting the funding because this is a good project for the region and provides a potential for reuse of an urban transit system," said Don Smith, RIDC's president.

[MattofSloppyVariety]

In all serousness there are way too many deer in PA so a few less in the urbans areas would be a good thing. I can imagine deer there; hell I've seen them in Spring Hill/City-View and Morningside.

Hell, i've seen them in Homewood, if they can survive there, they can survive anywhere in this city.

[JackStraw]

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_625253.html



In other action, the URA approved:

• Seeking a $500,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant for a proposed eight-tenth of a mile test track by Bombardier Transportation Holdings USA on a site being developed by Almono LP in Hazelwood. The 178-acre site is owned by four local foundations and has the Regional Industrial Development Corp. as a general partner.

Bombardier said it wants to test enhancements to its Innovia automatic people mover system, to improve its marketability. After testing, it may extend the track as a people mover to link with Oakland and, perhaps, the South Side, said Paul Overby of Paul Overby Associates, a consultant to Bombardier.

He said the company has a half-mile test track behind its West Mifflin plant, but can only test the vehicle up to 35 miles an hour. The Almono site would permit speeds of up to 50 miles an hour, which offers more market promise.

"We support Bombardier getting the funding because this is a good project for the region and provides a potential for reuse of an urban transit system," said Don Smith, RIDC's president.


Coutesy with some help from my brother. Another engineer in the Pittsburgh area working with Bombardier. He told me about that like a year ago, but I had to keep it quiet. A Oakland to Southside People Mover would be a good deal. It would be great for a Oakland to Downtown Lightrail, and Oakland to southside people mover, where you could than connect to the Light rail.

[hyperion1110]

In all serousness there are way too many deer in PA so a few less in the urbans areas would be a good thing. I can imagine deer there; hell I've seen them in Spring Hill/City-View and Morningside.

There's a stretch of Benton Ave in Brighton Heights where deer and turkey just like to sit in the road. Which is kind of funny, since my dad used to go up to Venango County to hunt deer and could never find any, when, in parts of the city, you just need to walk out onto your back porch :)

[Grego43]

Coutesy with some help from my brother. Another engineer in the Pittsburgh area working with Bombardier. He told me about that like a year ago, but I had to keep it quiet. A Oakland to Southside People Mover would be a good deal. It would be great for a Oakland to Downtown Lightrail, and Oakland to southside people mover, where you could than connect to the Light rail.

Wow, Skybus II !

For all you youngsters, read this:

http://darnnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/genuine-bona-fide-electrified.html

[JackStraw]

Wow, Skybus II !

For all you youngsters, read this:

http://darnnews.blogspot.com/2007/12/genuine-bona-fide-electrified.html

That music was bad ass!

[PA Pride]

Hell, i've seen them in Homewood, if they can survive there, they can survive anywhere in this city.

You spend much time in Homewood? :frog:

[MattofSloppyVariety]

You spend much time in Homewood? :frog:

If i didn't have to i wouldn't. I have to drive through there on a daily basis for work. Actually i drive through there for a short cut sometimes too, many i'm just crazy :fruit:

[PA Pride]

Ahh, i see you've used the insane dancing yeti icon. You must be nuts!

[MattofSloppyVariety]

i always consider that to be a mutated marshmallow peep snowman.

[Tombstoner]

Hmmm... I thought for sure it was the skipping zombie-cloud...

[bradjl2009]

Not exactly real development but an interesting piece from the Next Page on the Post Gazette.

The Next Page: A shining (North Shore riverfront concert) park on a hill
The forthcoming Rivers Casino is obligated to build some kind of amphitheater. But we've already got plenty -- let's roll the dice on something completely different
Sunday, May 17, 2009
By Kevin Kirkland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09137/970592-109.stm

Post-GazetteThis may be the most self-serving design proposal you've ever read. The place I envision is custom-made for ... me. Luckily, you're probably like me in some ways.

I'm hoping the people who have the power to improve the North Shore are a bit like us, too.

Growing up near the bottom of a big hill, I have always liked sloping spaces. I like water in any form -- ice, stream, pond, river, lake or ocean. I like outdoor concerts but don't go to many because I'm too old (46) to sit on grass for long and because I hate to sit in traffic for an hour or more afterward.

So here's my idea:

Create a North Shore concert/festival park set on an artificial hill that gives everyone -- not just ticket holders -- a birds-eye view of the Ohio River. When there are no events, use it for riverfront dining, science programs, regatta and fireworks watching, tailgating at Steelers and Pitt Panthers games, etc. Beneath the hill, expand the Carnegie Science Center, create retail space and fit in a new LRT station for the North Shore Connector.

Combining Pittsburgh's best scenic resources, this hillside park facing the river would be either the country's greenest urban performance venue -- or the largest green-roofed museum/shopping center/subway station.

What it wouldn't be is a fourth riverfront amphitheater for Pittsburgh.


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



A joint venture for a green-grass bowl
This summer, concertsare scheduled at Riverplex Amphitheatre at Sandcastle in West Homestead and the reopened amphitheater on the South Side, both on the Monongahela River. By next May, Continental Real Estate and the Steelers will have opened a new $12 million indoor/outdoor entertainment complex on the Ohio River just east of Heinz Field. And the Rivers Casino has promised to build another smaller amphitheater further west on the North Shore.

