PITTSBURGH | Development Rundown III

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by DKNewYork

Any idea how many employees are coming to town with Tull's businesses?

Article didn't say. Definitely something we should keep our eyes on though.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by pj3000

I'm somewhat skeptical that a "nonprofit" healthcare provider would build a "landmark" (i.e., very expensive) tower. And UPMC prefers to be spread around the city and region, rather than consolidated into a vertical silo.

The optics of a health insurance plan putting up a huge, fancy HQ for their white collar jobs just aren't good, considering the prevailing sentiment about the American healthcare system these days.

It would be a really ballsy, 'fuck off' sort of move on UPMC's part. It's one thing to invest in building actual healthcare facilities... it's another thing entirely to build a landmark palace to show off their wealth and power.

That does seem logical but then why did they put 15 foot tall UPMC letters on the tallest building in the region though? Also Highmark is atop another of the tallest towers. Seems that incognito is not what they are aiming for after all.

[eschaton]

The missing ZBA agenda from March 15 finally landed. Along with one for next week. Projects worth noting:

3/15

1. Infill house in Upper Lawrenceville (actually Stanton Heights)

2. Conversion of a South Side garage into a three-story home.

3. Infill house in Bloomfield.

4. A new 5,100 square foot warehouse on Greentree Road in Westwood

3/22

1. A new 89-foot six-story multi-family structure by Oxford in the Strip. The location is the corner of 23rd and Railroad Street - the empty lot between the Cork Factory and Consumer Produce. I see no sign of unit count, but that's not a giant parcel, and the parking is set to be integral, so I'm guessing it can't be much over 100 units, if that.

2. A new four-story, four unit apartment building in Central Oakland. Looks like it's going to replace this house.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

1. A new 89-foot six-story multi-family structure by Oxford in the Strip. The location is the corner of 23rd and Railroad Street - the empty lot between the Cork Factory and Consumer Produce. I see no sign of unit count, but that's not a giant parcel, and the parking is set to be integral, so I'm guessing it can't be much over 100 units, if that.

Wasn't that going to be a hotel at one point? Anyway, sounds like a decent project for that spot.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Wasn't that going to be a hotel at one point? Anyway, sounds like a decent project for that spot.

Yeah, a boutique hotel was supposed to go there a few years back.

I think this means that the weird grassy lot next to the Cork Factory that the dog owners use (which isn't actually owned by the Cork Factory) is now the only river-fronting parcel which hasn't either been developed in the last 15 years, or is in the process of development.

[BrianTH]

A hostel is opening up in a cool old building in the South Side, with an intended focus on GAP bicyclists but also other budget travelers:



http://triblive.com/lifestyles/trave...ghs-south-side

The common room is pretty swank:

[East Edge]

Originally Posted by UppaMahnt

Hi everybody! Longtime lurker here; finally have something to contribute.

I attended the Mount Washington community forum (MWCDC) last night in hopes of getting the scoop on the One Grandview development. Unfortunately, the only news is that they have no news… The group’s president, Mike Grande basically told us that what he was quoted as saying in the Post-Gazette article is all he knows. He asked Beau Beemsterboer from Grandview Realty for updates just before the meeting and all he got was that they are redesigning the project, and still in the hunt for funding. The developer also said that he intends to bring the new rendering to the MWCDC before sharing it with the media. That being said, I will keep you all updated if I find out when that meeting will be. The good news is that there didn’t seem to be any NIMBYs in the crowd there. Everyone seemed excited for the development.

Another little tidbit from the meeting was the proposal of a nine-unit residential building at the intersection of Southern Avenue and Sandwich Way. The building is currently vacant (and hideous), but previously housed a Tambellini’s restaurant and later a psychiatric facility. The developer is a company with a fairly large rental portfolio called the Trisda Group. I can’t find any of the documents they showed at the meeting but the landing page of their website does show a rendering of it. The building is currently in foreclosure, so they’re jumping through all of the related hoops, and then we should see it in one of the upcoming Zoning Board presentations. It’s zoned R2 for some reason, so they need the adjustment to allow for 7 more units. The group also purchased the lot across the street, which they tentatively plan to build rowhouses on after the completion of this project. It’s nothing incredibly exciting, but it’s always nice to have one less blighted building.

