University Ave beltline brownstone finally to be redeveloped? (Pittsburgh) (Atlanta: apartments, Home Depot)

[netdragon]

I was just driving to pay the guy that mows one of my investment property's lawn and saw news crew at the giant brownstone on university ave along the belt line. I mean right on the brownstone property. It already looks a lot different than how it did (it used to look like it did in the street view). So I ask the guy who mows the lawn if he knows what's going on, and he says he is actually helping clean it up right now as his main job and they are fixing it up and getting ready to put a bunch of stuff in there.

He said Home Depot is the general contractor.

I know that brownstone was owned by Annie E Casey who bought it from UPS or USPS and it's been on the chopping block for a while. That they wanted to connect the roads through to the beltline and put mixed use there. I know that there was a brownstone conf last year and this property was one they are after.

Has anyone heard anything new?

[alco89]

I suppose you mean brownfield, not brownstone. I was like "What!? There are brownstones in that area??"

This particular plot of land has IMMENSE redevelopment potential whenever that area turns around in land values and safety.

[cwkimbro]

I wish I knew. That backs up to the neighborhood of my old great grandfathers house. That area was getting nicer and the recession just knocked the wind out of that! HUGE property value drops.

It use to be a huge trucking hub and the massive back parking lot has outdoor open-air warehouse roofs with docks.

I remember seeing it packed with tractor trailers when I was little.

It is probably one of the single biggest pieces of redevelopment brownfield sites on the Beltline. If the area around it was as nice as the east side, it would turn into a mini city within itself. My fear is it won't get the density with less demand in that part of town, but I want that area to do really well.

[bryantm3]

i thought he was talking about these buildings at the tail end of university:
http://goo.gl/maps/C2a2M


that brownfield has the potential to become a very dense development and a park. it would be a waste to see anything else go there.

[JoeTarheel]

Originally Posted by alco89

I suppose you mean brownfield, not brownstone. I was like "What!? There are brownstones in that area??"

This particular plot of land has IMMENSE redevelopment potential whenever that area turns around in land values and safety.

I know! I went around and around on that link looking for a brownstone!

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by alco89

I suppose you mean brownfield, not brownstone.

Yeah, sorry. The convention last year was a brownfield convention too, not a brownstone convention.

Originally Posted by bryantm3

i thought he was talking about these buildings at the tail end of university:
http://goo.gl/maps/C2a2M

Nah, those are just "renovated" apartments. That's where the Westside trail is gonna end for now, more or less. The extension along the rest of University Ave would be the SW trail. The long-term grand idea from the master plan is to connect University back to Avon Ave and eventually Lee Rd, and connect some of the Pittsburgh roads across (under?) the Belt Line to Capitol View Manor and High Point via a re-connected Manford Road, to reconnect the urban grid. We'll see if 6 years creates amnesia for that great idea.

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I wish I knew. That backs up to the neighborhood of my old great grandfathers house.

Capitol View Manor?

I think Capitol View Manor is also where the originator of the Belt Line idea from GA tech lived.

[netdragon]

I think I figured out what's going on there:

UACPAP Unveiling Celebration

WonderRoot Community Art Center and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are excited to invite the Atlanta community to the University Avenue Corridor Public Art Project unveiling celebration on Saturday, July 12th from 2-6PM on the Annie E. Casey Foundation lot at the corner of University Avenue and McDaniel St.

I was hoping for something more substantial, however anything that can encourage attention to re-development of the brownfield or attract people to the area is cool with me. It also resulted in one of the vacant buildings on University Ave being cleaned up.

I hope this time they aren't painted over for being "satanic" like the fish eating fish mural on the retaining wall was a couple years back.

[netdragon]

I was driving through University Ave on the way to check on my investment property and stopped near the "speakeasy" to take some pictures of the artwork in the process of being created. I thought I'd share them with you all.

[InnerCitySoul]

I attended the Capital View Neighborhood Association meeting this past Thursday...July 17th. They discussed
the above artwork briefly. It represents, the past...present...and future of the Capital View neighborhood. The
board President encouraged everyone to drive by and honk your horn, stop by, chat and otherwise encourage the artist, as he has been incredibly diligent in his work...including working up to and into the night!

I left that meeting at approximately 9:30...almost dark. And yes, there he was, working away! I honked and waved
as I drove past :-)

Additionally, on the other side of that same drive way <barley> pictured, are small, clear, shiny "orbs" hanging from
the fence. We were told at the meeting that Association members hung them up as a sign of hope and renewal.

Capital View...a little neighborhood with BIG ideas...buckle your seat belts!

[netdragon]

What's cool is this property on University Ave is not only the planned location of future mixed-use, it's also shown on the master plan that Capitol View Manor and Pittsburgh will be connected through this property, across the beltline, undoing some of the damage that the railroads and segregation had done in the past to the street grid of Atlanta - chopping it up into little pieces. This reconnection, and similar ones throughout the city, will make it feel like one city again.