Architecture : Development News

The Brew House Association, a non-profit arts organization headquartered in the old Duquesne Brewery at 2100 Mary Street on the South Side, is looking for partners to assist in redeveloping the 114-year-old building.

The association, which provides housing and studio space to visiting artists, has owned the 104,000-square foot space since 2001 and occupied it since 1991, has hired South Side-based development consulting firm Civic Square to find development partners.

“The Brew House Association is seeking partners to to help tap the building’s potential and strengthen its organization,” says Civic Square’s Rick Belloli. “It will be a challenging but rewarding project to work on.”

Belloli speculates that the ultimate plan may involve a mix of ground-level retail space and office space on higher floors.

Civic Square and the Brew House Association will host a walking tour of the space for prospective investors on Thursday at 5:30 p.m., and interested parties should e-mail Civil Square to RSVP.

The Duquesne Brewing Company opened the original building in 1899, and expanded the facility in 1950. In 1961, it purchased the now iconic giant clock and moved it from its location on Mount Washington to the top of its new facility, facing the Monongahela River.

Though the original Duquesne Brewing Company folded in 1972, the Duquesne Beer brand was resurrected in 2010.

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Rick Belloli

A groundbreaking this Thursday will kick off a three-phase, $15 million expansion project at The Frick Art & Historical Center in Point Breeze.

The family home of industrialist Henry Clay Frick and his daughter, philanthropist Helen Clay Frick, will add several new buildings while restoring an old one as well.

Phase 1 will involve the construction of a new Orientation Center between the Frick’s café and Car and Carriage Museum. The entirety of the Frick’s facilities will remain open throughout the Orientation Center’s construction.

“We didn’t want to build a pseudo-historic building,” says Frick Director Bill Bodine. “We thought we ought to go with a contemporary style that uses elements found within the site.”

Those elements include slatted wooden roofs, tile floors and Pennsylvania sandstone. The Orientation Center, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2014, will also house a new museum gift shop.

That will free up the location of the current gift shop in the Frick children’s playhouse — an original structure from 1897 — to be restored as a resource for children during subsequent building phases.

Bodine says the playhouse, which contains a 19th century bowling alley, will eventually be used to engage children with the kinds of games and entertainment that were common during Helen Clay Frick’s childhood.

Phases 2 and 3 will include a new carriage gallery, an education center in the area currently serving as the carriage gallery, a community center and additional collection storage facilities. The Frick has engaged the architechtural teams of Schwartz/Silver and Associates of Boston and Pittsburgh-based Loysen + Kreuthmeier to design the expansions and renovations. 

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Bill Bodine

ArtPlace America awarded City of Asylum/Pittsburgh (COA/P) a $300,000 grant yesterday for the group's plans to build the Pittsburgh Central Northside Artway Connector.

Chosen among 54 national grants from 1,200 entrants as an exemplary plan of creative place making, the garden-to-garden Artway will connect two new COA/P projects — the Alphabet Reading Garden on Monterey Street and the Alphabet City literary center in the Garden Theater complex on North Avenue, which POP City profiled in January.

The Artway will feature a series of both temporary and permanent literary-themed installation art works.

“It’s coming from a very interesting and important coalition of funders,” says COA/P Communications Manager Elizabeth Baisley. “It’s an enormous privilege and pleasure to be receiving a grant from ArtPlace America, and we’re very excited about what it makes possible for us.”

ArtPlace America is a collaborative effort between 13 national foundations, six of the country’s biggest banks, the Domestic Policy Council and the White House Office of Management and Budget. It seeks to help facilitate the introduction of art into communities for the development of creative spaces.

The organization has awarded more than $42 million in 134 grants to 124 projects in 79 communities. Its grant to COA/P marks the first time a Pittsburgh project has received an ArtPlace America grant.

Among its many activities, COA/P renovates dilapidated houses to serve as both public works of art and residences for writers from other countries living in exile.

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Elizabeth Baisley

The Gateway at Summerset, a new rental community overlooking Homestead and the Monongahela River from the southern end of Squirrel Hill, already has residents living in its first completed building, and more scheduled to move into its second building later this month.

