Piatt Place plan grows - PittsburghLIVE.com Millcraft Industries Inc., of Cecil Township, Washington County, also wants to talk to officials of Saks Inc. to determine its interest in moving its Saks Fifth Avenue store Downtown to its expanded development site.If you move -- you move. That isn't a guarantee of growth. Rather that is called "CHURNING." We don't need to churn. We need to grown.
'We also will be contacting Saks to determine if it wants to use part of the site to expand its store,' said Lucas Piatt, vice president of real estate for Millcraft, which in January completed purchase of the Lazarus-Macy's building from Federated Department Stores Inc.
And more over, we don't need to subsidize the churning.
To get Sacks to move from A to B is but a shell game. What then goes to B, an empty building?
Even the downtown residents -- they'll be moving out of other neighborhoods to go downtown. That is displacement.
Developers make money when they bribe folks to move near them -- as their land values and property values can double, triple or more. But, holes elsewhere are created, often.
This shifting is often just to allow the rich, err, the super rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer.
If I had a voice in O'Connor's office I'd say in no uncertain terms that any move to this development area that is just as described in the article -- would insure that the entire project gets $0 as a subsidy. It should NOT be accepted.
We're going to take the high road and improve our city -- with gains, real net gains. We can't toss up some smoke and mirrors and expect real progress to occur. We can't have the city be fooled into such sillyness.
O'Connor shouldn't say, Saks should stay here. He should say that he wants Saks to stay PUT. Big difference.
Even with the Penguin discussions. The Penguins should stay here (in the greater Pittsburgh area) and the arena should stay put. The Pens can build a new areana and move out of the civic arena -- but the old arena is going to stay put and be a home to the circus and Disney on Ice and Carrick High School Graduations.
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Piatt Place plan grows
By Sam Spatter
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, April 8, 2006
The developer of Piatt Place, the $49 million mixed-use project slated for the former Lazarus-Macy's department store building Downtown, plans to purchase, raze and expand into the adjacent Revco building on Fifth Avenue.
Millcraft Industries Inc., of Cecil Township, Washington County, also wants to talk to officials of Saks Inc. to determine its interest in moving its Saks Fifth Avenue store Downtown to its expanded development site.
"We also will be contacting Saks to determine if it wants to use part of the site to expand its store," said Lucas Piatt, vice president of real estate for Millcraft, which in January completed purchase of the Lazarus-Macy's building from Federated Department Stores Inc.
As reported, Saks' lease at its Downtown store, at the corner of Smithfield Street and Oliver Avenue, is due to expire in 2011, according to Herb Burger, former chairman of the Pittsburgh Task Force, a private group that under the administration of former Mayor Tom Murphy had been spearheading efforts to reinvigorate the Fifth-Forbes corridor.
Mayor Bob O'Connor has expressed a desire to keep upscale retailer Saks Downtown.
"They (Saks) are good neighbors and I want to make sure, as mayor, they stay here," O'Connor previously told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
The Revco building is one of close to 20 properties acquired in recent years by the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority along and around Fifth and Forbes avenues with the idea to attract a master developer for the corridor.
Millcraft, which has had an option on the Revco site, has recently expressed interest in expanding its role to other properties beyond Piatt Place, a project that is to include 50,000 square feet of first-floor retail space that could include a specialty grocer, restaurant or other merchants, 47 luxury condos and rooftop town homes and 180,000 square feet of class "A" office space.
It is scheduled to present its plans for the Fifth-Forbes corridor to O'Connor on April 18, according to Piatt. The concepts the firm is considering for Downtown include a movie theater and a 1,000-seat venue near Market Square for live music.
Millcraft's will be one of at least three proposals for the area to be presented within the next two weeks, said Dick Skrinjar, spokesman for the mayor.
Others interested in Fifth-Forbes include local developer Ralph Falbo of Ralph Falbo Inc. and Madison Marquette, a Washington, D.C.-based firm recruited by the Pittsburgh Task Force.
Falbo said he has not scheduled a meeting with the mayor to present his plan, but hopes to do so soon.
"I would be interested in acquiring most, if not all, of the buildings owned by the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority)," Falbo said.
While declining to reveal his complete project plans, Falbo in the past has said those plans would include a grocery store in the former G.C. Murphy building, some retail, and perhaps up to 200 housing units offering a mixture of condominiums and apartments.
Madison Marquette recently met with O'Connor and voiced continued interest in Downtown. However, the company has declined comment on its plans.
Sam Spatter can be reached at sspatter@tribweb.com.
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