That sounds great! From what i understand there are a lot of great projects on the drawing boards for the Mount. That Trisda project looks cool and will be a huge improvement for that blighted corner. Thanks for sharing!

[MarkMyWords]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

Article didn't say. Definitely something we should keep our eyes on though.

IIRC - He's actually come here to set up some sort of holding company that will incubate different sorts of technology companies. So it's not like he's going to have a large corporate presence himself, but will be more of a holding or investment company. Which means small but with lots of clout.

[contellus]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The missing ZBA agenda from March 15 finally landed. Along with one for next week. Projects worth noting:

3/15

1. Infill house in Upper Lawrenceville (actually Stanton Heights)

2. Conversion of a South Side garage into a three-story home.

3. Infill house in Bloomfield.

4. A new 5,100 square foot warehouse on Greentree Road in Westwood

3/22

1. A new 89-foot six-story multi-family structure by Oxford in the Strip. The location is the corner of 23rd and Railroad Street - the empty lot between the Cork Factory and Consumer Produce. I see no sign of unit count, but that's not a giant parcel, and the parking is set to be integral, so I'm guessing it can't be much over 100 units, if that.

2. A new four-story, four unit apartment building in Central Oakland. Looks like it's going to replace this house.

I believe that Oakland property is where the student was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend last year. Looks like the owner sold after the murder, and the new buyers just want to start fresh.

[photoLith]

Not really Pittsburgh development but I was in downtown Washington yesterday and they're finally working on the 13ish story Washington Trust Building. Last I heard a few years ago they were planning on turning it into apartments.

[Steel City Scotty]

My apologies for the low quality of this photo taken while looking out of a dirty window on a moving bus, but it looks like the SAP building on the North Shore is taking shape.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by contellus

I believe that Oakland property is where the student was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend last year. Looks like the owner sold after the murder, and the new buyers just want to start fresh.

Yeesh! I missed that story. Regardless, that building is really out of scale/context for that portion of Oakland. A nice four-unit with zero setback would help the block tremendously.

Originally Posted by Steel City Scotty

My apologies for the low quality of this photo taken while looking out of a dirty window on a moving bus, but it looks like the SAP building on the North Shore is taking shape.

I can confirm. My view from Gateway Center right now.



While I'm at it, a couple of random shots when the weather was nice a few weeks back...



The new Mellon Square garage looks sharp, but I dunno why they decided to have the most prominent corner look the least like it's anything other than a parking garage.



An infill house under construction on N Euclid in East Liberty (here). The empty lot across the street is also under development now, but when I passed a few weeks ago it was still just a foundation.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The new Mellon Square garage looks sharp, but I dunno why they decided to have the most prominent corner look the least like it's anything other than a parking garage.

I recall thinking from the renderings it would have more glass or be lit up or something.

Maybe it was just that light-colored concrete, but maybe there is more to come when they do the condos above?

[eschaton]

Next Pittsburgh has an article about the planned ADU overlay for Garfield. I'm a bit confused, however, about this section...

In the 5300 block of Hillcrest Street, BGC wants to build three two-story homes with basement apartments, designed by architect Rob Pfaffmann, on property currently owned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The rental unit in each home would provide monthly income to help the homeowner shoulder a mortgage payment.

“The first and second floor are about 1,100 square feet altogether, which is small in terms of what you typically see with new housing development but not a ‘tiny house,’ which is only about 330 square feet,” says Swartz.

“The goal here is to find a way to build new, single-family homes in the neighborhood that enable somebody with moderate income to be able to afford a mortgage payment.”