Co-developed by Ralph A. Falbo, Inc. and Pennrose, The Gateway, which is located inside the Summerset at Frick Park development, has already pre-leased many apartments in as-yet-unfinished buildings. The six-building rental complex is “pretty full through mid-July, though we do still have some available in the first building,” says Pennrose’s Stephanie Fuchs.

Though its initial target demographic was young professionals, Fuchs says that the community's close proximity to the rest of the East End, South Side and Waterfront, as well as a host of on-site amenities, has drawn a wide array of tenants.

“We have some people who are downsizing and looking toward retirement, and we have a handful of people who are relocating for residency opportunities,” Fuchs says. “It’s so close to the city, but when you pull in, it has that traditional neighborhood feel.”

In addition to one-bedroom units, the community has two different styles of two-bedroom units, each of which are customizable and contain multiple amenities, including private laundry facilities in each unit.

The community also offers a plethora of shared spaces, including a community center, pool, fitness center, basketball court and playground.

To learn more about The Gateway at Summerset, visit its website or call 412-422-1144

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Stephanie Fuchs

Residents of Downtown Pittsburgh haven’t had a grocery store since Seventh Avenue’s Rosebud Fine Food Market and Deli closed in 2010. If all goes according to developer Ralph Falbo’s plan, that could soon change.

Falbo is in talks with the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation about opening a grocery in the Thompson Building at 435 Market Street in Market Square.

“One of the things that’s missing in Market Square is a place to buy groceries,” Falbo says.

The tentative plan, a joint-venture with the owners of Vallozzi’s restaurant, would offer high-end produce, fresh bread, fine meats, cheeses and wines, among other basic grocery items. His plan also includes a bar, a multi-purpose area that could be used for events such as wine tastings, and a basement kitchen for cooking prepared foods.

The grocery would occupy about 4,600 square feet of real estate, and Falbo says he hopes to draw a women’s fashion boutique into one of the building’s upper floors.

Earlier this month, the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corporation filed an application with Allegheny County for a $250,000 Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund grant in support of opening a Downtown grocery store.

Falbo initially pursued the establishment of a Downtown grocery in 2005, when he sought to bring an upscale market into the former G.C. Murphy’s building, also near Market Square.

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Ralph Falbo

The Mackey Lofts, a new housing complex situated in a former Uptown bakery at 1819 Forbes Avenue, is nearing completion, with tenants expected to move in by June.

The lofts are the latest project from ACTION-Housing, a local organization which designs and builds sustainable, accessible housing for working-class residents and people with physical disabilities.

“What we’re trying to do with the Mackey Lofts is shift how we integrate supportive housing into a community,” says Andrew Schull, ACTION’s communications coordinator. “One of the reasons we were attracted to Uptown is its proximity to Downtown and Oakland.”

The lofts will contain 43 total housing units. Eighteen units are designed with special accessibility features, and 10 of those units will cater specifically to the needs of deaf and deaf-blind residents.

Schull said that ACTION-Housing has been accepting applications for the lofts since January and 20 applicants have already been approved. While the lofts are ACTION’s first installation in Uptown, the organization has bigger plans for the area.

“We just received an allocation of tax credits for two properties up the road on Fifth [Avenue],” he says.

The two buildings, which will contain 23 and 24 units, respectively, will house residents of the MyPlace program, which helps house young people who are transitioning out of foster care.

Those  interested in the Mackey Lofts should contact Carol Kelly of Supportive Housing Management Services at 1-800-238-7555.

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Andrew Schull

It’s been a long time since anyone has seen the Golden Triangle at its best. On June 7, that will change when the fountain at Point State Park is turned on for the first time in four years.

“For a lot of Pittsburghers, [this] is their equivalent of the Golden Gate Bridge or the Gateway Arch,” says Stephan Bontrager of Riverlife.

The fountain has been shut off since 2009 as a part of the major renovations to Point State Park, which started in 2007. At a total cost of $35 million, the park’s facelift represents “the largest park project in commonwealth history,” according to Bontrager.

