Alco Proposing Two Office Towers, Parking Garage On North Shore

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

Three years ago, Alco Parking president Merrill Stabile was rebuffed when he offered the city’s Stadium Authority $10 million to buy land on North Shore Drive for a “signature office tower.”

Now Mr. Stabile is back — this time with plans for a new office development and parking garage on the land he owns behind PNC Park on the North Shore.

As conceived, the project would feature two, 11-story glass office towers erected on top of a new five-story, 1,227-space parking garage. In all, as much as 600,000 square feet of Class A office space would be built.

“We think it’s a game-changer,” said Kim Clackson, senior vice president of CBRE, which is marketing the “very dramatic” development that would rise above the ballpark and offer views of the Downtown skyline.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2014/10/09/Alco-proposing-2-office-towers-parking-garage-on-North-Shore/stories/201410090197

Peduto Makes Pitch For New Housing In Pittsburgh

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

Whether it’s Oxford or Ralph Falbo, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto has a message for developers — give me housing and lots of it.

And that applies to the North Shore, too, where you will find lots of offices and bars and even a hotel, but not a single place to call home.

In meetings with developers, Mr. Peduto is making it clear that there is a new administration with a new agenda in town — one that places a premium on housing and neighborhood business districts.

“Retail follows rooftop. That’s what [the late mayor] Bob O’Connor used to say. We don’t need to TIF retail centers. We don’t need to put public dollars behind big box. They’ll come. What we need to do is to build up the population that will shop there and then the retail would never need public subsidy,” he said.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/02/06/Peduto-makes-pitch-for-new-housing/stories/201402060184#ixzz2saXXgnKv

Outside Investors Purchasing More Downtown Pittsburgh Sites

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)

In one sense, Pittsburgh’s resurgence can be measured by its Downtown skyline — not so much by the names atop its skyscrapers but by those on the property deeds to them.

More and more, out-of-town investors are gobbling up prominent real estate Downtown, drawn by a host of factors, from high occupancy rates to the diversity of the local economy.

In fact, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review of high-profile building sales Downtown and on the North Shore since 2011 found that 10 of 13 have gone to out-of-town buyers, including such landmarks as the U.S. Steel Tower and the PPG Place complex.

Another three properties currently under agreement to be sold, including Liberty Center and the accompanying Westin Convention Center Hotel, also are being purchased by outside investors.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/outside-investors-purchasing-more-downtown-pittsburgh-sites-692796/#ixzz2X4r4GKrA