I propose that the casino shift its plans. Instead of building a 1,200-seat amphitheater, the casino should join with the Port Authority and Carnegie Museums to create a unique green space that serves all three entities -- and the public.

The nearly 4-acre site is bounded by Heinz Field, the science center, the casino and elevated LRT tracks that will serve the new Allegheny Station when the North Shore Connector is finished in 2011. Mostly owned by the science center, the site is slated to become a museum addition and permeable parking lot when the connector and new SportsWorks are finished.

So, what would this inclined park look like? Picture a huge, shallow, grassy bowl tipped on its side, with shrubs and shade trees clustered along the edges and rear so as not to block sightlines to the river. The high side of the artificial hill, on Reedsdale Street, would be no more than 25 feet high, making for a gentle slope down to the Riverfront Trail.

Unlike a real hill, this one would have only 1 to 4 feet of topsoil on top, enough to grow grass and most large trees. The science center was already planning a parking lot that demonstrated stormwater management. They could go even further and put a huge cistern at the bottom of the hill, topped by either permeable pavers or Geoblocks like the ones that turned Phipps Conservatory's lawn into a temporary parking lot during the Dale Chihuly glass show in 2007.

To go greener still, install solar lights in the trees and passive solar in the hill with huge tubular skylights that look like light "ponds" on top. And who better than the science center to show how hydroelectric power works by tapping the current in the river? It's only one of the many science projects possible in a riverfront, earth-sheltered structure like this.

I picture the sides and rear of the hill as a series of steel and concrete arches like those supporting our bridges, with maybe a "hole in the wall" as a nod to our steel and coal-mining heritage. Shops along Reedsdale would add much-needed retail space by the stadiums, corporate headquarters, hotels and other new North Shore development.

For concerts, set up a low stage whose natural backdrop is the Ohio and rugged side of Mount Washington, with the Point and Fort Pitt Bridge visible in the distance. Bounce a few lasers off that topography, throw in fireworks and you've got something pretty close to Skyblast -- minus the baseball game.


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



Music ... and much, much more
An open natural venuecould showcase much more than rock concerts. Book the River City Brass Band or Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Pops series there, too. Every classical concert could be like the Fourth of July. Wedding receptions, plays, musicals and dance performances would also be enhanced by the setting. Can you think of a better place to see Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or Sondheim's "Into the Woods"?

This performance park could comfortably fit up to 4,000 people on the grass. Event promoters would be wise to provide table service under the trees on the sides and in the rear. They could also offer premium sheltered seating in a cutout in the hillside, with access to restrooms and concession stands within the hollow hill.

To me, the biggest benefit of an inclined park is riverfront dining. The Urban Redevelopment Authority supported the Steelers' entertainment complex because it might benefit area restaurants on about 100 concert days a year. Why not rent those restaurants space under the trees for outdoor dining on the days and evenings when there are no events?

The open space beneath this hill creates even more possibilities. The Allegheny Station, which was intended to be elevated anyway, would fit perfectly into the back side of the hill. The rest of the interior space could be used by the museum and as retail/food service.

I doubt the parking spaces would be missed if the casino opens its huge 3,872-space parking garage for the science center or Steelers and Pitt games at adjacent Heinz Field.


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



How much moolah? Let's talk ...
I have no idea how much this project would cost, but Western Pennsylvania contractors have plenty of experience building bridges and parking garages.

To help pay for it, ask Neil Bluhm, the casino's major investor, to put up the $3.5 million the casino has pledged to spend on an amphitheater on its western side. In return, the casino would get a concert venue and a piece of all revenue. And it would get out of the amphitheater promise Mr. Bluhm's failed predecessor, Don Barden, made back in 2006 when he won the Pittsburgh casino license.

This park would be at least as much of a regional asset as the Steelers' entertainment complex, which will be supported by a $2.5 million state grant. Maybe state and Regional Asset District money could cover any funding shortfall.

A river-facing performance venue's biggest potential problem is noise, a major complaint of residents living near Heinz Field. Noise is the reason the Steelers and Continental decided to turn their entertainment complex sideways so sound would "wash down the river." My colleague columnist Brian O'Neill, who lives in nearby Allegheny West, still speaks with awe of the communal estrogen-fueled scream he heard from the throats of thousands of teenage girls when 'N Sync played Heinz Field in August 2001. He was a half-mile away inside his house.

He wouldn't hear that kind of noise from a hillside park, and not just because it wouldn't hold as many people. The study of urban forest acoustics -- which usually focuses on traffic noise -- shows that stands of shade trees and shrubbery block sound better than lower, solid barriers. The buffering effect increases when you add a grass-covered mass into the equation and the fact that the trees and shrubs grow taller and fuller with age. To focus the sound better, put speakers in the grass and/or the trees.

An added bonus is that all that greenery would turn the site into a giant air-conditioner instead of a heat sink.


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



Showcasing our ravishing riverfront
Whether you love the idea or hate it, you have to admit that this venue would set Pittsburgh apart.

The idea owes something to the beer gardens of Munich and Vienna, the waterside cafes of Paris and Amsterdam and concert parks around the world. But none of those places offer the spectacular views that come with Pittsburgh's rivers and hills. They are our challenge and our blessing.

Don't they -- and we -- deserve a riverfront park that works as hard as we do?


