Pittsburgh Area Development - Request for Info & Updates (Bellevue: pub, warehouse)

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Yeah. I have my doubts the tourists looking for ghosts is the best use of that land in Pittsburgh.

100% accurate.

[gg]

Originally Posted by Knepper3

You can try to keep repurposing buildings but they will hit their usefulness at some point. Sometimes it is better to just move forward rather than continue to deteriorate which in the future those costs could be even higher

Well we know that is true, but man those buildings are so cool and to build anything like that today? Forget it. It is a shame they couldn't be repurposed somehow, but at the end of the day they will be raised and used as zoning permits. Riverfront property that WON'T be residential. It is so nice down there, but industrial is its future if there is one.

[IMG]

[Knepper3]

Agree but you can't force usefulness. I personally love to see urban decay and the history behind but its not practical. Look at the old prison used for Shawshank. I enjoyed seeing it but its only around because of the movie, those structures just are not good for much else. Beautiful just not practical for anything unless someone was willing to operate at a loss.

I really wish Pgh would move away from industry on the riverfronts and make it residential/entertainment/retail. Those areas could be major draws and are in most other areas, we just haven't been able to transition much. Casino was a good start IMO.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by Knepper3

Agree but you can't force usefulness. I personally love to see urban decay and the history behind but its not practical. Look at the old prison used for Shawshank. I enjoyed seeing it but its only around because of the movie, those structures just are not good for much else. Beautiful just not practical for anything unless someone was willing to operate at a loss.

I really wish Pgh would move away from industry on the riverfronts and make it residential/entertainment/retail. Those areas could be major draws and are in most other areas, we just haven't been able to transition much. Casino was a good start IMO.

Pittsburgh’s riverfront’s have transformed over the past 30 years. There’s so much riverfront property that it cannot be fully developed. The city of Pittsburgh was wall to wall with riverfront industrial complexes. Pittsburgh no longer houses heavy industry on any of its riverfronts.

[eschaton]

The oldest section of the SCI prison is indeed really attractive as prisons go, due to its age. It's essentially a castle, complete with an attractive 19th century gatehouse and heavy stone walls. Plenty of older jails have seen adaptive reuse into residential as well (my mother used to live in a condo of one in Massachusetts).

That said, the location isn't conducive to such a development, as it's far up the Ohio away from Downtown, completely surrounded by industrial uses, with little commercial development nearby other than a handful of surviving businesses in Woods Run. If it were a bit closer to downtown (like say in Chateau) I think adaptive reuse as residential may have been possible, but it's just not feasible in that location unfortunately. Without that, what else could it be? Some sort of low-use museum like Carrie Furnace? I'm really not sure.

[gg]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The oldest section of the SCI prison is indeed really attractive as prisons go, due to its age. It's essentially a castle, complete with an attractive 19th century gatehouse and heavy stone walls. Plenty of older jails have seen adaptive reuse into residential as well (my mother used to live in a condo of one in Massachusetts).

That said, the location isn't conducive to such a development, as it's far up the Ohio away from Downtown, completely surrounded by industrial uses, with little commercial development nearby other than a handful of surviving businesses in Woods Run. If it were a bit closer to downtown (like say in Chateau) I think adaptive reuse as residential may have been possible, but it's just not feasible in that location unfortunately. Without that, what else could it be? Some sort of low-use museum like Carrie Furnace? I'm really not sure.

It is an awesome flat paved bike ride into the city and it is along the river, so just a very nice ride. Many would love to live along the river. Just such a cool spot.

[Knepper3]

I'm thinking more down river I guess until you get down toward Sewickley. There isn't much to be done really with rail tracks at least on the north side and the south side still has industry buildings. Just most places you'd love to live right near the river but here you'd hear the trains and look across the river at industry.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by Moby Hick

Yeah. I have my doubts the tourists looking for ghosts is the best use of that land in Pittsburgh.

No, but razing most of the mid-century uglier structures in the complex away from the river and turning the rest into a park would be the best move for re-use overall. Keep the old prison building which is beautiful and turn it into a monument or performance venue or something.

[ErnieCF]

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202308240075

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by ErnieCF

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202308240075

Good. Glad to see it. The more development here on the North Side the better. I just wish it would creep UP Brighton Road and California Avenue up here into Marshall-Shadeland at some point.