Jun 4 2015

Downtown Bike Lane Sees More Than 24,000 Rides In May

Protected bike lanes along Penn Avenue saw more than 24,000 bike trips in May, according to figures the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership release Thursday.

The bike lanes, installed in September 2014, eliminated a lane for vehicles with bollards along the route. Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership in mid-April installed three mechanical counters across the width of the bike lane on the 600, 900, and 1200 blocks of Penn Avenue to track usage.

May 15 2015

Downtown Pittsburgh Continues On Strong Growth Trajectory

Developers announced about three dozen economic development projects totaling $526 million in Pittsburgh’s Greater Downtown in 2014, capitalizing on dramatic growth in recent years, according to a report released Thursday.

“With more than $5 billion of transformative investment in Downtown Pittsburgh over the last decade, Downtown is well-positioned,” said Jeremy Waldrup, president and CEO of the nonprofit Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

Apr 21 2015

Planned Smallman Place Condos In Strip District Selling Fast

Sales agreements are in place for about two-thirds of the 36 condominiums that a suburban Philadelphia developer is planning in the Strip District, months before construction is set to begin.

The Smallman Place condos went on the market in the first week of April.

“If you have the right project at the right place and the right price, you can be successful,” said developer Jack Benoff of Solara Ventures Inc.

Benoff has been one of Pittsburgh’s most active condo developers in recent years. He converted 941 Penn Ave., Downtown, and the Otto Milk building in the Strip District into condo buildings that sold out quickly, with the exception of a $1.8 million penthouse at Otto Milk that’s now under agreement.

Apr 15 2015

Two Years In The Making, Market Square Grocery Store’s Opening Is Near

On a cloudy and cool spring morning, Downtown Pittsburgh’s first grocery in five years was emerging from its shell like a butterfly from its cocoon.

Some workers stocked a freezer with frozen shrimp, lobster langostino and other seafood. Others handled deliveries of cheeses and other goods. Yet others trained to use the cash register.

At the back of 435 Market St., bottles of imported red and white Italian wines beckoned visitors. Pastas, cereals, chocolates, pickles, olives, teas, cookies, jelly, potato chips and sauces crammed the shelves.

“ ‘Finally’ is the word,” developer Ralph Falbo said as he talked to two friends and surveyed the scene.

http://www.post-gazette.com/business/development/2015/04/15/Market-Square-to-get-grocery-store-soon/stories/201504150099

Apr 7 2015

Pittsburgh: Best Places In The World To Visit

Mar 22 2015

On The Horizon: PNC’s $400M Tower Nears Completion

Picture of PNC Tower in July 2014

PNC Financial Services Group’s $400 million skyscraper in Downtown is nearly 80 percent complete and on track to be finished in the fall, the company said Friday.

Mayor Bill Peduto said he welcomes “the addition of their new tower to our celebrated skyline,” along with the financial giant’s continued investment in Pittsburgh.

PNC’s Downtown presence includes the 30-story One PNC Plaza, 34-story Two PNC Plaza, 23-story Three PNC Plaza and five-story PNC Firstside Center on First Avenue.

Construction of the skyscraper, dubbed The Tower at PNC Plaza, began in spring 2012. A PNC-run website dedicated to the project says The Tower is 78 percent complete, with work to enclose the building about 90 percent done and interior construction about 60 percent finished. The latter work is expected to be completed in the spring.

Mar 13 2015

Pittsburgh’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade Kicks Off At 10 a.m. On Saturday

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Pittsburgh has its good days, like the 70-degree beauty in 2012, and it’s bad ones, the blizzard of 1993, but one thing is certain: It’s going to happen either way.

The parade, which started in 1864 and has run consecutively since 1950, will step off near the Greyhound station on Liberty Avenue and make its way to the Post-Gazette building on Saturday with nearly 200 marching units, including bands, floats, politicians and groups from Irish and other ethnic communities.

After all, everyone is Irish at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

This year’s grand marshal is Martin Madigan of Hampton, a founding member of the Irish Society for Education and Charities, former Pennsylvania State president of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and retiree from the Allegheny County Register of Wills Office.

http://www.post-gazette.com/life/holidays/2015/03/12/St-Patrick-s-Day-Parade-kicks-off-at-10-a-m-on-Saturday/stories/201503120040

Mar 3 2015

Pittsburgh’s Downtown Tops Ranking Of Small To Midsized Cities

The Golden Triangle is America’s best downtown among small to midsized cities, according to a report released Monday by a Tennessee-based marketing company.