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



Reaction From the Carnegie Science Center
We showed Kevin Kirkland's proposal to the concerned parties. The Carnegie Science Center, which owns the site, provided these comments by co-directors Ann Metzger and Ron Baillie:

"The Carnegie Science Center has been hard at work on plans for the enhancement of the North Shore riverfront area by our own property and the creation of public green spaces close to the rivers. This strategy is part of the master plan for our 13-acre site that was approved by the city planning commission in September. In cooperation with Riverlife and our new neighbors at the Rivers Casino, we have concept drawings for a new river trail and an outdoor science park that could be used in all four seasons.

"Eventually, we also plan new science park green spaces adjacent to our building on what is now our visitor parking lot. We'll then move all science center parking to the property adjacent to the new Port Authority light rail transit station currently under construction.

"We believe the best place to highlight the ecology of the three rivers and provide public green space is actually on the rivers, not hundreds of feet away on a man-made hillside amphitheater. We've worked with many urban planners, landscape designers and passionate environmental experts on our new plans and think it's a great way to showcase our city's natural assets, educate our visitors about rivers ecology and raise awareness of the tremendous value of our rivers and the entire Ohio River watershed to the quality of life in our region."

The Next Page: A shining (North Shore riverfront concert) park on a hill
The forthcoming Rivers Casino is obligated to build some kind of amphitheater. But we've already got plenty -- let's roll the dice on something completely different
Sunday, May 17, 2009
By Kevin Kirkland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Post-GazetteThis may be the most self-serving design proposal you've ever read. The place I envision is custom-made for ... me. Luckily, you're probably like me in some ways.

I'm hoping the people who have the power to improve the North Shore are a bit like us, too.

Growing up near the bottom of a big hill, I have always liked sloping spaces. I like water in any form -- ice, stream, pond, river, lake or ocean. I like outdoor concerts but don't go to many because I'm too old (46) to sit on grass for long and because I hate to sit in traffic for an hour or more afterward.

So here's my idea:

Create a North Shore concert/festival park set on an artificial hill that gives everyone -- not just ticket holders -- a birds-eye view of the Ohio River. When there are no events, use it for riverfront dining, science programs, regatta and fireworks watching, tailgating at Steelers and Pitt Panthers games, etc. Beneath the hill, expand the Carnegie Science Center, create retail space and fit in a new LRT station for the North Shore Connector.

Combining Pittsburgh's best scenic resources, this hillside park facing the river would be either the country's greenest urban performance venue -- or the largest green-roofed museum/shopping center/subway station.

What it wouldn't be is a fourth riverfront amphitheater for Pittsburgh.


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



A joint venture for a green-grass bowl
This summer, concertsare scheduled at Riverplex Amphitheatre at Sandcastle in West Homestead and the reopened amphitheater on the South Side, both on the Monongahela River. By next May, Continental Real Estate and the Steelers will have opened a new $12 million indoor/outdoor entertainment complex on the Ohio River just east of Heinz Field. And the Rivers Casino has promised to build another smaller amphitheater further west on the North Shore.

I propose that the casino shift its plans. Instead of building a 1,200-seat amphitheater, the casino should join with the Port Authority and Carnegie Museums to create a unique green space that serves all three entities -- and the public.

The nearly 4-acre site is bounded by Heinz Field, the science center, the casino and elevated LRT tracks that will serve the new Allegheny Station when the North Shore Connector is finished in 2011. Mostly owned by the science center, the site is slated to become a museum addition and permeable parking lot when the connector and new SportsWorks are finished.

So, what would this inclined park look like? Picture a huge, shallow, grassy bowl tipped on its side, with shrubs and shade trees clustered along the edges and rear so as not to block sightlines to the river. The high side of the artificial hill, on Reedsdale Street, would be no more than 25 feet high, making for a gentle slope down to the Riverfront Trail.

Unlike a real hill, this one would have only 1 to 4 feet of topsoil on top, enough to grow grass and most large trees. The science center was already planning a parking lot that demonstrated stormwater management. They could go even further and put a huge cistern at the bottom of the hill, topped by either permeable pavers or Geoblocks like the ones that turned Phipps Conservatory's lawn into a temporary parking lot during the Dale Chihuly glass show in 2007.

To go greener still, install solar lights in the trees and passive solar in the hill with huge tubular skylights that look like light "ponds" on top. And who better than the science center to show how hydroelectric power works by tapping the current in the river? It's only one of the many science projects possible in a riverfront, earth-sheltered structure like this.

I picture the sides and rear of the hill as a series of steel and concrete arches like those supporting our bridges, with maybe a "hole in the wall" as a nod to our steel and coal-mining heritage. Shops along Reedsdale would add much-needed retail space by the stadiums, corporate headquarters, hotels and other new North Shore development.

For concerts, set up a low stage whose natural backdrop is the Ohio and rugged side of Mount Washington, with the Point and Fort Pitt Bridge visible in the distance. Bounce a few lasers off that topography, throw in fireworks and you've got something pretty close to Skyblast -- minus the baseball game.


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



Music ... and much, much more
An open natural venuecould showcase much more than rock concerts. Book the River City Brass Band or Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Pops series there, too. Every classical concert could be like the Fourth of July. Wedding receptions, plays, musicals and dance performances would also be enhanced by the setting. Can you think of a better place to see Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" or Sondheim's "Into the Woods"?

This performance park could comfortably fit up to 4,000 people on the grass. Event promoters would be wise to provide table service under the trees on the sides and in the rear. They could also offer premium sheltered seating in a cutout in the hillside, with access to restrooms and concession stands within the hollow hill.

