Since it's the slow season,
I'll link to the latest Bloomfield-Garfield Bulletin. There's a few items of interest here.
1. Some more information on the Penn Plaza redevelopment from the "NIMBY side" - albeit out of date at this point.
2. More information on the upcoming hotel project on Penn Avenue near the Children's hospital, including another (low resolution) rendering. It's going to be a Hampton Inn, which I had not heard before.
3. A short article listing four demands that the Bloomfield Development Corporation had regarding the Shur Save redevelopment. Point one is to retain a grocery store, which is the intent of the developers, but hard for them to guarantee. Point two is at least 15% affordable housing, which (absent subsidies) will be the hardest point for the developer to swallow. The parking demands are reasonable (and mostly met by the design already. The demands regarding the developers helping to a redesign of the Bloomfield Bridge intersection are also very reasonable - and in the self interest of the developer.
Also, checking out the Northside Chronicle,
it seems the demolition of part of the Garden Block is moving forward, with the Allegheny City Central Association voting in favor.
The linked Post-Gazette article, however, makes it sound like this vote is more an attempt to spur someone to action on a block which has remained largely stuck in development hell for 20 years. I don't think there's so much a big pro-demolition contingent as there is a group that recognized with the last plan being defeated there's really no way to save the buildings as is, meaning they either need to come down or the threat of demolition is needed to have someone put up some serious cheddar.
The one, and potentially only, good thing that might come out of a demolition is more commercial vitality in the area. The one thing I did not like about the old Rothschild-Doyno plan was that the W North Avenue buildings were going to be residential on the first floor - in part because the floor plates don't align. The area is zoned LNC however, which means commercial uses are allowed. Considering how Central North Side doesn't really have a full-on business district, something mixed used there would help tremendously.
Edit: Rather than posting again, I'll also note the Post-Gazette is reporting that
the Cultural Trust's plans for a movie theater in the old Bally's are moving forward. The Trust is now in discussion with a Mark-Cuban-affiliated Landmark Cinemas, Bowtie Cinemas, and the operator of the Manor Theatre.