the importance of picking good projects (Pittsburgh, Munhall: neighborhoods, buyer, live)

[pman]

in these lean times, it seems very important to pick the right project (and really, it always has been, if better projects had been picked, times would be less lean) as evidenced by these two scenarios

Officials have invested about $8 million in public money since 2005 into the 168-acre Carrie Furnace site stretching across Swissvale, Rankin, Whitaker, Munhall and Pittsburgh, but no private development has happened.

Read more: Allegheny exec aspirants disagree on who should clear sites - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Allegheny exec aspirants disagree on who should clear sites - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
and this which we know has led to some development and appears to be augmenting more...

The Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority is replacing 100-year-old pipes under those streets, said Patty Burk, an executive with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, a group of businesses that managed the $4.75 million overhaul...
Nonprofits -- including the Colcom Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Richard King Mellon Foundation and Hillman Corp. -- donated $2.75 million. The city contributed $2 million.

Read more: Market Square reopens; businesses eager for patrons - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Market Square reopens; businesses eager for patrons - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

[ki0eh]

It's also important to be born rich and good-looking. Can't say I'm sure what the point is here. Can you explain more?

[pman]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

It's also important to be born rich and good-looking. Can't say I'm sure what the point is here. Can you explain more?

one project spent $2 million to leverage $2.75 million and resulted in immediate, tangible change. the other was $8 million with no development at all. in an era when budgets are short capital, it's extremely important you don't keep dumping money into things that have little hope of changing. would you not agree that said money would be better targeted into things like market sq? I think fixing up allegheny commons could have a similar impact. clearning up a brownfield with no buyer? not so much

[BrianTH]

I completely disagree about the Carrie Furnace site. That is admittedly a longer-term project, but I think it will end up being a very valuable site. The fact that it hasn't been developed yet doesn't mean anything--in fact I am not sure they are even marketing it to developers yet, since last I knew they were still working on getting grants for some transportation projects, including a flyover the railroad tracks for road access and renovation of the hot metal bridge. Finally, I believe the $8 million includes the $5.75 million in acquisition costs for the site. That is money the County should be able to recover--perhaps much more than that--and by far most of the work in preparing the site will be paid for by the developer.

So basically this is about the length of the project, not its ultimate merits, and I don't agree that "lean times" means the County should avoid any longer-term projects.

[pman]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

I completely disagree about the Carrie Furnace site. That is admittedly a longer-term project, but I think it will end up being a very valuable site. The fact that it hasn't been developed yet doesn't mean anything--in fact I am not sure they are even marketing it to developers yet, since last I knew they were still working on getting grants for some transportation projects, including a flyover the railroad tracks for road access and renovation of the hot metal bridge. Finally, I believe the $8 million includes the $5.75 million in acquisition costs for the site. That is money the County should be able to recover--perhaps much more than that--and by far most of the work in preparing the site will be paid for by the developer.

So basically this is about the length of the project, not its ultimate merits, and I don't agree that "lean times" means the County should avoid any longer-term projects.

Fair enough though i think one could consider ms both a long and short term project. Lean times isnt meant to say that you shouldnt invest in long term projects but that you have to be careful to invest in good projects with actual returns. I also have to disagree that investing in projects to improve neighborhoods arent projects with long term dividends even if they also have immediate impacts.

[BrianTH]

I wasn't attempting a comparison to investing in Market Square. Those are two very different projects, and we should be investing in a full range of projects at any given time.