“Downtown has made tremendous strides in the last five years,” said John Valentine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Downtown Community Development Corp.

Livability.com, owned and operated by Journal Communications Inc., said Pittsburgh’s walkable Downtown features a growing population, numerous entertainment options and low vacancy rates.

Officials from Mayor Bill Peduto’s office and two Downtown advocacy groups said they have not worked with the marketing firm but were pleased to accept its recognition.

Feb 10 2015

Plan To Relocate Pittsburgh Playhouse Downtown Approved; Millcraft Proposes Condos For Saks Site

The stage is set for the relocation of the Pittsburgh Playhouse to Downtown. City planning commission members unanimously approved plans for construction of new playhouse complex on Forbes Avenue Downtown today, clearing the way for its move from Oakland.

Approval came over the objections of preservationists who urged the commission to no avail to save three Forbes Avenue facades that will be relocated and integrated into the new complex under the plans advanced by Point Park University.

With today’s decision, Point Park intends to start construction in March with the demolition of three Forbes Avenue buildings and hopes to have the new complex ready for audiences in July 2017.

The $53 million project will feature a 550-seat main theater, a 200-seat adaptive theater with doors that will open to a plaza for outdoor performances, a 100-seat black box theater and supporting facilities.

Feb 5 2015

Pittsburgh Dog Sledding Video

Jan 30 2015

BNY Mellon Is Putting Iconic Citizens Bank Tower Up For Sale

The Citizens Bank Tower, an iconic building that was one of Pittsburgh’s first skyscrapers and remains among the tallest in its skyline, is up for sale as its owner hopes to capitalize on intense interest for Downtown office space.

Owner Bank of New York Mellon is shopping the building as part of plans to scale back its real estate footprint to cut costs. No price has been set, nor has the bank identified a broker to represent the property, said spokeswoman Lane Cigna.

However, BNY Mellon is eager to take advantage of a hot market in Pittsburgh.

“There is a lot of outside interest in Pittsburgh in terms of the market itself. If you’re an astute real estate investor, you see the building that’s going on,” she said. “It’s really good timing to start to market this.”

Jan 3 2015

Generational Shift: Pittsburgh Milennials Help Reshape The City

When Beth Swanson moved out of her house in Collier last spring, she looked at places from Mount Washington to the South Hills and the Strip District before settling on Downtown.

She couldn’t be happier.

“I can walk anywhere I want to go. I can walk to a restaurant. I can walk to go to a show. There’s so much to do Downtown. For me being in my 20s, it’s just the ideal location,” she said.

Ms. Swanson, 25, has lived in a two-bedroom apartment at Market Square Place since May. She is among the growing legion of millennials and young professionals who are helping to fuel the residential building boom in and near Downtown.

Nov 20 2014

Light Up Night, Games, Shows, Concert To Attract 400,000 To Downtown Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington

Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership expects more than 400,000 people to jam Downtown on Friday night as Light Up Night coincides with a Penguins game, WPIAL championships at Heinz Field and a crowded Petersen Events Center in Oakland likely triggering traffic headaches and a parking shortage.

The Andy Warhol Bridge will close at 9 a.m.; the Roberto Clemente Bridge will close at 10 a.m., both remaining closed until midnight. A host of roads Downtown will close in the afternoon.

“With Light Up Night, we encourage people to use public transportation. People can look at parking on the North Shore and taking T,” said Leigh White, vice president of marketing and communications for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership.

“There’s a lot of different, good options like parking at Station Square. People can come in early and have dinner, and it’s a great day to take in other things around town.”

Nov 20 2014

Pittsburgh Police Beef Up Presence On Streets For City’s Light Up Night

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A wave of gun violence around the city and the possibility of unrest here stemming from events in Ferguson, Mo., have Pittsburgh police ramping up staffing and training in time for Light Up Night on Friday, when hundreds of thousands of people will converge on Downtown.

Pittsburgh police acting Chief Cameron McLay said Wednesday he plans to put patrol officers on 12-hour shifts to handle whatever arises in the next two weeks. He noted the recent escalation in deadly shootings in city neighborhoods and the impending announcement of whether a police officer will be indicted in the shooting death of an unarmed black man in Missouri.