To me, the biggest benefit of an inclined park is riverfront dining. The Urban Redevelopment Authority supported the Steelers' entertainment complex because it might benefit area restaurants on about 100 concert days a year. Why not rent those restaurants space under the trees for outdoor dining on the days and evenings when there are no events?

The open space beneath this hill creates even more possibilities. The Allegheny Station, which was intended to be elevated anyway, would fit perfectly into the back side of the hill. The rest of the interior space could be used by the museum and as retail/food service.

I doubt the parking spaces would be missed if the casino opens its huge 3,872-space parking garage for the science center or Steelers and Pitt games at adjacent Heinz Field.


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



How much moolah? Let's talk ...
I have no idea how much this project would cost, but Western Pennsylvania contractors have plenty of experience building bridges and parking garages.

To help pay for it, ask Neil Bluhm, the casino's major investor, to put up the $3.5 million the casino has pledged to spend on an amphitheater on its western side. In return, the casino would get a concert venue and a piece of all revenue. And it would get out of the amphitheater promise Mr. Bluhm's failed predecessor, Don Barden, made back in 2006 when he won the Pittsburgh casino license.

This park would be at least as much of a regional asset as the Steelers' entertainment complex, which will be supported by a $2.5 million state grant. Maybe state and Regional Asset District money could cover any funding shortfall.

A river-facing performance venue's biggest potential problem is noise, a major complaint of residents living near Heinz Field. Noise is the reason the Steelers and Continental decided to turn their entertainment complex sideways so sound would "wash down the river." My colleague columnist Brian O'Neill, who lives in nearby Allegheny West, still speaks with awe of the communal estrogen-fueled scream he heard from the throats of thousands of teenage girls when 'N Sync played Heinz Field in August 2001. He was a half-mile away inside his house.

He wouldn't hear that kind of noise from a hillside park, and not just because it wouldn't hold as many people. The study of urban forest acoustics -- which usually focuses on traffic noise -- shows that stands of shade trees and shrubbery block sound better than lower, solid barriers. The buffering effect increases when you add a grass-covered mass into the equation and the fact that the trees and shrubs grow taller and fuller with age. To focus the sound better, put speakers in the grass and/or the trees.

An added bonus is that all that greenery would turn the site into a giant air-conditioner instead of a heat sink.


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



Showcasing our ravishing riverfront
Whether you love the idea or hate it, you have to admit that this venue would set Pittsburgh apart.

The idea owes something to the beer gardens of Munich and Vienna, the waterside cafes of Paris and Amsterdam and concert parks around the world. But none of those places offer the spectacular views that come with Pittsburgh's rivers and hills. They are our challenge and our blessing.

Don't they -- and we -- deserve a riverfront park that works as hard as we do?


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



Reaction From the Carnegie Science Center
We showed Kevin Kirkland's proposal to the concerned parties. The Carnegie Science Center, which owns the site, provided these comments by co-directors Ann Metzger and Ron Baillie:

"The Carnegie Science Center has been hard at work on plans for the enhancement of the North Shore riverfront area by our own property and the creation of public green spaces close to the rivers. This strategy is part of the master plan for our 13-acre site that was approved by the city planning commission in September. In cooperation with Riverlife and our new neighbors at the Rivers Casino, we have concept drawings for a new river trail and an outdoor science park that could be used in all four seasons.

"Eventually, we also plan new science park green spaces adjacent to our building on what is now our visitor parking lot. We'll then move all science center parking to the property adjacent to the new Port Authority light rail transit station currently under construction.

"We believe the best place to highlight the ecology of the three rivers and provide public green space is actually on the rivers, not hundreds of feet away on a man-made hillside amphitheater. We've worked with many urban planners, landscape designers and passionate environmental experts on our new plans and think it's a great way to showcase our city's natural assets, educate our visitors about rivers ecology and raise awareness of the tremendous value of our rivers and the entire Ohio River watershed to the quality of life in our region."

[AaronPGH]

Hmmm....love the idea. Sort of a salty-ish reaction from the Science Center.

[Tombstoner]

yeah, the Science Center's response didn't seem quite as inspired ("outdoor science park" doesn't really play off the setting on the river as well). Conversely, how is this place going to distinguish itself from the indoor/outdoor entertainment complex planned for the east side of Heinz field? He seems to want to reject the idea that it's just another amphitheatre, but it really just seems like a multi-purpose amphitheatre. Maybe the multi-purposeness of it sets it apart, but I ain't seeing it. I like big ideas and attempts at innovation, but I'm not sure this sets the world on fire any more than the outdoor science park does. Still, props for the enthusiasm and for putting something out there...

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09138/970906-56.stm

Redevelopment of Carrie Furnace site to begin this year

Monday, May 18, 2009
By Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In a field of knee-high grass behind the hulking frame of what is left of Carrie Furnace -- an expanse of blast furnaces that once produced as much as 1,200 tons of iron per day for the former Homestead Works of U.S. Steel mill -- sits a rusted torpedo car.

The cylindrical container made of steel, together with hundreds more, was at one time an indispensable tool in the steel producing days of the Mon Valley. Back when massive steel factories still churned plumes of smoke over much of the region, torpedo cars didn't sit rusting away.

They were used to treat and transport iron via a hot metal rail bridge that runs across half of the Carrie Furnace site in Rankin and Swissvale, over the Monongahela River, and into Homestead where it was made into steel.

