PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown II

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Legacy is the word for Rust Belt cities, BTW.

lolz... Good riddance to Forest City (though they're still holding on to the Mall @ Robinson).

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

lolz... Good riddance to Forest City (though they're still holding on to the Mall @ Robinson).

No doubt; I wonder if they will one day leave their own Legacy city HQ for greener pastures on the east coast? I wouldn't be suprised. Anyway, maybe we'll finally get some high density TOD on the site across from the SS T station.

[themaguffin]

I don't think it would be cost efficient for them to move their HQ from Cleveland to the coast.

Hopefully, Station Square will get new life. Do they also own the adjacent land/buildings and is that part of the sale?

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

lolz... Good riddance to Forest City (though they're still holding on to the Mall @ Robinson).

Don't get too happy, too loud yet! Watch Buncher swoop in and buy it.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by bruchaus

You know that is a pipe dream though.

Possibly, maybe probably, but there is still a lot of developable land left on the North Shore, so I think it is worth having public discussions about what really matters the most.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Don't get too happy, too loud yet! Watch Buncher swoop in and buy it.

Too many buildings on it already for their tastes.

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by themaguffin

Hopefully, Station Square will get new life. Do they also own the adjacent land/buildings and is that part of the sale?

As someone else already posted, I would love to see new development pop up on the unused parcels across from the Smithfield Street Bridge; directly across from the T station. Wasn't it Forest City who applied for a gaming license for a Station Square casino? Didn't they say that they'd committ themselves to developing the parking lot into a mixed-use development with or without the license for a casino? Where is that development already? Is it invisible? Imaginary? Considering Pittsburgh's recent growth, especially Downntown, I'd say that that piece of land is beyond ripe for development. It's a matter of time now, I would think...

[kingchef]

to me, there has been such a clean up of pittsburgh, i doubt that many would know it, if they didn't keep in contact w/ it regularly. so many nice things that have happened, it was almost written off, but yet, it came back and pulled itself up by its own bootstraps. i love many of the latest building proposals. i don't get up there much, but my high school sweetheart got a great education at carnegie mellon, and is a wonderful tv and theater actress. so, great edu facilities there, too. take a bow, austin, you have a right to be bursting w/ civic pride.

[Buzz Pittsburgh]

Originally Posted by Jonboy1983

As someone else already posted, I would love to see new development pop up on the unused parcels across from the Smithfield Street Bridge; directly across from the T station. Wasn't it Forest City who applied for a gaming license for a Station Square casino? Didn't they say that they'd committ themselves to developing the parking lot into a mixed-use development with or without the license for a casino? Where is that development already? Is it invisible? Imaginary? Considering Pittsburgh's recent growth, especially Downntown, I'd say that that piece of land is beyond ripe for development. It's a matter of time now, I would think...

Yes Forest City was a contender for the casino license...and I remember those renderings being taller than just a few stories...If the new owner of Station Square will build on those parking lots, it can be developed into a TOD that Pittsburgh could really use. They already have a parking garage to service the hotel/office portion, and one was planned for the casino, so just put another one up and bring residents/mixed use into the new buildings.

[IMBY]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The long-planned hotel for the former Don Allen location in Bloomfield is moving along, with construction scheduled to start next spring:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...mfield-664261/



Not a stunning design achievement, but it seems urban appropriate and it is a reasonably dense use of this parcel.

Balcony lover here says: You want me to stay in that hotel some time?
Well, then you better add a balcony or I won't stay there!

I believe motel/hotel developers take adavantage of cities desperate to lure ANY developer to add rooms to their inventory, and? "Since they're so desperate, happy to add more rooms to their inventory, why spend all that extra money for some better architecture, when they'll be so happy to get anything!"

A crying shame!

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...derway-668886/

Pittsburgh Hostel Project in South Side underway

January 3, 2013 3:38 pm


Kaitlynn Riely / The Pittsburgh Press
Anne Marie Toccket knows hostels. In her travels through more than 40 countries, the 28-year-old Bloomfield resident has stayed in them almost exclusively.

She also knows that people often have negative perception of hostels, a form of lodging that is often shared, believing that because rooms are less expensive, they are dirtier or uglier than a hotel.

"Hostels get a bad rap," she said. "And it's really not fair."

She's hoping to correct that impression in the next year with the opening of a $1.1 million hostel with 60 to 70 beds on the South Side.