“Quite frankly, it’s an opportunity to get my officers out and more engaged with the public,” McLay said at a news conference at police headquarters in the North Side. “To me, there are no wasted resources when I’m calling extra bodies in early. If everything is going well, it’s a great chance for my officers to celebrate with the community.”

Brandi Fisher, president of the Alliance for Police Accountability, said she spoke with McLay by phone Wednesday about the potential for a local response to a grand jury decision on whether to indict Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown on Aug. 9 in Ferguson.

Oct 24 2014

$2.5 Million Grant To Aid Granite Building Hotel Project In Downtown Pittsburgh

Gov. Tom Corbett delivered a $2.5 million state redevelopment assistance capital grant this morning to jump start Downtown’s latest hotel project — 104 rooms, three bars, and a brasserie-style restaurant at Wood Street and Sixth Avenue.

The $38 million independent boutique hotel will be housed in the Granite Building, a Romanesque-style structure built in 1889 and site of the former German National Bank. A building next door that once housed an Arby’s restaurant also will be part of the development.

The project is being developed by Holly Brubach, a former New York Times style editor who bought the Granite Building in 2006 with the intent of turning it into condominiums.

But that project was done in by the recession, prompting Ms. Brubach to change course.

Oct 17 2014

BNY Mellon Posts Third-Quarter Earnings Of $1.07 Billion

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. posted a third-quarter profit of $1.07 billion, or 93 cents per share, up from $962 million, or 82 cents per share, during the same quarter a year earlier.

Oct 4 2014

With $30.7 Million In State Grants, U.S. Steel Promises To Stay In Pennsylvania

English: The U.S. Steel Tower, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, with the new corporate logo of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

United States Steel Corp. is committed to keeping its headquarters in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Corbett said Friday as he announced the state was providing $30.7 million in grants for the Fortune 500 company to help rehabilitate some of its plants.

The company has not said publicly that it was looking to relocate from Pennsylvania, but there has been speculation about whether it would move to another site in the region when its lease at U.S. Steel Tower, Downtown, expires in 2017.

Corbett and administration officials acknowledged that they acted to secure a commitment from the company to stay in Pennsylvania based on fears — and not any knowledge — that it would exit the state.

“I think they were considering it,” said Corbett. The governor cited Chicago and Indiana, where U.S. Steel has its largest mill, as places where he thought it might relocate.

Aug 12 2014

Gateway Center Owner Confirms Complex Is For Sale

Gateway Center, downtown Pittsburgh

The Downtown office complex that became the face of Pittsburgh’s first Renaissance 60 years ago is for sale.

California-based Hertz Investment Group confirmed on Tuesday that it intends to sell the four buildings and parking garage it owns in Gateway Center at the tip of the Golden Triangle.

The complex consists of four skyscrapers known as Buildings One, Two, Three and Four and the garage on Liberty Avenue near Building Four.

Aug 8 2014

Oxford Pitches New 20-Story Downtown Office Tower

Downtown Pittsburgh as seen from the fountain at Point State Park

Oxford Development Co. is pitching a revised plan for a new office tower Downtown — 20 stories instead of 33 with a soaring 18-foot-high lobby and a host of eco-friendly features.

Dubbed 350 Fifth, the new high-rise would be built on the west side of Smithfield Street between Forbes and Fifth avenues, replacing an existing Oxford-owned building, which would be demolished.

For two years, the developer has been debating whether to renovate the nearly vacant building at 441 Smithfield at a cost of $40 million or build a new 33-story high-rise at the site. But it was unable to secure the anchor tenant needed to make the latter work.

Wanting to leave its own imprint on Downtown’s resurgence, it has now settled on a third option — a striking 20-story glass and aluminum tower envisioned for multiple tenants.

Jul 24 2014

EQT Posts $110.9 Million Profit In Latest Quarter

EQT Corp. turned a profit as it continues to pull more natural gas from the Marcellus shale and move it to markets on the company’s midstream pipeline systems.

The Pittsburgh-based energy company early Thursday announced it posted $110.9 million in net income, or 73 cents per share, during the three months that ended June 30. That’s a 27 percent increase over the $86.9 million profit on 58 cents a share it recorded in the same quarter last year.

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