That era is long gone, but Allegheny County, which in 2005 bought the 168-acre land parcel where the Carrie Furnace had operated for 102 years, is in the final stages of environmental cleanup and expects to start marketing the land for redevelopment this year.

"We have to move our economic development back along the Monongahela where we have all these brownfields. We just have to clean them up and business will come," said County Executive Dan Onorato.

The county currently is seeking about $12 million in federal funding to build a flyover ramp from the Rankin Bridge onto the site. In addition, county officials say they will soon start the installation of water lines, sewer lines and storm sewers to the site -- basically the final step in preparation to sell the land.

"We are very close to getting our environmental clearance from the state Department of Environmental Protection," said Bob Hurley, deputy director of development and business for the county's Economic Development Department.

Environmental clearance, Mr. Hurley said, means that the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County can then issue a nationwide request for proposals from developers who might be interested in acquiring all or parts of the land.

County officials, who say they've been fielding calls from potential investors in the last few years, said the county has invested about $7.2 million in acquisition, environmental engineering, site design and remediation of the property.

But the biggest costs of the project -- about $28 million for other infrastructure upgrades and about $7 million for grading the site -- will ultimately be incurred by private developers, Mr. Hurley said. Much of the site also will have to be filled with new dirt to raise certain parts of its sewer system above the flood plane.

County officials envision a mix of riverfront housing, light industrial manufacturing and office space at the site. They also hope to establish a steel heritage museum to showcase the existing furnaces on a 25-acre section that the federal government has already declared a historical site.

Bound by the Monongahela, two CSX rail lines that run along its back side on River and North Braddocksfield avenues, Carrie Furnace was built in 1881 as part of the Homestead Works mill owned by U.S. Steel.

The two blast furnaces still standing -- Carrie 6 and Carrie 7-- were built in 1907 and remained in operation until 1978. U.S. Steel closed all its operations at the site in 1983 and the Park Corp. acquired it in 1988.

But when Park, a Cleveland developer, offered to sell the site to the county for $5.75 million, Mr. Onorato said he took the deal because the land swath, if developed well, could be a major income generator for communities like Rankin and Swissvale.

"It has all the things that investors are looking for. It's only a few miles outside Downtown Pittsburgh, and it's easily accessible by water, by rail, and the East Busway," Mr. Onorato said of the site, which also has a Duquesne Light substation on its grounds.

A small portion of the site lies within the city of Pittsburgh, and the county has purchased more chunks of land in Munhall and Whitaker to complement the development officials envision in this section of the Mon Valley.

The site sat untouched for many years, and the two furnaces still standing became a post-industrial playground of sorts for graffiti artists, particularly one, "THOR," who left his imprint all over much of the rusted structure. A giant deer head made out of steel scraps still straddles the side of the furnaces.

In a walking tour of the property last week, Mr. Onorato pointed toward Homestead, where the 430 acres that once were the grounds of the Homestead Works of U.S. Steel were converted for use into an open-air shopping and entertainment complex -- The Waterfront -- which opened in 1999.

"We don't want to build the same shopping center here that was built on the other side of the river," he said.

In the end, the old Carrie Furnace site is more likely to look like the old LTV mill site on the South Side, Mr. Onorato said. That site is now home to the SouthSide Works that features the UPMC Sports Performance Complex and offices for the Steelers and the University of Pittsburgh football teams.

The region's FBI headquarters is also there, which has a 34-acre retail and entertainment district developed by the Soffer Organization, as well as office buildings and residential units.

The development plan for Carrie Furnace includes the construction of a bike trail that would weave through the property and cross the Monongahela into Munhall and Whitaker via an old hot metal bridge that is currently not in service.

That bridge, which connects the site to Route 837, will be renovated and reopened to traffic, much like what happened with the Hot Metal Bridge that connects the SouthSide Works to Second Avenue in Hazelwood.

What will be known as the Steel Valley Trail will tie into the Great Allegheny Passage along Route 837 when the unfinished portion of that trail is eventually completed. The Steel Valley Trail also will connect to the trails at Duck Hollow in Squirrel Hill, providing access to Frick Park.

The county is working with three firms, Chester Engineers, L. Robert Kimball & Associates and GAI Consultants Inc., to design and develop the property until it is ready for marketing.

The county also is in talks with Rankin, Swissvale, Braddock and North Braddock officials about a joint development agreement, which among other things would determine how the communities could share revenues generated by the site in the form of property taxes.

Mr. Onorato contends that redeveloping the brownfields must go hand-in-hand with rebuilding the communities as well.

And that is why his economic development team has infused about $40 million of Community Development Block Grants to build new housing and streetscape renovations in communities along the Monongahela from Braddock to Mc­Keesport, he said.

At the moment, the Carrie Furnace site serves as a staging area for the ongoing $60 million renovation of the Rankin Bridge, which is scheduled for completion early next year.

Coupled with the $36 million renovation of the Homestead Grays Bridge, which was completed in 2007, Mr. Onorato said this part of the Mon Valley is well-positioned for an economic reawakening of sorts, especially because of the Obama administration's federal stimulus program.

"What we're trying to do here is essentially the kind of project that [President Barack] Obama meant when he talked about reinvesting in urban America," Mr. Onorato said.

"Right now, the development of Carrie Furnace is my key economic development project, but we're not stopping here. We're going all the way down the Monongahela."

