Paco, question for you on oakland real estate

[Swervin27]

Paco, you really know your stuff regarding land access and such. Do you know if the university has ever looked into expanding in the land behind the ball parks/trees/OC lot? On the other side of Centre Avenue? I know it's not the most beautiful of neighborhoods down there, driving by it comes off as quite "run down" and cant be that hard to acquire that land? I am not even talking about football stadiums, well ok I kind of am but I mean for anything, athletic facilities or even university / research / academic buildings..

If you even do a mapquest / blimp search, there is a lot of land right by Centre and Wandless street, or any of that area back there.. Has the university ever actively looked into going across Centre that way?

Topography and nature seem to have built a natural border there it seems, kind of a cut off point or university border and there is some wasted land from Bigelow to Centre.. Wonder if anything could be done to spruce it up a bit, maybe revitalize this land a bit..

 

[HailtoPitt]

The URA owns most of that vacant land.

 

[Swervin27]

The URA owns most of that vacant land.

Thanks HTP. I don't know too much about this Urban Redevelopmental whatever. What do they do with it? Is this a program that is pretty cutting edge with getting stuff done or are they just gonna sit on it for a couple decades?

 

[HailtoPitt]

Thanks HTP. I don't know too much about this Urban Redevelopmental whatever. What do they do with it? Is this a program that is pretty cutting edge with getting stuff done or are they just gonna sit on it for a couple decades?

They prepare sites for mixed use developments to increase the tax base and create jobs. , so I wouldn't count on that land being used for anything that helps Pitt.

 

[Swervin27]

They prepare sites for mixed use developments to increase the tax base and create jobs. , so I wouldn't count on that land being used for anything that helps Pitt.

fair enough. Thanks for the info. All these gems im finding, these great plots of lands, they are already spoken for..

 

[Piranha]

Why couldn't Pitt work with URA to improve the area? Businesses and housing come to mind.

 

[upitt98]

Why couldn't Pitt work with URA to improve the area? Businesses and housing come to mind.

The University is tax exempt, so expanding the University footprint, in some regard, reduces tax rolls and contrary to the URA's mission. There is certainly a way to triangulate it with the URA, the University and public developers to develop the properties where all three benefit. This is one of the areas where the Chancellor could take the University to another level by connecting it to commerce and the business community more closely.

 

[PittMed]

My thoughts: demolish oc lot, trees hall, and cost center. Build a multi purpose stadium/Acquatic facility. Lots of room for more parking structures and egress points. Pitt owns this land too.

 

[CrazyPaco]

Yes, I can confirm that those big empty waste of plots across Centre are largely under the URA. And yes, that makes them difficult to acquire.

I will say this, if I was Pitt, I'd be looking at buying up what property they could over there, but buying up anything for the university is pretty difficult.

Bulldozing Trees & Cost is pretty much a non-starter. Cost actually sits on top of a parking garage which is run by UPMC as a primary location for med center parking (although Pitt owns the land). Trees may be replaced someday with a new facility, but not for a long time. There are current plans to renovate both Trees Pool and the Cost Center. Plus Trees also sits adjacent to the Carrillo Street Steam Plant which provides steam to most of the upper campus and UPMC (and is jointly owned by both). You may not even have noticed that as it is designed to blend into rear of Trees Hall.

 

[Z #2]

My thoughts: demolish oc lot, trees hall, and cost center. Build a multi purpose stadium/Acquatic facility. Lots of room for more parking structures and egress points. Pitt owns this land too.

Excellent idea.

 

[raleighpanther]

Excellent idea.

Except Paco just explained why its not a good idea.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Except Paco just explained why its not a good idea.

Bah! Facts! Who needs them?!?

 

[mdpitt]

My thoughts: demolish oc lot, trees hall, and cost center. Build a multi purpose stadium/Acquatic facility. Lots of room for more parking structures and egress points. Pitt owns this land too.

This is the obvious choice but it would have to be done in a massive, swift way to minimize downtime for sports.

 

[Panthergrowl13]

Pitt had a hard time getting the land for the new baseball,soccer,softball fields.

Community did not want Pitt to get the land.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

 

[Farnox]

It never ceases to amaze me that for all the benefit that the University provides for the City of Pittsburgh, Pitt has to fight all these roadblocks to improve it facilities.

 

[Pghfan]

Pitt had a hard time getting the land for the new baseball,soccer,softball fields.

Community did not want Pitt to get the land.

HAIL TO PITT!!!!

What community? The people that live in the section 8 housing over the hill? Not to be rude but they don't get a say. You live in section 8 housing, you don't get a vote.

 

[VincePITT]

What's up with the space where Pitt use to play baseball and softball? It's just down the street from the Petersen Sports Complex.