BGC hasn’t fully calculated the cost of developing the homes, but estimates it can shave at least 5 percent off construction costs by having EcoCraft Homes construct modular homes that are trucked to the site. Still, to keep the homes affordable for someone with an income of $52,300 or less (80 percent of Pittsburgh’s median income of $65,000 for a family of three), Swartz knows he’ll need to enlist nonprofit organizations or foundations to help subsidize the building costs.

“This is intended to buttress the homeownership rate in the neighborhood,” he says. Currently, Garfield is 42 percent owner-occupied compared to the City’s 48 or 49 percent. “This would allow people to build wealth, not just pay rent to a landlord. We wanted to find a way to do this for people who could not handle a $1,400 or $1,500 monthly mortgage payment alone.”

The BGC board has been “toying with this idea for about a year and a half,” says Swartz. “We’d like to be under construction by October 1st, if possible. That’s going to depend on how we round together financing for the project.”

This seems a laudable goal, but the proposed code is clear that the owner of the ADU must reside on site. While BGC could assuredly set up the sales in such a way as to assure the primary units will go to homeowner occupants, at the time they are going to zoning there will be ho homeowner occupants. This is the case even if they pre-sell the units - which would be very unlikely with housing targeting moderate income individuals. Therefore in order for the ADU to meet the goals that BGC desires, the letter of the code would have to be ignored. In turn this would open up Garfield to lots of market rate infill, so long as the prospective owner signed an agreement to live in the house upon completion.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I recall thinking from the renderings it would have more glass or be lit up or something.

Maybe it was just that light-colored concrete, but maybe there is more to come when they do the condos above?

Looking at the renderings, it appeared they were going to put glass into those openings, since you can see a reflection. But if they are going to put in glass panes, they're going to transparent, meaning you can still clearly see the concrete decks.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Looking at the renderings, it appeared they were going to put glass into those openings, since you can see a reflection. But if they are going to put in glass panes, they're going to transparent, meaning you can still clearly see the concrete decks.

Yeah, I was definitely visualizing that wrong. Originally, to me it had looked like an office building with the lights on. Maybe not so much.

ETA: Here is the nighttime rendering:



Again, I was definitely visualizing it wrong, but on the other hand you can see how they are trying to echo the corner treatment of the condo tower above.

So maybe it will look OK with glass and lighting. I hope that is still the plan.

[eschaton]

There's an interesting article in the Post-Gazette about planned revitalization in Deutchtown/Central North Side. It includes this graphic:

[Minivan Werner]

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201803210069

For sale, again: That building in the Strip with the big fish sign on the side
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette logo

MARK BELKO
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
mbelko@post-gazette.com
MAR 21, 2018 8:00 AM

One of the most recognizable buildings in the Strip District — the one with the giant smiling fish on one side — is up for sale after plans to convert it into a 144-unit apartment complex fizzled.

I'm guessing they see the boom going on around them since they acquired the building and figure they'll make a nice chunk of change just flipping the building as-is, now.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by Minivan Werner

http://www.post-gazette.com/business...s/201803210069



I'm guessing they see the boom going on around them since they acquired the building and figure they'll make a nice chunk of change just flipping the building as-is, now.

I was just thinking about this building last week and wondering if the apartments still planned. Pity, I was looking forward to that proposal.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Austinlee

I was just thinking about this building last week and wondering if the apartments still planned. Pity, I was looking forward to that proposal.

I never understood how the proposal for residential construction would work. No so much because of the thick walls, but because the floor plates are ginormous and close to square (220X198). If you presumed some circulation space in the center of the building for common access, you'd still end up with apartments close to 100 feet deep, which isn't only deeper than most Pittsburgh houses, but many Pittsburgh yards. Unless you wanted these apartments to be extra large, you'd then need to have an extra skinny, railroad-style apartment, which would mean you'd only get natural light in one room.

Maybe there was a plan to knock out some of the core of the building, and then use the courtyard to provide more natural light? Regardless, converting the giant square floor plate to office space seems more reasonable.