32 replies to this topic

[tooluther]

CB is selling/marketing 151 First Side, the Carlyle, and the Granite Building...just fyi

[PghUSA]

mjcatl2, on Jun 9 2006, 01:21 PM, said:

I saw an ad in Pittsburgh magazine from Caldwell Banker (apparently the firm selling condos for 151 and a couple of the bigger conversions downtown).  I looked for the nice picture of 151, but couldn't find it, but here's something from the 151 website.

Nice find Mj, thanks for the clarification Tooluther!

[mjcatl2]

Quote

CB is selling/marketing 151 First Side, the Carlyle, and the Granite Building...just fyi

Yeah, the other two were in the ad, but it escaped me when adding my last reply (which 151 is the only new building anyway).  Thanks though

[TheGerbil]

Good news. Groundbreaking on Piatt Place is today! I am very glad to see this project moving forward.

[Evergrey]

There were 4 interesting articles about Cultural District development in this week's Pittsburgh Business Times

It's exciting to see a mix of smaller developers getting in on the action of the Cultural District... while the Cultural District is much further ahead than the rest of downtown... I think the success of the CD along with the major projects coming to fruition in the Fifth-Forbes corridor and the close to $1 billion dollars of investment in the Lower Hill / Arena District... will have a spillover effect across most of Downtown...

Here are a couple photos of the 16,000 sq. ft. Keystone Picture Frame Co. building at 951 Liberty Ave. that Jim Martier is converting to 12 "affordable" condos at $200,000 each... sorry the pictures don't show it too well... it's a rather unremarkable building architecturally

here it is in the middle-right of this photo... 4-story black building... you can read the word "Frame" on it


here it is on the right side of this photo... in the middle is where Pop City is published... on the left is the Bruno Bldg... one of the first in the current wave of small-scale residential loft conversion of historic largely-vacant commercial structures downtown


this photo features the Penn Ave. residential conversion by Solera Ventures...  it's the non-descript 5-story building on the left side of the street in the middle... a 4 story addition will be built... condos range from $400k-$700k... 8 of 18 units have been sold despite construction and marketing not starting yet... the Courtyard Marriott is right next door


the building at 908-910 Penn Ave. is pictured in the middle of this photo... it's a 6 story tan building... the top 4 floors are attractive but the bottom 2 appear to have suffered some sort of 1960s-era defacement... this 36,000 sq. ft. building was purchased by French expatriate Charles Durham for $1.3 million... he plans to convert it to residential use


The next photo is of the 9-story 60,000 sq. ft. 1891 vintage Richardsonian Romanesque Ewart Building on Liberty Ave... Rugby Realty purchased the boarded up gem 10 years ago and it has been fully leased by office tenents since... which has led to Rugby purchasing many other properties in the area... they've been instrumental in this area's turnaround... and are also planning a mixed-use tower in the Strip District


This photo shows the site of Riverparc, the mega-project that the Cultural Trust will begin work on later this year, as it appeared last summer... and still appears today... parking lots... parking garages... a Goodyear dealership (which is totally random for DT PGH)... and a couple of motley structures... Riverparc will be a "green" 4-block neighborhood of 700 residential units in mid/high-rise towers and townhomes... as well as retail, office, civic components and the "cap" over the boulevard connecting the development to the Allegheny River waterfront...



The Encore on 7th, the 151-unit apartment building completed last year by the Cultural Trust... and now 98% leased is front and center in this pic (red building with party hat)... a deli/market will be opening in the building... to the left and behind the Encore on 7th is the Century Building... which the Cultural Trust is transforming into 60 "affordable" residential units... the barren area on the left of the photo near the riverfront is the Riverparc site


in case you forgot what Riverparc is supposed to look like

900,000 SF of Residential space, Approximately 159,000 SF of Retail space, 45,000 SF performing arts venue and 530,000 SF of structured parking

[NewBurgh]

As always, nice pictures Evergrey. I also think that the northshore connector and all of the northshore development will also add to the downtown momentum.
Any information on the plans for the new URA strip development?

[Lone Ranger]

I never cease to be amazed at how photogenic Pittsburgh is.  It just looks like a place where I could wander around and get lost for days ...

I think it has something to do with the trees.  All of these pictures have trees -- big trees for such an urban place.  I see those big lush green shady trees, and Pittsburgh strikes me as a place where one might go to fall in love.

I'm a sap, yeah.  

[NewBurgh]

I agree...
A recent Elm Streets initiative is currently adding to this... several Pittsburgh neighborhoods are having hundreds of new trees planted to line the streets.
The city's parks are also great, with so new bike paths, green space, and riverfront trails being added.

[TheGerbil]

Wonderful! I am so glad that Downtown redevelopment is still in full swing. No signs of losing momentum yet!

[Evergrey]

E.V. Bishoff is going to go ahead with the residential conversion of the Commonwealth Building on 4th downtown once 75% of the condos in neighboring Carlyle (formerly Union Trust) are sold... 20 of 60 units have been sold in that structure despite interior demolition not having started yet... the Carlyle is expected to be occupied in 14 months... the Commonwealth Building will have 50-60 units... Bishoff is not sure if they will be rental or condo yet... if things go well... Bishoff may also develop the parking lot it owns on 4th

Commonwealth is the building in the middle... the Carlyle is on the right




http://www.postgazet.../772682-100.stm

[NewBurgh]

Evergrey, on Mar 26 2007, 01:28 PM, said:

E.V. Bishoff is going to go ahead with the residential conversion of the Commonwealth Building on 4th downtown once 75% of the condos in neighboring Carlyle (formerly Union Trust) are sold... 20 of 60 units have been sold in that structure despite interior demolition not having started yet... the Carlyle is expected to be occupied in 14 months... the Commonwealth Building will have 50-60 units... Bishoff is not sure if they will be rental or condo yet... if things go well... Bishoff may also develop the parking lot it owns on 4th

Commonwealth is the building in the middle... the Carlyle is on the right


http://www.postgazet.../772682-100.stm

I really don't know how this compares to other cities, but once again the numbers sound impressive (20 of 60 units before demolition has even started). In addition to all of the new construction, I'm happy to see so many of the older buildins being restored.

[TheGerbil]

A new and unfortunate update on downtown development. Riverparc has been delayed. Apparently it is just not economically viable right now.

http://www.post-gaze...9/885315-85.stm

The bad news is that it seems the Cultural Trust has made the whole thing more difficult by trying to maintain control and getting in the way.

There is some hopeful news in the whole thing though:

Quote

In announcing the delay in the project Thursday, the trust said it will refocus on two shorter-term projects at the development site: securing government funding for a riverfront park and building new infrastructure to woo future housing development, including a parking garage

[Evergrey]

yes, that hit me like a ton of bricks, TheGerbil... how unfortunate... but at least we might get a parking garage out of it!  wahoo!