Karamagi Rujumba can be reached at krujumba@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1719.


...

Video:
http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/?videoID=101885

[Johnland]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09138/970906-56.stm

Redevelopment of Carrie Furnace site to begin this year

Monday, May 18, 2009
By Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"We don't want to build the same shopping center here that was built on the other side of the river," he said.
Karamagi Rujumba can be reached at krujumba@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1719.


...

Video:
http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/?videoID=101885

At least they realize that 'Waterfronts', while technically 'new' development, actually represent an old, timeworn development approach - low density retail spread out over vast acreages of asphalt parking. Hopefully the new site will entail higher thinking.

[bradjl2009]

Here's the link: http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09138/970895-147.stm

Congress members submit wish lists for transit
Monday, May 18, 2009
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle is seeking $5.6 million in federal funding to begin planning extensions of the Light Rail Transit system to Pittsburgh International Airport and Oakland.

Rep. Jason Altmire has requested $19.2 million for improvements to the Freedom Road/Route 228 corridor stretching across Beaver and Butler counties, and $6 million to complete planning and design for commuter rail service from the Allegheny Valley to Downtown Pittsburgh.

Rep. Tim Murphy is asking for $8 million for reconstruction and widening of Painters Run Road between Robb Hollow and Bower Hill roads in Upper St. Clair.

Those requests were among nearly 7,000 submitted by members of Congress for inclusion in a forthcoming multiyear authorization bill for highway and transit projects.

The requests are officially called "high priority projects" but more commonly referred to as earmarks.

Congress this year is scheduled to debate a replacement for the current law, known as SAFETEA-LU, that authorizes highway, bridge and transit projects nationwide. It expires Sept. 30.

Earmark requests were submitted to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is drafting the legislation.

In prior years, members' requests for earmarks were confidential. This time around, they are required to post them on their Web sites.

"I think that transparency is a good thing. Some of the biggest abuses in the process [in the past] were transportation projects," said Mr. Altmire, D-McCandless, citing the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," a $223 million earmark in the last highway bill for a project in Alaska that came to symbolize wasteful pork barrel spending.

"This is a way of having everything out there so the public can see it," said Mr. Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair.

Mr. Doyle, D-Forest Hills, submitted 21 funding requests. Mr. Altmire, who is a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, submitted 40. Mr. Murphy submitted seven.

Members were required to submit extensive documentation for each request.

"The process is pretty intense," said Mr. Murphy. "This is by no means a wink-and-a-nod process."

The three congressmen said they relied primarily on local government leaders and agencies for input in developing their requests.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato last month announced that he would seek $7 million to begin planning transit extensions to the airport and Oakland.

He envisions the Downtown-to-Oakland line connecting to a circulator system -- possibly using technology similar to West Virginia University's Personal Rapid Transit system -- serving the Pittsburgh Technology Center, Oakland, Shadyside, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville and the South Side.

The estimated development cost of the rail segments and circulator is $3.5 billion.

Asked if it is prudent to spend millions planning a project that might be considered a long shot to be built, Mr. Doyle said the idea is timely because of President Barack Obama's interest in developing high-speed passenger rail systems.

"It's a long-term project. Step one in any undertaking like this is to make sure you have a good study ... it's entirely appropriate to commence the required studies to see if it is feasible, the best way to do it, the most cost-effective way to do it."

Mr. Doyle said he expects that earmarks requested by members will make up less than 5 percent of the funding in the final bill.

Without the earmarking process, "local projects would never get funded," Mr. Murphy said. Decision-makers in Washington and Harrisburg "may not see the same priorities" as local leaders.

Mr. Altmire has said that improvements in the Freedom Road/Route 228 corridor and commuter rail from Arnold to Pittsburgh were his top transportation priorities.

He has asked for $12.7 million to upgrade the Crows Run corridor of Freedom Road from Route 65 to Route 989; $4 million for improvements to Route 228 at Interstate 79; and $2.5 million for Route 228 improvements from the Mars railroad bridge to the Mars-Valencia Road intersection.

"That is key to the ability to make that corridor work," he said. The Crows Run work "has been talked about for decades."

Among the other projects Mr. Doyle advanced were $2.5 million for a switchback ramp to connect the Mon Wharf trail, now under construction, to the Smithfield Street Bridge and $4.4 million for Point Park University's Wood Street Corridor upgrade.

U.S. Rep. James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., who chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, hopes to have the highway bill to the full House for consideration next month, a timetable some see as overly ambitious.

Congress was nearly two years late in passing the current SAFETEA-LU measure.

Mr. Doyle's and Mr. Altmire's funding requests are on the home pages of their Web sites. Mr. Murphy's can be found by clicking "Constituent Services" and then "Surface Transportation Authorization of 2009."

[Steel Boy]

I would like to see some more higher-density development along the Carrie Furnace site. Maybe light industrial, offices, etc. It would be nice to tie it in with the Waterfront via the Hot Metal Bridge, too. Good access from 376, too, although Braddock Avenue can be kind of congested getting to the site. I took a tour of the Carrie Furnace last September (they give them during the summer on Saturdays) and it was fascinating. You got to go up into the blast furnace and get a feel of what it was like to work there. Most of us wouldn't have survived a day. The tour was led by some former steel workers who described the working conditions.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Evergrey
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09138/970906-56.stm

Redevelopment of Carrie Furnace site to begin this year

Monday, May 18, 2009
By Karamagi Rujumba, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"We don't want to build the same shopping center here that was built on the other side of the river," he said.
Karamagi Rujumba can be reached at krujumba@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1719.