The evening festivities, dubbed Riverlights at The Point, will serve not only to celebrate the restarting of the fountain, but as the opening to the 2013 Three Rivers Arts Festival. Following a 5 p.m. ceremony during which the fountain will be turned on, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros will play a free concert, for which local band Donora will open.

Complementing the park’s new LED lighting for the weekend will be a public artwork, “Pittsburgh: Spectral Ascending,” which will be visible after sunset from June 7 to 9. A collaboration between artist Yvette Mattern and Pittsburgh’s Lightwave International, the piece consists of six projectors atop PPG Place, projecting light onto the fountain’s 150-foot column of water.

“The overarching theme of June 7 is putting the best face on Pittsburgh,” Bontrager says.

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Stephan Bontrager

How will Pittsburgh’s next mayor ensure that public policy makes good design and planning central to the City’s growth?

That is one of several questions to be asked of Pittsburgh’s mayoral candidates at an upcoming forum to be hosted by the Design Center in Downtown Pittsburgh.

“The next mayor will provide leadership on community and economic development across the city,” says Stephen Glassman, president and ceo of the Design Center. “It is important for people interested in good design and planning to hear each candidate’s vision for Pittsburgh’s future, and equally important that our voices be heard by the candidates.”

Glassman says Pittsburgh is at an important inflection point, and with the proper visionary leadership can continue to not only expand its economic base, but provide a model for best practices to the rest of the country.

Each candidate will make the case for why he is capable of providing that leadership, as well as answer additional questions prepared by the Design Center.

Questions will also be taken from audience members, on topics ranging from blight and vacant properties, to historic preservation, riverfronts and multi-modal transportation.

Candidates Bill Peduto, A.J. Richardson, Jack Wagner, and Jake Wheatley are confirmed to participate in the forum, according to the Design Center. It will be moderated by Diana A. Bucco, vice president of The Buhl Foundation.

The Mayoral Candidates Forum on Design, Planning, and Public Policy will take place on Wednesday, May 8th, at Point Park University’s GRW Auditorium in University Center at 414 Wood Street, Downtown. It will run for 90 minutes, beginning at 6:00 p.m., with a reception to follow.

To RSVP call 412-281-0995, or e-mail design@judith-kelly.com.

And tonight, the Pittsburgh Greenspace Alliance and the League of Women Voters are hosting a mayoral forum on the importance of greenspace in the city. Candidates will be asked to discuss their plans as mayor for the expansion and integration of greenspace in Pittsburgh, including parks and trails. 

The Candidates’ Forum on Greenspace takes place at 6:00 p.m.tonight at the Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman Street, in the Strip District. For information and to RSVP, click here.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Stephen Glassman

Locomotive Lofts, a residential adaptive-reuse of the former H.K. Porter Co. building, is on track to open May 1st in Lawrenceville. Developer Ernie Sota says the project is the most state-of-the-art apartment complex in the neighborhood.

Locomotive Lofts LP is a partnership between Sota and Tony Rodriguez. Paul Rodriguez is the project architect.

Located at the corner of 49th and Harrison Streets, Locomotive Lofts includes 34 market-rate apartment units, and was designed to achieve LEED Gold Certification. Each unit features numerous energy efficiency measures, such as LED lighting, web-based thermostats, and Energy Star appliances. Sota says units have been air-tested and are draft-free.

The former office building was once home to H.K. Porter Co., a manufacturer of compressed air locomotives. Total redevelopments costs were $5.4 million.

One- and two-bedroom units range from $1,050 to $1,850, and secure, off-street parking is also available.

Sota says green landscaping and the integration of art and natural materials was done to create a warm feeling at the redeveloped site. A sculpted entry wall features the fossil-like image of plants, created by pressing bamboo into wet stucco. And several site walls feature a combination of custom railing and weathering steel panels.

Sota Construction Services recently achieved LEED Platinum Certification for its own office building, earning the most LEED points ever awarded to a project in Pennsylvania, and the fifth-highest score in the entire LEED system worldwide. Sota is also responsible for developing Pittsburgh’s first net-zero home—a home that generates as much energy as it uses annually—on the South Side.

