The Union Trust Building (Pittsburgh: suburban, residential, office)

[cheezit34141988]

Bulldoze it!

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by dtrtrggr13

Bulldoze it!

grrrr

i had never been inside but shlewis' description makes me want to....its an outrageously beautiful building. i cant believe it ever appears on Pittsburgh websites, postcards, or wherever. (the PPG has been featured to death, by comparison).

bulldoze it??? have you actually looked up at its from from street level, or do you have your nose constantly pressed into your i-phone??????

[cheezit34141988]

If there's not enough demand to keep it from eventually going vacant then bulldoze it. Supply vs. Demand...

Yes I have - I like the architecture in this city. I agree its a beautiful building. But if its a third unused, and declining/in disrepair then it'll be a lovely shell of a building in 10 years such as half the like-suited buildings in Detroit/Buffalo/etc. Would rather see it go to use sooner than become a wreck later, right?

And its a Droid. I dont check the company iPhone on personal time

[BrianTH]

None of the deficiencies noted are fundamental problems, and much of the building is actually in pretty good shape (in part thanks to relatively recent renovations). Accordingly, I think a little patience is warranted before summoning up the bulldozers.

[cheezit34141988]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

None of the deficiencies noted are fundamental problems, and much of the building is actually in pretty good shape (in part thanks to relatively recent renovations). Accordingly, I think a little patience is warranted before summoning up the bulldozers.

Bulldozers were intended with a hint of sarcasm

Just saying if there was a demand and this building wasnt fulfilling it and someone had the means to adjust it to usable space (if this wasnt usable), then I dont see an issue with it. I've seen too many buildings fall into decrepit hulks because they were once "beautiful".

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by dtrtrggr13

Just saying if there was a demand and this building wasnt fulfilling it and someone had the means to adjust it to usable space (if this wasnt usable), then I dont see an issue with it.

Under reasonable interpretations, I don't see the Union Trust Building as being deemed "unusable".

The more likely scenario is that you might have to wait some time for someone to want to make the investments necessary to actually put it to full use. But that is where some patience comes in, particularly as we can observe that there is a growing trend to reinvest and reuse some of the older buildings Downtown.

I've seen too many buildings fall into decrepit hulks because they were once "beautiful".

Again, the Union Trust Building is far, far away from being a "decrepit hulk".

Moreover, once historic buildings of this quality are destroyed, you can't get them back, whereas usually whatever you intend to replace it with could easily be built in another location. For example, we definitely are not short of surface parking lots in or near Downtown right now, so it is hard to see why you would need to bulldoze this particular parcel.

In general, if you are seeing a lot of fundamentally solid historic buildings going to waste, likely you have a general disinvestment problem in the relevant area, and that is a problem bulldozing those historic buildings is unlikely to fix. Meanwhile, in the future if you go into a reinvestment phase, those historic buildings may contribute to the overall value of the area (this is part of why preservation often has to be forced on building owners--a lot of the value is captured by their neighbors).

In any event, Downtown Pittsburgh doesn't have such a general disinvestment problem, and instead is in an increasingly strong reinvestment phase, so there is really no reason to leap to bulldoze anything of significant historic value.

[pman]

Union Trust Building may be on road to recovery - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[CFP]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

That way it can be offensive and generate money at the same time, like most things we have in the world today.

now that is a great line - hilarious

[I_Like_Spam]

If the Union Trust were to be bulldozed, the new purchaser would have to deal with restrictive covenants on the property, which required the unique roof to remind people that this was the site of St. Paul's Cathedral until Frick bought it out and took it down for his own venture.

Union Arcade - Union Trust Building


Henry Clay Frick was good for that kind of agreement with ecclesiastic authorities- he agreed to have St. Peter's Church on the site of the Frick Bldg., moved stone by stone and reassembled on Craft Avenue when he wanted that lot.

[pman]

interesting news, a boston developer has purchased the building

The Davis Companies has developed properties throughout the Northeast, but this is its first foray into the Pittsburgh market,

Boston developer buys Union Trust building, Downtown | TribLIVE