...

Video:
http://www.post-gazette.com/multimedia/?videoID=101885

I think it's more in the way that if they did something similar to the Waterfront, it wouldn't do well since the retail market would saturated in that area with each place so close. But I want high desity development in that area also and think another Waterfront is definately a bad idea.

[PA Pride]

Pittsburgh loses a 20 story highrise!

http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20090518ngPenn_Circle_330hp.jpg
http://post-gazette.com/pg/09138/970898-53.stm


Video: http://post-gazette.com/multimedia/?videoid=101894

[MattofSloppyVariety]

i remember seeing the other one here not too long ago

Cleveland Tourism 2nd attempt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM)

[acenturi]

Some positive comments on Pittsburgh's financial state from a prestigious and reliable source:

http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Philadelphia-area_grantmaking/FINAL_Budget%20Brief.pdf

[themaguffin]

The irony is that if a similar style structure is proposed for East Liberty, residents will fight it.

[Tombstoner]

Some positive comments on Pittsburgh's financial state from a prestigious and reliable source:

http://www.pewtrusts.org/uploadedFiles/wwwpewtrustsorg/Reports/Philadelphia-area_grantmaking/FINAL_Budget%20Brief.pdf

Pittsburgh just took the hit/made the cutbacks a few years earlier than other cities. Not exactly a sign of anything positive.

[acenturi]

Pittsburgh just took the hit/made the cutbacks a few years earlier than other cities. Not exactly a sign of anything positive.

A perfect example of the basic problem with Pittsburghers. You show them a positive about their city and they turn it into a negative without pause.

[hyperion1110]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09139/971069-53.stm

Federal money sought to link Hill, to arena

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Four lawmakers are seeking federal funding for a curving landscaped walkway at the new hockey arena and a giant "cap" over part of the Crosstown Expressway to better connect the Lower Hill District with Downtown.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, Jason Altmire and Tim Murphy have requested a total of $9 million in federal funding for the projects.

Based on a preliminary design, the walkway would be a winding path of porous concrete and gravel that would link plazas on Centre and Fifth avenues on the western edge of the new arena, and be adorned with innovative landscaping and art.

The "cap" would span the block bounded by Washington Place, Centre and Bedford avenues and Chatham Square, just below Mellon Arena, covering a section of Interstate 579, also known as the Crosstown Expressway.
It would have bicycle and walking paths between Downtown and the Lower Hill, according to a statement by Mr. Doyle's office in support of the funding request.

"Currently, there is no such ingress to or egress from the Lower Hill District. Pedestrians and bicyclists are forced to either travel a great distance around several blocks to negotiate a path into [or out of] Downtown or risk a very narrow and dangerous curb on an existing overpass across I-579," Mr. Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said in a request for $2 million sent to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week.

Mr. Casey said in a statement on his Web site that he would seek $4 million for the plaza, and Mr. Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Mr. Altmire, D-McCandless, each are seeking $1.5 million.

Penguins spokesman Tom McMillan said the cap would cover what amounts to a "hole" in the neighborhood and "reconnect the [current] arena site and Lower Hill to Downtown and create some additional green space."

Mr. Altmire and Mr. Casey said the plaza would promote development in the Lower Hill by improving pedestrian access.

"When the arena was built, the Hill District was thriving. Unfortunately, we now see that in many ways the arena cut off access to this area and hampered its growth. With this new project, we want to fix that mistake," said Tess Mullen, Mr. Altmire's communications director.

"We're hoping that improving pedestrian access will help to revitalize the Hill District. It's important to remember that in many cases, increased foot traffic goes hand in hand with increased business revenues and job creation," she said.

The walkway at the new arena is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Named "Curtain Call," the 300-foot path would have what the designer calls a "quilted curtain skin" -- four curved stainless steel structures that would be the framework for a mosaic of up to 27,000 tiles bearing images and photographs of people and places in the Hill District.

In keeping with the "green building" concept promoted for the arena, the walkway will have trees and gardens that are sustained by four vegetated basins that capture and filter rain water, according to a preliminary design report.

The new arena, Consol Energy Center, is scheduled to open for the 2010-11 National Hockey League season.

Jon Schmitz can be reached at jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868.
_____________________________________________________

$1.5 million seems a little low to me for what is essentially a 300 feet long bridge. Did I miss something?

[Tombstoner]

A perfect example of the basic problem with Pittsburghers. You show them a positive about their city and they turn it into a negative without pause.

Glad you've analyzed the "basic problem with Pittsburghers," doctor. :rolleyes: Actually, I was just stating a fact -- the document you provided did not really offer "positive" comments--it just said that Pittsburgh went through what other cities went through earlier. Don't get your panties in a wad. :)

[JackStraw]

A perfect example of the basic problem with Pittsburghers. You show them a positive about their city and they turn it into a negative without pause.


Very true. Tombstoner does have a point, even though I think he is an Atlantan. However, a positive at looking at that "negative", is that we are able to ride the recession out better, and hopefully pull out through it quicker. Cities in the sunbelt that were greatly effected on the housing bust will probably take a longer time to recover.

[bradjl2009]

Oh what the hell, here's some sprawl news. I know where this will be built and in general the area around it is developed so it's not like this is the first thing built in that area.