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Ernie Sota

An office building in the Strip District is getting a rock and roll makeover. Its exterior walls will soon be wrapped in the likeness of a giant, backlit guitar as the building formerly known as 3030 Penn Avenue becomes the Penn A Caster Loft Offices.

Tusk Development bought the 24,000 square-foot building late last year and wanted to give it a new identity. So when co-owner Jim Genstein returned from a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, they were inspired to give it a new guitar-centric theme.

In addition to the exterior changes, an interior lobby has been redeveloped and now features a guitar touchscreen that controls a video wall and streaming music. Lami Grubb Architects is the project architect.

The three-story building was built in the early 1900s as a warehouse and stored salt as well as the horse-driven carriages that drove goods to and from the nearby Allegheny River.

Genstein’s partner Andy Schaer says the office space is ideal for a tech or creative services company. The loft offices feature brick walls and exposed beams, as well as abundant natural light.

The building is wired for any tech company’s needs—including battery backup for uninterrupted power—and could be built-out to meet tenant needs. The site also includes over 100 parking spaces.

The name Penn A Caster is derived from the Fender Telecaster guitar, which has been played by countless musicians including Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

Schaer expects the new guitar-clad facade to be complete within the next eight weeks.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Andy Schaer

Developer Todd Palcic is planning to bring 35 new apartment units to a quiet, village-like corner of Downtown Pittsburgh.

The project is a renovation of the eight-story former Graphic Arts building located at 422 First Avenue on one of Downtown’s least-traveled corridors. “It’s almost like a mini Greenwich Village,” Palcic says, because it’s quiet and clean, yet bounded by the much busier Boulevard of the Allies and Fort Pitt Boulevard.

And though it’s quiet, the First Avenue apartments will be near many Downtown institutions, including the Art Institute of Pittsburgh—which is just across the street—and Point Park University, which Palcic says will also soon occupy two existing buildings on First Avenue.

Palcic has also bought an adjacent lot at the First Avenue site to be used for tenant parking.

The First Avenue apartments will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments, though the specifics are to be determined. Half of the units will feature views of the Monongahela River, South Side, and Mount Washington. Indovina Associates Architects are the project architects.

Palcic is looking for ideas for the first-floor retail space, as well the built-out, semi-finished basement. “Between the two I think there are a lot of possibilities,” he says.

The developer has had success in Downtown’s Cultural District to the point that he says there’s very little development work left in that neighborhood. Palcic has already created 24 condo units in Downtown, at L'Enfant Lofts and other projects. And the soon-to-open Lando Lofts development will add 27 new apartment units at 907-909 Penn Avenue.

Renovation of the structure is expected to begin next year, and Palcic hopes to have it completed in 2015.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Todd Palcic

The third and final phase of the Federal Hill development is underway in the Central Northside, a project that has brought a total of 44 new homes to the historic neighborhood.

The current phase (2A) of six new townhomes brings to a close the five-year project.

Federal Hill is a project of the Central Northside Neighborhood Council (CNNC), S&A Homes and the URA, along with architects Rothschild Doyno Collaborative. The three- and four-bedroom homes range from 1,400 to 2,300 square feet, and units on the corners of each block include a third-floor, open-air balcony.

All of the new homes are under contract with buyers. Andy Haines of S&A Homes says his company receives continuous calls of interest for Federal Hill.

“It's one of our best selling developments throughout the three states we work in,” Haines says.

Every home in each previous phase has also been sold. Home prices range from $130,000 to $220,000, with individualized upgrades up to $80,000. The majority of new homes were built along Federal Street, however a few infill homes were constructed on adjacent Alpine Street.

Federal Hill is one of several redevelopment projects in the neighborhood, including a new branch of the Carnegie Library, which opened in 2009, several new businesses including El Burro Comedor and Crazy Mocha, and the ongoing redevelopment of the Garden Theater Block.

Haines says that although the project has been challenging in terms of financing—with funds from state and local agencies—the satisfaction level has been very high.

“The end result is we made a difference on the street, we made a difference in the neighborhood,” Haines says. “It's a good investment of public dollars.”


