New Planning Commission presentation up for next week. Four items, three of which are minor, and one is of consequence.
1. An expansion of a residential parking permit area in Squirrel Hill around the corner of Forbes and Denniston. The area is relatively close to the Forbes Avenue business district, so I can see the desire. However, it seems aggressive to me - particularly because they want spots in front of (and on the side of) the Yeshiva Girls School to be resident parking only.
2. A small requested zoning change for 1054 Banksville Road. This area is
currently a vacant lot zoned CP (Commercial Planned development). The owner (Metro Heating & Cooling) wishes to rezone it HC (Highway Commercial) - apparently because he wants to use it as a gravel parking lot to be used in conjunction with a small building with no parking he purchased which fronts on the small Banksville Ave extension right behind the lot.
3. The "real project" this week - the two-new multi-family residences being built by Buncher as "Riverfront II" in the Strip District. The total project cost is $52.5 million, and the unit count is 443. The development will include 546 stalls in the integral garage, with 148 bike stalls. One building will be about 60 feet tall, the other about 74. The design is a step up from the first apartment building, but still kinda meh. Looks like the middle one will be hollow with an outdoor pool, and the parking structure will be entirely hidden inside the "bridge building." Some effort is made to make all three of the buildings look a bit different, with the middle building in particular standing out a bit with a more white/gray/green color scheme, and no earthtones. The cladding choices don't look as cheap as in the first building either, but it's hard to tell from renderings. Still, more density in the Strip, so yay?
4. A short presentation on planned signage for Heinz Field related to Franco's Pizzeria.