McCandless gives OK to 81-acre development
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
By Rachael Conway, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
McCandless council last night gave the approval for work to begin on a multimillion dollar development along McKnight Road.

While there are a multitude of details that still need to be addressed, including finalized land acquisitions, AdVenture Development LLC of North Carolina could begin work on the 81-acre McCandless Crossing West site within the next 30 to 60 days, said Kevin M. Dougherty, AdVenture's founder.

The McCandless Crossing West property is along the west side of McKnight between Cumberland Road south to the Vincentian Home complex. It will contain a Lowe's home improvement store, office buildings and townhomes.

AdVenture also has plans to develop a tract on the east side of McKnight Road. That property, which is being treated separately by council, has been pegged as a possible traditional neighborhood development with a variety of uses including residential, independent living, entertainment and hotels.

Mr. Dougherty, who began his real estate career in Pittsburgh in 1982, said last night's unanimous vote was the culmination of a dream more than 15 years.

"We are excited," Mr. Dougherty said after the meeting. "This is going to be a real asset to the community."

He credited council, members of the community and unnamed others for the success his company has had in gaining approval for the development.

"So many people have been involved in this," he said. "It has been a very long process, but people have been very understanding and helpful. This was an important night."

Mr. Dougherty said he intends to present council with plans for the east side development within a year and hopes the McCandless Crossing West project will be nearing completion within three years.



Read more: "McCandless gives OK to 81-acre development" - http://www.postgazette.com/pg/09139/971193-100.stm#ixzz0FxR3XvE3&A

[JackStraw]

Developers from North Carolina know best! Great more traffic along route 19! It already is full of cars sitting in the left lane waiting to turn into a strip mall, and the right lane creeping at 5 MPH. Now when do we spend our tax money to help widen this road, and put turning lanes in to help support all these new strips, suburban apartments, and new condos?

[bradjl2009]

Developers from North Carolina know best! Great more traffic along route 19! It already is full of cars sitting in the left lane waiting to turn into a strip mall, and the right lane creeping at 5 MPH. Now when do we spend our tax money to help widen this road, and put turning lanes in to help support all these new strips, suburban apartments, and new condos?
I know right like it isn't annoying enough on McKnight Road with traffic! Sometimes the amount of cars are so great that I have to wait for the second time the turning light comes on to in the shopping center. Getting out is just as with with those red lights being 3 to 5 minutes for McKnight Road

[PA Pride]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09139/971069-53.stm

Federal money sought to link Hill, to arena

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Four lawmakers are seeking federal funding for a curving landscaped walkway at the new hockey arena and a giant "cap" over part of the Crosstown Expressway to better connect the Lower Hill District with Downtown.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle, Jason Altmire and Tim Murphy have requested a total of $9 million in federal funding for the projects.

Based on a preliminary design, the walkway would be a winding path of porous concrete and gravel that would link plazas on Centre and Fifth avenues on the western edge of the new arena, and be adorned with innovative landscaping and art.

The "cap" would span the block bounded by Washington Place, Centre and Bedford avenues and Chatham Square, just below Mellon Arena, covering a section of Interstate 579, also known as the Crosstown Expressway.
It would have bicycle and walking paths between Downtown and the Lower Hill, according to a statement by Mr. Doyle's office in support of the funding request.

"Currently, there is no such ingress to or egress from the Lower Hill District. Pedestrians and bicyclists are forced to either travel a great distance around several blocks to negotiate a path into [or out of] Downtown or risk a very narrow and dangerous curb on an existing overpass across I-579," Mr. Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said in a request for $2 million sent to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week.

Mr. Casey said in a statement on his Web site that he would seek $4 million for the plaza, and Mr. Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, and Mr. Altmire, D-McCandless, each are seeking $1.5 million.

Penguins spokesman Tom McMillan said the cap would cover what amounts to a "hole" in the neighborhood and "reconnect the [current] arena site and Lower Hill to Downtown and create some additional green space."

Mr. Altmire and Mr. Casey said the plaza would promote development in the Lower Hill by improving pedestrian access.

"When the arena was built, the Hill District was thriving. Unfortunately, we now see that in many ways the arena cut off access to this area and hampered its growth. With this new project, we want to fix that mistake," said Tess Mullen, Mr. Altmire's communications director.

"We're hoping that improving pedestrian access will help to revitalize the Hill District. It's important to remember that in many cases, increased foot traffic goes hand in hand with increased business revenues and job creation," she said.

The walkway at the new arena is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Named "Curtain Call," the 300-foot path would have what the designer calls a "quilted curtain skin" -- four curved stainless steel structures that would be the framework for a mosaic of up to 27,000 tiles bearing images and photographs of people and places in the Hill District.

In keeping with the "green building" concept promoted for the arena, the walkway will have trees and gardens that are sustained by four vegetated basins that capture and filter rain water, according to a preliminary design report.

The new arena, Consol Energy Center, is scheduled to open for the 2010-11 National Hockey League season.

Jon Schmitz can be reached at jschmitz@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1868.
_____________________________________________________

$1.5 million seems a little low to me for what is essentially a 300 feet long bridge. Did I miss something?

Sounds like a great plan! I will support any ideas that try and reconnect the urban fabric in this area. Hopefully this will continue spreading east towards oakland.

And, I don't think they are building a bridge; It sounds like metal panels and tiles to the existing sidewalk area. I'm not sure.