 

[CrazyPaco]

What's up with the space where Pitt use to play baseball and softball? It's just down the street from the Petersen Sports Complex.

That is the site of the former Trees baseball and softball field and current intramural turf fields behind the Cost Center. That is currently slated to have a inflatable bubble put over it for the band to practice in and to make the intramural fields be more useful throughout the year. That has also been the most frequently targeted site of a new T&F complex.

 

[PHATWOOD]

Pitt had to fight tooth and nail to get the final go ahead on the former Oak Hill property, which is now the Petersen Sports Complex.

Go ask the people that built Consol Energy Center - those people living in section 8 don't typically have a voice - but the people in their communities who like to make a lot of money on their behalf typically have one hell of a voice.

 

[pitt-girl]

What community? The people that live in the section 8 housing over the hill? Not to be rude but they don't get a say. You live in section 8 housing, you don't get a vote.

Community is a polite way to say politicians in this context. For whatever reason, the city of Pittsburgh fights Pitt/UPMC tooth and nail on everything. It is truly mystifying.

 

[PittMed]

Yes, I can confirm that those big empty waste of plots across Centre are largely under the URA. And yes, that makes them difficult to acquire.

I will say this, if I was Pitt, I'd be looking at buying up what property they could over there, but buying up anything for the university is pretty difficult.

Bulldozing Trees & Cost is pretty much a non-starter. Cost actually sits on top of a parking garage which is run by UPMC as a primary location for med center parking (although Pitt owns the land). Trees may be replaced someday with a new facility, but not for a long time. There are current plans to renovate both Trees Pool and the Cost Center. Plus Trees also sits adjacent to the Carrillo Street Steam Plant which provides steam to most of the upper campus and UPMC (and is jointly owned by both). You may not even have noticed that as it is designed to blend into rear of Trees Hall.

Thank you. Considering other options, while it would be difficult to relocate a parking garage it is not a really big deal. Cost center is really a frame of a building and a multipurpose facility would neccessitate another one being built anyway. Heck build the new garages under the new facility.

The steam plant is always brought up but its footprint in negligible. The stadium could abut against it or be on the other side of the street (OC lot-trees).

I'm not saying it's probable or wise but the location IS possible considering other options. It would require a serious investment. It would be a means to increase the profile of all our Olympic sports.

Tearing down the OC lot, cost center, and a few practice fields is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Saboteur]

Yes, I can confirm that those big empty waste of plots across Centre are largely under the URA. And yes, that makes them difficult to acquire.

I will say this, if I was Pitt, I'd be looking at buying up what property they could over there, but buying up anything for the university is pretty difficult.

Bulldozing Trees & Cost is pretty much a non-starter. Cost actually sits on top of a parking garage which is run by UPMC as a primary location for med center parking (although Pitt owns the land). Trees may be replaced someday with a new facility, but not for a long time. There are current plans to renovate both Trees Pool and the Cost Center. Plus Trees also sits adjacent to the Carrillo Street Steam Plant which provides steam to most of the upper campus and UPMC (and is jointly owned by both). You may not even have noticed that as it is designed to blend into rear of Trees Hall.

The way around that is to create for profit entities owned by non profit Pitt (100% legal), have that entity buy and build and lease back to Pitt. That satisfies a bunch of critics because it puts property on the tax rolls. All this assumes Pitt has the cash.

 

[CaptainMurphy]

Tearing down the OC lot, cost center, and a few practice fields is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

The land on top of the hill is poorly utilized (buildings aren't tall enough and there is too much surface parking). If they were to really think big down the road, why not level everything up there, including Trees, the field house, OC Lot, Cost Center, etc...? Build a huge facility that spans Alequippa St. A massive facility could easily include everything those facilities contain, allow for growth, and make use of what precious space we have. Heck, they could build track facilities on top of the structure if needed.

 

[NTOP]

The way around that is to create for profit entities owned by non profit Pitt (100% legal), have that entity buy and build and lease back to Pitt. That satisfies a bunch of critics because it puts property on the tax rolls. All this assumes Pitt has the cash.

Pitt can't use the endowment like that. And it's still not a workable site. No infrastructure to support it. If you want a FB stadium, you can't just stuff a garage beneath it.

 

[Swervin27]

The land on top of the hill is poorly utilized (buildings aren't tall enough and there is too much surface parking). If they were to really think big down the road, why not level everything up there, including Trees, the field house, OC Lot, Cost Center, etc...? Build a huge facility that spans Alequippa St. A massive facility could easily include everything those facilities contain, allow for growth, and make use of what precious space we have. Heck, they could build track facilities on top of the structure if needed.

think it's too late to start over. It's tight space no doubt.. Cost center and the lot takes up a lot of space.. think the city or whoever is in charge of such ideas could have found a better space for the VA. 99k square feet of hospital in the middle of a college campus makes things a little more crowded than it needed to be..

