2014 Skyscrapers in Pittsburgh: (Under construction and proposed) (Washington, Monongahela: 2015, tenants)

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

Monongahela Tower - hideous. i hope it never happens.

One Grandview - where do you sign up? i love it. perhaps its having to be scaled down might be a good thing, though.

i dont know what i think about Oxford's concept. sure, in a rendering, they look new, beautiful, gleaming...but at street level, the building surface gets dirty, you feel crammed onto the sidewalk when there is not a plaza, or at least steps (like at EQT, a building i totally love).

i think the Oxford Center is horrendous - it is empty in the evenings and on weekends. the immediate areas around it are dark and dirty. FREAKIN' DO SOMETHING WITH THIS BUILDING AND ITS SPACE!!!!! couldnt there be a club in there or something? i realize its location isnt optimal, but maybe youd bring people into town if they have adjacent parking and a different vibe than in the much busier liberty/penn corridors.

The Rivers Club is located in One Oxford Center. If your into jazz, and decent food it a nice spot.....

[slavicamerican]

I haven't seen any of the proposals for the new towers, but I have been thinking quite a bit about the beautiful skyline that Pittsburgh has. Not only is the city blessed in many ways by its geography between three rivers and in ruggedly-rolling mountains, but the buildings get higher, more or less, as they go back from the Point. I just hope that new skyscrapers fit into the current pattern and don't break that slope. It would be awful if they put a tall one way out in front of the lower ones.

Want to see the worst butt-ugly quasi-sky scraper f*ck up? We're looking at you, Baltimore:

[greg42]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

It's completely insane to me that RiverParc is still collecting dust right now. Bone heads.

Every time stuff like this comes up I think about how bone-headed it is. Plus, I drive down Ft Duquesne Blvd every evening and think about what a waste that is....

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by slavicamerican

Want to see the worst butt-ugly quasi-sky scraper f*ck up? We're looking at you, Baltimore:

bite your tongue! I love the inner Harbor and Little Italy! DC/baltimore radio blows away this market! i mean, Rob Ford is a weekly guest on a DC talk show!

[Craziaskowboi]

That skyscraper in Baltimore had to have been built in the 1970's. If there's one thing about architecture in the 1970's, it's that projects were either spectacular or hideous, with little in between.

[SammyKhalifa]

One Grandview is going to happen about as fast as the Cozza building a few blocks down the street. "Coming in Spring 2008!"

[slavicamerican]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

bite your tongue! I love the inner Harbor and Little Italy! DC/baltimore radio blows away this market! i mean, Rob Ford is a weekly guest on a DC talk show!

Is Baltimore's Little Italy in that hideous and out of place tower? I like Inner Harbor, too, which is why I'm bothered by that monstrosity.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

The One Grandview project is almost assuredly going to be massively downscaled due to the developer's inability to secure financing crucial for the construction of the main edifice, which was supposed to house a top-tier hotel and high-end condos. Now the developer is planning several mid-rise market-rate "garden-styled" apartment buildings, which many in the city (including me) are VERY disappointed in. Yes, we have a rental shortage in Pittsburgh, but this prime piece of real estate deserved to house something much more aesthetically stunning.

I hope that Oxford does NOT advance plans for their skyscraper and instead focuses on rehabilitating and restoring the existing hitoric office structure on the site.

What I've noticed in a number of cities is a large amount of above street level space in buildings not being used. Changes should be made to encourage redevelopment of these upper floors into apartments and condos. Philly's Center City seems to be doing this...or maybe demand is so high that encouragement is not needed.

As an example, something like this.

New Hostel To Open Up On South Side « CBS Pittsburgh

Although that is for a hostel, but it is using upper story space not being used.

[slavicamerican]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

What I've noticed in a number of cities is a large amount of above street level space in buildings not being used. Changes should be made to encourage redevelopment of these upper floors into apartments and condos. Philly's Center City seems to be doing this...or maybe demand is so high that encouragement is not needed.

As an example, something like this.

New Hostel To Open Up On South Side « CBS Pittsburgh

Although that is for a hostel, but it is using upper story space not being used.

I've wondered the same thing! In the old days, I think the merchants often lived above their stores. Today, it seems like the upper floors are always deader than dead.

I don't know how this happened in Pittsburgh, but I think I know in DC. Back in the 50s or so, the city leaders changed the zoning laws to try clean up what they saw as slums and squalor. For example, they no longer allowed food to be prepared for sale in markets within neighborhoods as opposed to on major streets. They were trying to stop the slaughter of animals and poor disposal of wastes in these areas. The unintended consequence was that they killed corner markets and restaurants and resulted in them becoming ghetto marts selling liquor and potato chips or liquor stores. They apparently also had some sort of rule forbidding spaces above certain businesses from being used as cheap housing because they thought it was inhumane for people to live above a butcher store. (They probably stuck them in high rises under a bridge instead.) DC's leaders are redoing these zoning rules now.

Perhaps something similar happened in Pittsburgh?

I also wonder if Pittsburgh uses its tax rate to encourage owners to use their properties or sell them by taxing them at a lower rate if they are in use and a higher if they are vacant or blighted?

[Gee Whiz]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...60444564,d.cWc

Not to be picky, but that rendering by GBBN for the Monongahela Tower is one of three finalists and not necessarily the winning design. I could be wrong, but have never saw any news stating otherwise. It may very well end up winning. It is a few years away nevertheless.http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...60444564,d.cWc