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Andy Haines

The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) celebrated the opening of the new K. Leroy Irvis Science Center on Monday at its Allegheny Campus on the Northside. The five-story, LEED certified building features state-of-the art science equipment, e-learning capabilities, and supports biotechnology, microbiology, and astronomy, among several other programs.

The 65,000-square-foot science center contains eight classrooms, numerous study areas and 16 laboratories. A rooftop observatory, capable of electronically projecting images into classrooms, is scheduled to be completed soon.

"You can do so many things with all of those variations in technology," says Campus President Donna L. Imhoff. "There's so many different ways to teach now."

The building is named for the late State Representative K. Leroy Irvis, a champion of community colleges in the Commonwealth.  His co-sponsorship of the Pennsylvania Community College Act of 1964 created the state's community college system, and led to the founding of CCAC three years later. “If not for him, community colleges wouldn't exist at all,” Imhoff says.

The science center, located at 808 Ridge Avenue, was designed by Hayes Large Architects and has earned a LEED Silver Energy rating.

Other programs that will be served by the new facility include biology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, geology, and physical science.
 

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Donna Imhoff

One of the Pittsburgh region's leading construction companies has a new headquarters that's now among the "greenest" in the world.

Sota Construction Services Inc. achieved LEED Platinum Certification recently for its own office building, in Bellevue, earning the most LEED points ever awarded to a project in Pennsylvania, and the fifth-highest score in the entire LEED system worldwide.

The office building includes passive and high efficiency active radiant slab heating and cooling; natural ventilation; use of natural materials including straw bale and cob wall construction, reused and recycled materials; day lighting; rainwater harvesting; and low water use fixtures.

Ernie Sota, President of Sota Construction Services, says that while many new LEED structures are criticized for high energy consumption, this building is actually performing better than energy models had projected. "We focused on energy here very much from the original design," he says.

In addition to having an efficient thermal envelope, rooftop solar panels are producing up to 70 percent of the building's energy needs.

Sota says the building's use of cob wall construction—an ancient building method that is a mixture of sand, clay, and straw—demonstrates the viability of it and other "self-assembled" materials in Southwestern Pennsylvania. "Those natural building materials," he says, "[are] possibly a pathway to a kind of unlimited green future for all of us.”

Design and construction was done by a large local and international team, including evolveEA, Studio d’Arc , ARUP International, Building Science Corporation, Iams Consulting, Tudi Mechanical, Greenweavers, and Construction Junction.

The Green Building Alliance will offer tours of the building during its Earth Day at Ernie’s event on Thursday, April 18^th, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information and to register, visit the GBA’s website here.
 

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Ernie Sota

Anthony Dolan’s new development projects aim to fill in the gaps of East Liberty's ongoing redevelopment.

Dolan's company, Alphabet City Co., plans to build a 20,000-square-foot retail and office structure at the corner of Penn Avenue and Penn Circle East, across from Target. Plans also call for a 5,000-square-foot rooftop restaurant featuring outdoor seating.

Once a lead tenant is identified, construction is expected to be complete within 15 months. Oxford Realty Services is handling leasing and marketing for the project. Three existing buildings, including the current location of Yen's Gourmet Chinese Restaurant, would be razed.

Dolan says it's important for the building to be an amenity to the neighborhood and to complement the existing structures.

"Whatever happens here is going to set the tone for the rest of that block as new development moves into the core," he says.

The site is surrounded by several high-profile developments in East Liberty. Dolan praises the early development work of Mosites and that company's plans for new residential units at the Eastside III, as well as Walnut Capital's restoration of the residential Highland Building.

"But we do need a balance of office space and residential units in the core," Dolan says, "to make sure that we have enough daytime population to feed the businesses that are currently there and ones that want to locate there in the future."

David Morgan, of Morgan Associates, is the project architect. Dolan says Morgan has a strong history with the neighborhood and was an original board member of East Liberty Development, Inc.

Alphabet City Co.'s second project in East Liberty is renovating existing warehouse structures near the future Ace Hotel. At 5915 and 5921 Baum Boulevard, the refaced buildings will be converted for retail and restaurant uses. Dolan's goal is to have these structures available by the end of this year, around the opening of the Ace Hotel.

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Anthony Dolan