River Walk Corporate Center Overaul (Pittsburgh, Washington: house, neighborhood, high school)

[SteelCityRising]

Offices, public green space, trail link planned for South Side terminal | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

^ Highlights?

• The paved parking area that bisects the two sides of the terminal will be turned into a public green space called "The High Line". This is currently marked as "Terminal Way".
• Although that surface parking will be eliminated, 650 new parking spaces will be added into the bottom floors of the building
• The missing link of the riverfront trail along the south side of the Mon will be linked.

This could be huge! My partner's therapist has his office in here, and while the article balks near the end saying it's off the beaten path from Downtown I beg to differ, as I regularly walk TO and FROM Downtown via the nearby Smithfield Street Bridge while I'm waiting for his session to finish. When coupled with plans to revamp Station Square this could really help totally reinvigorate the slummy part of South Side between the Smithfield Street Bridge and the 10th Street Bridge.

[lprmesia]

This is fantastic news! I've always loved this building. Kind of sad to see Terminal Way go in that I can no longer drive down to the end lot for a unique view of the skyline, but at least it's being replaced with something nice.

[SuburbanPioneer]

Some additional highlights:

- McKnight is seeking a $10 million state redevelopment capital assistance grant to help fund the work.
- It also is looking for help from the city Urban Redevelopment Authority for the public riverfront upgrades.

[Faer]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

When coupled with plans to revamp Station Square this could really help totally reinvigorate the slummy part of South Side between the Smithfield Street Bridge and the 10th Street Bridge.

This is my hope. There's a lot of potential for infill; that entire section, even including west of Smithfield, is a pretty underutilized area, and a prime location. I think we will have to see the Strip and Uptown fully build out before people really turn their attentions to over there, but those two projects would be a huge jump start. Maybe someone could even revisit the whiskey barrel flats idea. Frank Bryan concrete plant really uglies up the area though, it will cost a pretty penny to get them to move.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Faer

This is my hope. There's a lot of potential for infill; that entire section, even including west of Smithfield, is a pretty underutilized area, and a prime location. I think we will have to see the Strip and Uptown really build out before people really turn their attentions to over there, but those two projects would be a huge jump start. Maybe someone could even revisit the whiskey barrel flats idea. Frank Bryan concrete plant really uglies up the area though, it will cost a pretty penny to get them to move.

I tend to alternate my walks from the terminal either west to the Smithfield Street Bridge into Downtown to grab a coffee at the Starbucks near Point Park University or east to grab a coffee at Starbucks at East Carson & South 14th and then do some meandering around the side streets as far east as around South 22nd and back.

I think South Side is incredibly underrated on this sub-forum and at-large, for that matter, too. It may be a meathead pukefest on Friday nights, but the vast majority of the time it's a very walkable and enjoyable neighborhood. It is very distressed, though, from between Terminal Way to around South 10th Street. The Salvation Army's new building is nice, and the high school football stadium is lovely.

There's just so much wasted surface parking space along Bingham Street in this area. You could easily build a second South Side Works-styled complex in the area bounded by South 6th, South 9th, Bingham, and the railroad tracks. Maybe not so much focus on retail since the retail component of South Side Works continues to struggle, but this would be a prime place for a new public parking garage (closer to Bingham & South 9th) to help alleviate on-street parking congestion west of the Birmingham Bridge, as well as possibly 1,000 new units of residential in some mid-rise buildings.

Some people (myself included) wouldn't mind living near an industrial factory or plant or two. I love Pittsburgh's industrial heritage and history and would actually think it would be cool to live by a concrete plant. I don't hear about people in the Strip in places like Lot 24, Cork Factory, or Otto Milk complaining about the industrial activity around them. Noise is part of city life.

I know 43rd Street Concrete in Lawrenceville has been pressured to move out of the neighborhood for a while now, but I think that's a shame. Maybe force them to sell (or donate) the parcel of their land immediately adjacent to the river so that the river trail can squeeze by, but otherwise that plant (and its trucks) were there long before the new yuppies of Lawrenceville moved in. We moved to Brereton Street with full knowledge that when the church is having events (especially during Holy Week) and when Gooski's has a band, there's literally nowhere to park. It's fine. City life is all about trade-offs.

[lprmesia]

I actually looked at a house in the fall right on E Carson St in this area (between 4th and 5th - had a 2 car garage, a backyard, etc...) - but it needed a lot of work (mold smell in the basement, open floor plan was too open).

I agree with you entirely that a lot of the bad rap the South Side gets is limited to Friday and Saturday nights.

I work in South Side Works and live in Mt. Washington, so I pass through here all the time. I don't even think this portion of the neighborhood is really that run down as it is just dark. The Liberty Bridge, Terminal Building, Downtown, and Mt. Washington block out a lot more of the of sunlight than you'd think they would. I just think a lot of the housing stock through there isn't as well kept, but there's direct riverfront access, trail access, walking distance to Downtown, Station Square (including the T), and the rest of South Side while being far enough away without having to worry about drunk people peeing on your door.

If that house didn't have the mold issues (it was being sold as is - no home warranty), I surely would have snatched it up. That area seems prime for development.

[Lost_In_Translation]

This will be transformative for southside and add some good space for start-up companies needing flex spaces. The additional parking will help plus the bike path will aid in alternate commuting. Brilliant buy!

[eschaton]

Renderings now available here.







They are really trying to directly rip off the High Line in NYC.

[Moby Hick]

Unrealistic. The sun is shining and nobody is smoking.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Unrealistic. The sun is shining and nobody is smoking.

Yeah. I agree. On the occasions I do sit in my car on Terminal Way and do crossword puzzles while waiting for my partner it's astonishing the amount of workers there who smoke.