Walnut Capital joins in on bidding
http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...nd-office-space-pitt-paa/stories/201709070061
http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...nd-office-space-pitt-paa/stories/201709070061
OT: Pitt bidding on Athletic Association property
- Thread starter TIGER-PAUL
- Start date
someone has to explain to me the thought process in putting office buildings and moving your employees into the densest area in the city, one with very little if any parking and limited accessibility and a nightmare getting in and out of before and after work..
I could see if it's university or hospital related, wanting to be within proximity but if it's not, why in the WORLD would you want to move your business operations to Oakland.
I could see if it's university or hospital related, wanting to be within proximity but if it's not, why in the WORLD would you want to move your business operations to Oakland.
Walnut Capital would most likely turn this into high end rentals or condos. They have done a great job with Bakery Sq.
Pitt needs this building badly and will overpay for it.
Pitt needs this building badly and will overpay for it.
hmm, well ok, that kind of makes sense then. That sounds like a smart investment, on paper at least.
The thought process is the office space will be rented to research, university or medical related businesses...and they will likely have ZERO problem renting the space. For those of you that are not real urban dwellers, Oakland is a walk in the park compared to really densely populated places. Looking forward to seeing the process play out. Hail to Pitt!
There aren't any commercial properties fronting the Cathedral Lawn property...none along the stretches of Forbes, 5th, Bellefield, and Bigelow. Making the first floor commercial, at least facing the Cathedral, could change the character of this main, central heart of Pitt's campus and would be an unbelievably bad idea, IMO.
It will be immensely disappointing if Pitt doesn't get this building. Facing the loss of control of the institutional nature of this section of campus makes this property a must get for Pitt, IMO. Much like the failure to close Bigleow Blvd is on the last administration, this administration will be remembered for what happens with this property.
It will be immensely disappointing if Pitt doesn't get this building. Facing the loss of control of the institutional nature of this section of campus makes this property a must get for Pitt, IMO. Much like the failure to close Bigleow Blvd is on the last administration, this administration will be remembered for what happens with this property.
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man Paco, this is spot on and very eloquently said. I basically was trying to say the same, lets keep a Pitt-centric feel here but damned if your "loss of control of the institutional nature of this section of campus" doesn't sound a heck of a lot better than me just moaning about hotels and office buildings along 5th.
well said sir.
As I wrote earlier, there's absolutely no way this parcel is more valuable to any other entity than it is to Pitt with its location, and this is likely our only opportunity to get our hands on it. Making this happen qualifies as an absolute must, unless there are conditions placed on the usage of it due to zoning or the bankruptcy we're not aware of.
Some things are 5 and 10 year decisions, others are 100 year + decisions. This is the latter and it should be looked at that way.
Pitt should sell everything to the hospitals ,CMU and the developers and get the hell out of Oakland.
Let it become the medical,AI ,business development hub of the region.
Find land to build a real campus , change its name back to the original and start over.
Kinda like Wake Forest did.
Let it become the medical,AI ,business development hub of the region.
Find land to build a real campus , change its name back to the original and start over.
Kinda like Wake Forest did.
For all its faults (and there are many), Oakland is still a really, really cool and fun neighborhood. I like working downtown, but I would gladly trade it for an opportunity to work on the forbes/fifth Corridor. There are interesting places to eat, its vibrant and has a good vibe, and it is easy to walk.
Ahhh, the ole' Pitt's moving the undergrad school to Johnstown urban myth
The problem with your suggestion is that Pitt, graduate and undergrad schools alike, is highly advantaged by being adjacent UPMC Presby and all of the 6 health sciences schools' associated research facilities. Not to mention all the other amenities and resources in the city. It's clearly a niche that has advantages over a surburban or rural setting.
Pitt, as an urban campus, is actually a lot nicer than many other urban schools. It really is just a couple street closures away from being down right phenomenal.
Dude I just went SMF!!!!!
I get it. Johnston never entered my mind although I do remember being told it would be Greensburg about 30 yrs ago.
But I've seen urban universities which blow Pitt away.
Ok some buildings are nice I guess but much of Oakland is a dump that's just a fact.
I remember people still bringing up the Johnstown rumor back in the 90s. That rumor actually originated in the early 60s when Pitt bought all the land in Richland Township to move UPJ to its current location outside Johnstown.
Parts of Oakland are still a dump, but it is, in general, significantly nicer than it was 20 & 30 years ago. So is the campus. Pitt has outstanding buildings...including buildings that largely get ignored but would be stars on other college campuses. But it lacks continuity of its setting to show them off. Being trifurcated by the street grid which has been closed down at many similar urban institutions results in a lot of jewels without the proper setting, IMO. But I think you really have the makings of a really, really nice core of an urban campus with the Cathedral Lawn, Schenley Plaza, and Soldier & Sailors lawn.
