Sign the Petition to Save the Frank and Seder Building (Pittsburgh: city hall, tenant)

[BrianTH]

I think the "hole in the skyline" argument is severely undermined by the fact PNC Tower is going to fill that hole. To the extent you still wanted to add more to the skyline in this general location, I think you would actually be better off with a highrise across the street (where the CVS building and some underutilized low-rises are located), since off-setting it from PNC Tower would provide more good angles for both buildings, and create a cool little diagonal line of highrises from EQT to Two PNC, One ONC, and PNC Tower through Oxford Centre, all at about the right orientation for the famous views from Mt. Washington. Such an alternative project would also do much more to increase intensity of land use Downtown.

[Debbie1125]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

I fail to see what is so great about high rises. Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta, etc. all have tons of high rises and they don't enhance the urban experience at all. They only look impressive from far away, and do nothing for the actual community fabric. Like Brian said, if we must have more high rises, there are plenty of vacant lots and parking garages that can go before one of our historic buildings. If you want Pittsburgh to look like Charlotte, by all means, keep up this pace. Historic buildings fells for 3 PNC, the African American Cultural Center, the new PNC tower on Wood, and even Console. And not one of those buildings was fought for by preservationists. I'm doing my part to change that from now on.

I believe that the downtown areas of cities should be a mixture of the old and the new. If a majority of the buildings are high rise, then it makes the area look sterile and bland. I would hate to see Pittsburgh become like Houston, Dallas, etc.

I absolutely HATE surface parking lots. They make downtown look scarred.

[Billy53]

I signed and I hope they refurbish, it is a beautiful building. My guess it all comes down to cost!

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Serious question: How many surface lots downtown are large enough for the footprint of a 30+ story skyscraper?

[BrianTH]

You've got two respectively west and south of City/County, and another next to the old Salvation Army building. There is the big one along Fort Pitt (although due to height limits the Burns/Scalo building planned for that site will be shorter than 30). There is another large surface parking lot next to the P-G building (don't know what the height restriction situation is there). There are a bunch of lots between Penn and Fort Duquesne on either side of 8th Street (site of the apparently dead RiverParc project). There is the lot behind EQT along Penn, and the lots on either side of 10th next to the Convention Center (site of the proposed hotel).

There are many other scattered lots around Downtown that could be included as part of a larger combined parcel (that is what they are doing for the Gardens). I believe the lot along Fourth between Wood and Smithfield is planned by Point Park University to be a midrise dorm, and the lot nearby on Forbes would be their new theater.

Edit:

By the way, when land is at a premium, you can do some pretty skinny highrises:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=820856

[BrianTH]

Incidentally, when you run out of room but don't want to tear down your existing historic buildings, you can do this:

History | One King West Hotel & Residence

[jay5835]

Signed. I can't picture the building, though.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I can't picture the building, though.

Today:

350 fifth avenue pittsburgh - Google Maps

Third page shows what it would look like renovated:

http://www.oxforddevelopment.com/wp-...se-Sheets2.pdf

[Debbie1125]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Incidentally, when you run out of room but don't want to tear down your existing historic buildings, you can do this:

History | One King West Hotel & Residence

Perfect way of mixing the old with the new

I'm not sure, but I think it's called a facadectomy when a new addition is put on an older building.

[CFP]

Signed it.