City's north side to be the new lawrenceville? (houses, neighborhood)

[norcider]

haha no worries man! good luck in your search!

[new believer]

I don't disagree that the right kind of development makes a difference, but OTOH if the area sits stagnant too long it can kill momentum. Developers lose interest and walk away. How long before Zukin decides this project isn't worth the trouble and the URA is back at square one looking for a developer?

I am also suspicious of strict preservationist attitudes which sometimes get in the way of even "good" development. If the pedestrian bridge in Allegheny Commons never gets re-built because they can't agree on "historically accurate" landscaping, how is that productive? This contingent doesn't seem very willing to compromise.

But ultimately I think you are right in that this is one of the factors in the area which dictates pace of evelopment. Whether its a good or bad thing depends on whether or not you own a $250,000 rowhouse in the War Streets (and whether you are patient enough to wait another 10 years for a decent grocery store to move in to the area).

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by new believer

I don't disagree that the right kind of development makes a difference, but OTOH if the area sits stagnant too long it can kill momentum. Developers lose interest and walk away. How long before Zukin decides this project isn't worth the trouble and the URA is back at square one looking for a developer?

It's always a danger and honestly happened once but, as far as the Garden goes now, since everything has closed and work recently begun in earnest on the property, I doubt that's a possibility now.

I am also suspicious of strict preservationist attitudes which sometimes get in the way of even "good" development. If the pedestrian bridge in Allegheny Commons never gets re-built because they can't agree on "historically accurate" landscaping, how is that productive? This contingent doesn't seem very willing to compromise.

Ahhh...the pedestrian bridge, a topic of much discussion. It's not that they can't agree as much as, since the Commons is a historical area, the Allegheny Commons Initiative fought for, and won, a determination that if the bridge was to be removed (as it has been) appropriate remidiation work needed to be done in a historically appropriate way. I'll be very curious to watch the replacement process but I'll bet its probably 5 years, if not longer, before a replacement is built (thus the need for quality landscaping in the interim). My bet is it waits until they get to the point of the full refurbishment of the Lake Elizabeth area. Since it was blocked off and unusable for the last 10 years, I saw the demolition as an improvement.

But ultimately I think you are right in that this is one of the factors in the area which dictates pace of evelopment. Whether its a good or bad thing depends on whether or not you own a $250,000 rowhouse in the War Streets (and whether you are patient enough to wait another 10 years for a decent grocery store to move in to the area).

Well, most of those most involved in the process do, in fact, own $250k rowhouses in the War Streets, a demographic that is growing all the time based upon recent sales prices and many have been around far longer than 10 years fighting for what they see as responsible development. In many ways I support their efforts but I do admit that, in many instances, the kneejerk opposition to many new initiatives grows tiresome.

[pomaceous]

Eschaton, I just got done with my own Northside property search (knock on wood--we still haven't closed, hoping to do so in the next few weeks). We found that the homes in the War Streets "proper" (the official historic district streets) were pretty much out of our budget unless we wanted to buy something that needed work--a budget we initially capped at 300k but ended up pushing to 350 or so. We actually did consider buying a foreclosed house on the edge of it with plans of doing a reno--but someone put a cash offer on it less than a day after we saw it. If you really like the MWS, you should be prepared to move fast on listings, because the stuff that is realistically priced seems to be getting snapped up fast.

For what it's worth, we did find that the homes we liked best architecturally--both inside and out--were not in MWS themselves. We saw lovely homes in Manchester and Deutschtown with the kinds of grand features I suspect you guys like as well, but not so much in MWS in our budget. We also had some pretty stringent requirements, however, such as a yard and an off-street parking, that did narrow our search. We ended up putting a cash offer on a house that needs fairly substantial renovations in order to get everything we wanted (pro: it has off-street parking! con: it needs a new roof, bathrooms, and kitchen). If you have any questions about any of the homes currently on the market in the area, feel free to send them my way--I feel like I've seen every home on the market in that area in the last three months.

[new believer]

So work has finally started on the Garden Theatre block? I drive by it almost every day on my way home from work and I still haven't really noticed any signs of work actually being done.

For the record, I am a big fan of the Mexican War Streets. The district is an asset to the community in many ways.

[zman63]

Originally Posted by new believer

So work has finally started on the Garden Theatre block? I drive by it almost every day on my way home from work and I still haven't really noticed any signs of work actually being done.

For the record, I am a big fan of the Mexican War Streets. The district is an asset to the community in many ways.

Garden theater development falls through again…. I wonder how many times this has happened through the years.

Garden Theater developer says plans changing for block's buildings | TribLIVE

[steindle]

Originally Posted by zman63

Garden theater development falls through again…. I wonder how many times this has happened through the years.

Garden Theater developer says plans changing for block's buildings | TribLIVE

It really is like you don't read the articles you post.

"'This will allow the developer to move full-bore forward with plans to redevelop the Garden Theater and the Masonic Temple' on West North Avenue, said URA Director Robert Rubinstein."

...

"'I think this could allow Zukin to focus on the core properties in the block, and we could see simultaneous development of the other properties instead of serial development that happens more slowly,' Shlapak said."

[Sealtite]

Wasn't Lawerenceville the new fill in the blank not that long ago?

[zman63]

Originally Posted by steindle

It really is like you don't read the articles you post.

"'This will allow the developer to move full-bore forward with plans to redevelop the Garden Theater and the Masonic Temple' on West North Avenue, said URA Director Robert Rubinstein."

...

"'I think this could allow Zukin to focus on the core properties in the block, and we could see simultaneous development of the other properties instead of serial development that happens more slowly,' Shlapak said."

This will sit vacant another 10 yrs

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by zman63

This will sit vacant another 10 yrs

Seems pretty unlikely to me.

Honestly, it's probably better to split it up at this point and ensure that the Garden and Masonic stay on schedule now. The build out by Zurkin was to be done in phases anyway, with the Garden and Masonic being completed first, so overall, while it appears to be a bit of a set back time frame wise from the original plans for the remainder of the block, not dramatically so.

Plus, I suspect that the remaining portions of the block will be more appealing to a greater number of developers now, since they won't have to deal with the really contentious part of what to do with the Garden Theater and progress will already have been made on half of the block. We shall see.