If anyone has ever been to a city with traffic circle parks that have the main thruways rerouted underneath them...like Washington DC....this is exactly what Pitt needs to do to 5th Ave between Bellefield and Bigelow, at least IMO...along with obviously closing down Bigelow and possibly even Bellefield.
And the winner - Walnut Capital ....ugh
http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...new-owner-Walnut-Capital/stories/201709140078
http://www.post-gazette.com/busines...new-owner-Walnut-Capital/stories/201709140078
Big fail on the Gallagher administration. No other way around it.
Honestly I wonder wtf we're doing sometimes. I really hope there are reasons I don't know about why this wasnt a no brainer.
The attorney spearheading the bids is a Pitt Law School grad. The price is listed as "in excess of 10M" which is an odd way to phrase it. Most likely a contingency clause based on inspections. No idea what the cost to bring it up to marketability is. Stay tuned
While as far as building the campus, this is absolute a fail, just like the last administration failed at closing Bigelow and what I believe was a failure to acquire Schenley High (but gets high marks for the University Club, Concordia Club, Bellefield Towers, and Loeffler), and the one prior to that failed on the Syria Mosque.
However, there is no way to know what really happened unless we were in the room with the PAA Club decisions makers. This wasn't Pitt's decision, it was subject to the whim of the PAA, but it should have been a major priority. Whether it was, we'll never know. But we'll almost certainly never see this as a university building in any of our lifetimes so it is time to move on.
The next building up, which has been bandied about as being put on the market from time to time, is the Pittsburgh School District building on Bigelow. This is almost as much of a must get if it ever does go on sale.
Well, to be fair, most cities would bend over backward to assist their flagship university/employer. You think Columbus OH would even think twice if Ohio State asked it to close a Bigelow blvd? We have idiots in local government like Jim Ferlo, Luke Ravenstahl and now Peduto. I'm surprised Pittsburgh does as well as it has with the clowns involved in running it all these years.
The city rides on the coattails of Pro sports, Hospitals, Colleges/Universities and local businesses. The politicians have NO part in this!
Sell the Oakland campus and get out of there.
Congested to the nth degree.
Crowding out happening all the time.
A city Gubimint full of antagonistic aholes...
Borderd by slumlike urban blight.
Start over
This is the 21st century.
Make a new Paradigm.
Posting this over and over won't suddenly make it a good idea.
Like football fields in Oakland or changing colors to electric blue and banana?
You don't like it don't read it
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Well, there are a few really big WTF question marks so far...allowing the hoops program to be blown to smithereens and this stand out, but in other areas I think he's taking Pitt to the next level (and diversifying Pitt's strengths) in some research/tech transfer areas.
It's still early to judge, and no chancellor is ever going to have a perfect track record, but I think he's generally doing a good job so far, particularly where his background/strengths lie.
It is quite possible that Pitt was not able to make the finances work for the PAA. Alternatively, it is also very possible that Pitt submitted a higher bid, but that Walnut Capital was willing to give better concessions to the PAA. Ultimately, it is unlikely that it will ever be known for sure. No doubt a disappointment, but it is also probably not fair to criticize Pitt/Gallagher without better information [which is likely never forthcoming]. Hail to Pitt!
Pitt likely just didn't bid enough. It isn't that that hard to figure out. Not sure how they couldn't make the finances work to purchase a building for $10M that Pitt would own for the next 100+ years. instead, Pitt will be paying to rent office space in a building they could have owned, with some crappy fast food places and cell phone stores right across from the CoL.
I agree. These things are never truly one person's fault and we won't ever know the details, but just like a head coach, ultimately the wins and losses get credited to the man behind the desk. This is a loss for the university, specifically in the areas of physical infrastructure and campus development.
Regardless, in the scheme of things, while space and facilities will always be a premium for an urban university like Pitt, the other things Gallagher needs to accomplish to keep the university healthy, like diversifying research strengths and partnering more effectively with private industry are much more important. Navigating the university into a very uncertain future in higher education is much, much more important in the grand scheme of things than any one piece of physical infrastructure.
Sounds like Walnut is letting those old fossils still have a room or two where they can drink and talk about the glory days. Maybe Pitt wasn't willing to do that?
I'm with @PITTLAW on this one. I can't believe Pitt had a non-competitive bid. Who knows what went on, what Walnut Capital promised, PAA demands Pitt wouldn't agree to, etc.
We have to remember that although the PAA is on campus, it also very close to UPMC facilities which also have needs that are different than the University. There are many forces pulling at the real estate in Oakland. It's not like Gallagher has control over everything. I feel comfortable that Pitt's bid was competitive without making it fiscally irresponsible.
JMO.
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