Pittsburgh real estate update (Philadelphia, Washington: 2013, living in, grocer)

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by svband76

Graffiti is the lowest of the low. I wish laws would severely punish these morons with jail time. They've destroyed a lot of the Strip District. Completely disrespectful, egregious selfishness.

I long for the days of Mook, when the city actually cared about preventing this now-accepted form of vandalism.

The city does not accept vandalism. The property owner can simply call 911 and sign a form. The Pittsburgh Department of Public Works will remove the graffiti as a service. Some artists have been convicted and jailed.

[BUILD PENN SQUARE]

it will be interesting to see how WF/amazon handles the delivery driver situation at the new store

currently they park for free in the surface lot on centre - there is no surface lot at the new place, and the parking garage is gated

maybe they'll park on the new street they created, assuming there are parking spaces provided

if i have my timeline correct construction documents for the building would have been completed before the delivery business took off

[BUILD PENN SQUARE]

downtown office capacity is at 22% - overall activity down roughly 50% from 2019 - and the president is saying we're gonna have another pandemic

here's a good idea - let's build 254 downtown luxury apartment units

Plans for 254 apartments at former GNC headquarters in Pittsburgh move forward

https://triblive.com/local/plans-for...-move-forward/

"Victrix already was allowed to develop 216 apartments there. It sought to buy development rights for an additional 38 units not being used at other sites owned by Landmark Development Corp. and then have those rights transferred to the former GNC property so it could develop more apartments there."

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by BUILD PENN SQUARE

downtown office capacity is at 22% - overall activity down roughly 50% from 2019 - and the president is saying we're gonna have another pandemic

here's a good idea - let's build 254 downtown luxury apartment units

Plans for 254 apartments at former GNC headquarters in Pittsburgh move forward

https://triblive.com/local/plans-for...-move-forward/

"Victrix already was allowed to develop 216 apartments there. It sought to buy development rights for an additional 38 units not being used at other sites owned by Landmark Development Corp. and then have those rights transferred to the former GNC property so it could develop more apartments there."

There will always be demand for urban apartments. Some people just crave being able to live in a high-rise and/or to live within a five-minute walk of coffeeshops, restaurants, banks, bars, medical offices, stores, etc. Not everyone who lived Downtown pre-pandemic worked Downtown, and that certainly isn't the case post-pandemic, either. If me and my fiancé were permitted to work from home, then we might consider buying a condo Downtown and selling our vehicle since we would rarely need to drive. Since we are both "essential workers", though, we are living where parking is free and convenient (for me) and where we have good transit access (for my fiancé, who doesn't drive).

[Independentthinking83]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

There will always be demand for urban apartments. Some people just crave being able to live in a high-rise and/or to live within a five-minute walk of coffeeshops, restaurants, banks, bars, medical offices, stores, etc. Not everyone who lived Downtown pre-pandemic worked Downtown, and that certainly isn't the case post-pandemic, either. If me and my fiancé were permitted to work from home, then we might consider buying a condo Downtown and selling our vehicle since we would rarely need to drive. Since we are both "essential workers", though, we are living where parking is free and convenient (for me) and where we have good transit access (for my fiancé, who doesn't drive).

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Jbraybarten65

It seems even locally, more rental apartments are needed (certainly nationally and definitely more non "luxury').

The way you get more "non-luxury" apartments is through depreciation of older units. Essentially all market-rate affordable units today started out as top-of-the-line units when they were first constructed.

Of course, there are things we can do to drop apartment prices - like not mandating parking (structured parking is expensive, and cities like Minneapolis which have eliminated parking minimums have seen average prices fall) but mostly we just need more period, as greater supply will cause demand to fall.

[BUILD PENN SQUARE]

the statistics show that, thanks to the "pandemic" and the lockdowns, downtown is a shell of what it used to be

it certainly feels that way when you're down there - and biden just said we're gonna have another one

here's a good idea - let's create more apartment units - we have to do something with these assets we own, right?

who wouldn't be excited about living downtown and buying all their groceries at target?

A Downtown Bakery Square? Developer mulls plan to convert Three Gateway Center to apartments

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202206230086

"Hertz Investment Group is considering a plan to convert the 25-story Three Gateway Center building on Liberty Avenue into apartments in a bid to enliven and broaden the appeal of a campus built 70 years ago during Pittsburgh’s first renaissance.

“We’re looking at doing it. We’re super excited about the potential of it,” said Tim McCarthy, Hertz senior vice president.

Indeed, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has estimated that there are 822 units of housing in the pipeline in the Golden Triangle.

Jeremy Waldrup, PDP president and CEO, said the Downtown units are doing well, with a 94% occupancy at the end of the first quarter. That suggests there is a market for more, he added."

[Reggiezz]

I've heard Liberty Av is having problems. Since I haven't been there the last couple years, is it true?

[Reggiezz]

Someone in the real-estate industry and the property tax office knows exactly how many apartments, luxury or otherwise, need to be created downtown to cover the lost commercial property tax paid by businesses that aren't renting anymore. I would imagine that number is very large.

[wpipkins2]

Originally Posted by BUILD PENN SQUARE

the statistics show that, thanks to the ”pandemic” and the lockdowns, downtown is a shell of what it used to be

it certainly feels that way when you're down there - and biden just said we're gonna have another one

here's a good idea - let's create more apartment units - we have to do something with these assets we own, right?

who wouldn't be excited about living downtown and buying all their groceries at target?

A Downtown Bakery Square? Developer mulls plan to convert Three Gateway Center to apartments

https://www.post-gazette.com/busines...s/202206230086

”Hertz Investment Group is considering a plan to convert the 25-story Three Gateway Center building on Liberty Avenue into apartments in a bid to enliven and broaden the appeal of a campus built 70 years ago during Pittsburgh’s first renaissance.

“We’re looking at doing it. We’re super excited about the potential of it,” said Tim McCarthy, Hertz senior vice president.

Indeed, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has estimated that there are 822 units of housing in the pipeline in the Golden Triangle.

Jeremy Waldrup, PDP president and CEO, said the Downtown units are doing well, with a 94% occupancy at the end of the first quarter. That suggests there is a market for more, he added.”

Downtown NYC (Chelsea, SoHo, Upper West Side), Washington DC, Center City Philadelphia, and Baltimore are all shells of what they used to be. I’ll assume this is the norm for most cities with a centralized business district.

The 1, 2, and 3 Gateway Center 3 was a apartment design to begin with. The only difference is that the buildings are sheathed in stainless steel instead of brick. My mother worked in 1 Gateway for years and the views are amazing.