 

[Saboteur]

Pitt can't use the endowment like that. And it's still not a workable site. No infrastructure to support it. If you want a FB stadium, you can't just stuff a garage beneath it.

I wasn't suggesting endowed funds be used.

 

[NTOP]

I wasn't suggesting endowed funds be used.

Well, the supposed fund-raising to keep Pitt Stadium was a failure....not for lack of noise, just more people accepted it as an OK solution than tried to hang on to the past. (I was one of the latter group, but realized it was futile.)

 

[Saboteur]

Oakland is

Well, the supposed fund-raising to keep Pitt Stadium was a failure....not for lack of noise, just more people accepted it as an OK solution than tried to hang on to the past. (I was one of the latter group, but realized it was futile.)

Some of the local residents recently complained that the demolition of an Arbys restaurant to make way for the apartment complex was depriving them of dining options!!! You can't make this stuff up.
The trend nationwide and I hope with Pitt/Oakland is for them to become destination neighborhoods and add quality housing/dining/recreation options. There is a significant segment of the population who want to downsize and walk to the venues (aka museums) of their choice.
Oakland is perfect for that and if it happens, then other amenities like grocery stores will follow.
What was the name of the steakhouse in Oakland?

 

[giveitarest]

Black Angus My grandfather took me there as kid when heading to Forbes Field. It was still around in late 80s I think

 

[Saboteur]

Black Angus My grandfather took me there as kid when heading to Forbes Field. It was still around in late 80s I think

Thank you!!!! That was it.

 

[HailtoPitt]

Well, the supposed fund-raising to keep Pitt Stadium was a failure....not for lack of noise, just more people accepted it as an OK solution than tried to hang on to the past. (I was one of the latter group, but realized it was futile.)

What fundraising?

 

[BuffetParrothead]

It never ceases to amaze me that for all the benefit that the University provides for the City of Pittsburgh, Pitt has to fight all these roadblocks to improve it facilities.

I don't live in Pittsburgh but when I hear how hard PITT has to fight to do good things with the surrounding land I'm amazed.
Other than the hospitals, Steeler, Pens, Pirates, PITT and the other U's bring a lot of revenue and life to the city.

 

[NTOP]

Oakland is

Some of the local residents recently complained that the demolition of an Arbys restaurant to make way for the apartment complex was depriving them of dining options!!! You can't make this stuff up.
The trend nationwide and I hope with Pitt/Oakland is for them to become destination neighborhoods and add quality housing/dining/recreation options. There is a significant segment of the population who want to downsize and walk to the venues (aka museums) of their choice.
Oakland is perfect for that and if it happens, then other amenities like grocery stores will follow.
What was the name of the steakhouse in Oakland?

The Black Angus??? Went there while dating my next-to-last wife. She was an RA in Lothrop Hall. It was OK, the only other "nice" spot in Oakland then was the Park Schenley.

 

[Saboteur]

The Black Angus??? Went there while dating my next-to-last wife. She was an RA in Lothrop Hall. It was OK, the only other "nice" spot in Oakland then was the Park Schenley.

Maybe we can get it back. I think it's Chinese place now.

 

[QuitCallingMeWanny]

What fundraising?

Ghost of Pitt 40 and a few minions held a fundraiser upstairs at the O....I think they cleared $25

 

[pitt-girl]

I don't live in Pittsburgh but when I hear how hard PITT has to fight to do good things with the surrounding land I'm amazed.
Other than the hospitals, Steeler, Pens, Pirates, PITT and the other U's bring a lot of revenue and life to the city.

It is a constant source of amazement.

 

[BuffetParrothead]

Lets say PITT acquires land surrounding the U.
-they have to develop the area for a purpose so they creat a lot of construction jobs which last until the construction winds up
-next they create permanen internal jobs for people who work in and maintain the new facilities and permanent 3rd party contractor jobs
- there's always the possibility of spin off businesses related to the U acitivity

Cities don't get it because they're not run by business people. Many would rather use the land for low or no income housing which doesn't do much for a city.

 

[HailtoPitt]

It is a constant source of amazement.

And yet, Pitt continues to make the attempts, just like the futile attempts to get PSU on the schedule permanently.

 

[pitt-girl]

And yet, Pitt continues to make the attempts, just like the futile attempts to get PSU on the schedule permanently.

What does that have to do with how the City of Pittsburgh supports Pitt and UPMC??????

 

[HailtoPitt]

What does that have to do with how the City of Pittsburgh supports Pitt and UPMC??????

It means neither is going to change, so we shouldn't waste our time worrying about it, because the only time anything is likely to happen is when both entities have something to gain from the arrangement.