"Our goal really is to change that perception and to bring what I think, in fact, will be one of the most innovative, in terms of concept and design, [hostels] that exists in the United States so far," she said.

...

[bruchaus]

Originally Posted by IMBY

Balcony lover here says: You want me to stay in that hotel some time?
Well, then you better add a balcony or I won't stay there!

I believe motel/hotel developers take adavantage of cities desperate to lure ANY developer to add rooms to their inventory, and? "Since they're so desperate, happy to add more rooms to their inventory, why spend all that extra money for some better architecture, when they'll be so happy to get anything!"

A crying shame!

More uninspired crap. Looks like every other piece of garbage they've built in South Side Works, North Shore, etc.

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by IMBY

Balcony lover here says: You want me to stay in that hotel some time?
Well, then you better add a balcony or I won't stay there!

I believe motel/hotel developers take adavantage of cities desperate to lure ANY developer to add rooms to their inventory, and? "Since they're so desperate, happy to add more rooms to their inventory, why spend all that extra money for some better architecture, when they'll be so happy to get anything!"

A crying shame!

Not really a good place for balconies, unless maybe the back side, it's a big intersection:
http://goo.gl/maps/0TBcX

[IMBY]

Alright then, no balconies, but no rooftop deck?

One of the "thrills" of staying in Latin American motels/hotels, many provide a nice rooftop deck for the guests to enjoy, with hammocks, areas to lay in the sun, and 360 degree views!

Ah well! Pittsburgh is stuck with it now, but the right paint job has salvaged many a building! Bright yellow? Lime Green? Purple? Pink?

And maybe the grafitti taggers will come along and add some color, occasionally!

[Jonboy1983]

Originally Posted by IMBY

Alright then, no balconies, but no rooftop deck?

One of the "thrills" of staying in Latin American motels/hotels, many provide a nice rooftop deck for the guests to enjoy, with hammocks, areas to lay in the sun, and 360 degree views!

Ah well! Pittsburgh is stuck with it now, but the right paint job has salvaged many a building! Bright yellow? Lime Green? Purple? Pink?

And maybe the grafitti taggers will come along and add some color, occasionally!

It would be cool to have a building with a rooftop deck and/or a swimming pool. I know at least a couple of apartment buildings in Center City Philly have that.

The thing is, tho, you're comparing visiting Latin America to visiting Pittsburgh.

[Minivan Werner]

I feel like hotel balconies would be a waste for at least 6 months out of the year in this area.

[bruchaus]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

I feel like hotel balconies would be a waste for at least 6 months out of the year in this area.

Plus people like to commit suicide at hotels...

[IMBY]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

I feel like hotel balconies would be a waste for at least 6 months out of the year in this area.

I know we're now down to 20% of the population, but being a smoker, I don't like smoking in my room, and it would be nice to step out onto a balcony and have a smoke, without having to go downstairs and out the building to smoke!

So many hotel chains today prohibit smoking. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Philadelphia a few years ago, no smoking in the room, had to take the elevator down 14 floors, and once outside, couldn't smoke within a certain distance of the lobby.

But we live in a democracy, the majority always wins!

And the non-smoking hotel chains can afford to lose 20% of their potential guests!

[GeneW]

Originally Posted by IMBY

I know we're now down to 20% of the population, but being a smoker, I don't like smoking in my room, and it would be nice to step out onto a balcony and have a smoke, without having to go downstairs and out the building to smoke!

So many hotel chains today prohibit smoking. I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Philadelphia a few years ago, no smoking in the room, had to take the elevator down 14 floors, and once outside, couldn't smoke within a certain distance of the lobby.

But we live in a democracy, the majority always wins!

And the non-smoking hotel chains can afford to lose 20% of their potential guests!

Well I'm not going to stay in a hotel where they allow people to smoke inside and I'm sure that I'm not alone so they'd lose me if they accommodated you. Have you ever been in a room where people have been smoking? That stink never goes away.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Well I'm not going to stay in a hotel where they allow people to smoke inside and I'm sure that I'm not alone so they'd lose me if they accommodated you. Have you ever been in a room where people have been smoking? That stink never goes away.

Umm, every hotel room ive ever stayed in smelled like cigarette smoke. Do you want me to tell you what people do on top of the sheets, blankets and pillows too?