Poli's in Squirrel Hill to finally be demolished next year. (Pittsburgh: middle-class, hotels)

[gg]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

I don't think its a question as to whether or not there should be subsidized housing or not.


Its just whether this particular location is too valuable for that use, and could the taxpayers who are paying for the subsidized housing can get "more bang for the buck" in a less expensive location.

Wow, you must have a clue about money and budgeting. Congrats, you are one of the few. Sadly you can only vote once, but I wish you could vote 1000 times! It saddens me people just don't understand budgets and how things work. AWWW, we need to provide for everyone. Sure that is fine, but should we give up a prime location in Squirrel Hill? Guess we did. Hurray for the Pittsburgh Public Schools. They won't be getting much out of that deal. Oh well. Maybe those that are so worried can cough up a few million for this coming year. Put your money where your mouth is people. Start donating your millions.

[gg]

Originally Posted by charisb

How much revenue has the city received from this space over the past decade?

When it was Poli's it provided jobs and many of those people lived in the city no doubt. Wage tax, property tax and more. Now it is going to be section 8. Goodness, the city sure has one heck of a lot of that in the East End. What about the schools? Roads? We need to rebuild the city. This isn't going to help, IMHO.

[FreightTrainRunning]

The apartment building next to my house was largely Section 8 for the first five years that we lived here and the only problem we ever had was one guy with a loud motorcycle who lived there for a few months. For better or worse, it was sold and rehabbed and now those same units are $1300 a month and occupied by professional types. The new tenants are fine but not nearly as friendly as the old ones.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Poli's has been closed for almost a decade, having anything in that space is better than nothing and it's not like there's a shortage of restaurants in Sq. Hill.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by GeneW

Poli's has been closed for almost a decade, having anything in that space is better than nothing and it's not like there's a shortage of restaurants in Sq. Hill.

The location is convenient to the Parkway, and could still be a good location for a restaurant or banquet hall- the fact that there are other restaurants in Squirrel Hill doesn't mean that there wouldn't be room for another.


But if there isn't, the space could be used for other residential or commercial uses which could provide tax money to the city.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

The location is convenient to the Parkway, and could still be a good location for a restaurant or banquet hall- the fact that there are other restaurants in Squirrel Hill doesn't mean that there wouldn't be room for another.


But if there isn't, the space could be used for other residential or commercial uses which could provide tax money to the city.

The lot went at a sheriff's sale where the highest bidder was a non-profit. I don't understand why no other commercial or residential business wanted to be there, but it's pretty clear that if anybody wanted to do something, they would have had plenty of time to do so.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

The lot went at a sheriff's sale where the highest bidder was a non-profit. I don't understand why no other commercial or residential business wanted to be there, but it's pretty clear that if anybody wanted to do something, they would have had plenty of time to do so.

If I'm recalling correctly, someone was supposed to develop the building into a missed use retail & residential project but could never secure financing for it, so yea, seems like kind of a dead spot for anything, & doing something with the building beats its languishing another decade empty.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Special needs is the new code word for section 8. They don't want to say, section 8 anymore for obvious reasons. Special needs has a nicer ring.

Is this some weird after-effect of Fox's demonization of ACORN or something? Do you have any kind of citation or reference to your "code word" charge?

Action Housing and Jewish Residential Services have units around Squirrel Hill with no problems of which I've been aware. The ones for people with special needs have people with special needs. It is government supported. I don't know if it is Section 8 or not, but people with disabilities will tend to need help in finding a place to live.

Also, I this isn't much of a departure. Jewish Residential Services runs a club house for people with mental illness right next door to the Poli site and has been doing so for far longer than Poli's has been closed.

[MountainDewGuy]

Special needs folks are fine, as they are already living right up the street in the senior building anyway. But that corner still needs something that can attract people there. Poli's only takes up part of this group of buildings. A hotel right off the parkway would have been perfect. A new movie theater would be nice (not a giant super megaplex but a theater with stadium seating and equipment that isn't breaking all the time, unlike the previous SH Theater). A Jewish museum or education center would be a good fit. A car dealership that sells electric cars. An office building anchored by an established tech startup. Something.

The real shame is that there were already established businesses there (The karate studio, Tango Cafe, Gay and Lesbian Community Center) that moved or closed because of the new development which never happened.

[eschaton]

It's worth noting it isn't like this area is not North of Forbes. The Forward/Murray business district has been limping along for years, and there's tons of (not updated) apartments in the blocks directly behind it. The single-family houses around there are on the small side and tend to sell in the $200,000-$300,000 range. That this building (and many around it) has been vacant for so many years shows the area, while safe and socially stable, is hardly "prime."