New planning commission presentation up for the 21st. Let's see what's on the agenda:
1. A new project redeveloping
an entire block along Baum Boulevard in East Liberty, which we discussed earlier because the developer has already applied for the zoning variances. Looking at the renderings, they're planning on
a complete reskin of the first building, and a partial reskin of the second and third. This gray building will be demolished, making way for an enlarged 38-space parking lot, with a separate new construction two-story building at the corner of Baum and...hey, that spur at the end of S Euclid doesn't have a name. It's a big step up from current conditions, but my preference would be if they changed the orientation of the new construction (and maybe demoed part of the other one-story building) to have the parking lot visible only from the alley.
2. Oxford proposing a spot rezone of the former Packaging Corporation of America site from GI (General Industrial) to UI (Urban Industrial). GI is a very restricted type of zoning in Pittsburgh, with things like apartment buildings, hotels, and ground-floor retail not permitted, so this seems a no-brainer. Most of the Strip District is already zoned UI except for a portion of this parcel and the nearby DPW plot, so this should sail through. It does reiterate Pittsburgh needs to revamp its zoning code to come up with a dedicated mixed use zone however, and not use kludges like UI to give developers more of a free hand. As of yet, Oxford has proposed no plans for what it wants done with this parcel.
3. The planned Uptown parking/retail/residential project at
1400 Cowell Street has arrived as a more concrete proposal. It is named City's Edge, and is a nine-story project by Strada including a 439-space garage, 106 residential units, and 15,000 square feet of retail. It will take up almost the entire block, minus a small segment near Pride Street given over to a plaza. The design is...weird. The garage section is clad in brick and somewhat neotraditional, while the residential component is clad in white, gray, and yellow metal panels and very contemporary. Even though I knew the dimensions of the building prior to seeing these renderings, it is much denser and more urban looking than I had expected. Considering the new steam plant is going on the block immediately between this and PPG Paints Arena, that area will look very different soon. I hope that the blocks along Fifth Avenue in that area begin filling in as well soon - we could have a nice extension of Downtown.