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The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Ron DaParma column: Retail center must look the part
(The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 24--The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership last week presented details of a New York City-based consultant's recommendations for improving retail offerings in the Golden Triangle.
The study produced by Michael Berne of MJB Consulting included a call for making Smithfield Street the major center Downtown, with concentration on the four-block stretch from Forbes to Strawberry Way, for up-scale retailers.
But the effort to make Smithfield a destination spot to lure customers from popular regional shopping centers will require more than recruiting new stores, the partnership's president, Michael Edwards, believes.
Cosmetic improvements to make the street attractive would be a big help, he said, as would improved traffic flow and access.
"The sidewalk has to be consistent and flat, and be high standard," he said. "The light fixtures have to be lighter and more interesting. Maybe there can be banners up there, and flowers placed all along Smithfield. All of the facades should have more glass and be more transparent than they are now, even opening so that the retailing can come out onto the street."
Edwards would like to see something done about the one-way buses-only lane that takes up a portion of the street.
"Right now, there's a travel lane going one way and there is a bus lane only going the other way," he said. "To me, that needs to be somehow reconfigured. Maybe we take the bus stops and make them more spread out so that there won't be large conglomerations of people and so shoppers can actually see product (on display) in the store windows."
Another option might be to limit the one-way bus lane flow to certain hours during the day.
And he said better directional and identification signage would help.
"The street should be signed well, so that when you come out of a parking garage, you know that you are in a district -- that things are related to each other through design and color," he said. "Then you know you've arrived at a commercial street where when you walk there are trees, and its inviting."
Real estate notes:
--Construction projects at UPMC Braddock Hospital include a three-story addition containing an MRI on one level and a two-story entry lobby on another, plus major site/landscape improvements. Another contract involves interior renovations to the patient units on levels 2 West and 4 West of the hospital. Landau Building Co. of McCandless is the contractor; Burt Hill of Butler is the architect.
--Jared, a division of Sterling Jewelers, will open a store at the South Hills Village Shopping Center in Bethel Park in May. Jared will occupy a freestanding, 6,000-square-foot building near the north entrance off Fort Couch Road, said James J. Wilding Jr. of JABE Cos. LLC, who represented Jared.
--The University of Pittsburgh-Bradford's new $7.3 million residence hall will be named the Fesenmyer House in honor of Howard Fesenmyer, retired Zippo Manufacturing Co. executive and executive secretary of the Blaisdell Foundation. The house will accommodate 144 students this fall; the dedication ceremony for the three-story residence is set for Sept. 5.
--Dick Corp., which has completed a restructuring transaction with a new global construction company, DCK Worldwide LLC, has received the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver award from the U.S. Green Building Council for a child development center at Oceanna Naval Air Station, Virginia Beach, Va. This is the first Department of Defense child development center to receive the award.
--Discover Organizing's new location is at 672 Washington Rd., Mt. Lebanon, said Jill Revitsky, president. The space offers a 1,200-square-foot classroom for meetings, presentations and workshops.
Transactions:
--Steak 'n Shake, 650 E. Waterfront Drive, Munhall, has been sold by Steak 'n Shake Operations Inc. for $1.13 million to Brauvin Net Capital LLC of Chicago, according to a deed filed in Allegheny County. James L. Brault, manager, signed for Brauvin; Jeffrey Blade signed for Steak 'n Shake.
Real estate gallery:
Howard Hanna Real Estate Services hired sales associates David Merriman in the commercial office; Kathy Sims, Maria Holzworth and Wendy Weaver, Mt. Lebanon; Lesley Foulk, Franklin Park; Carla Nernberg, Squirrel Hill; Ana Figueredo, North Hills; Seher A. Asghar, Cranberry; Dawn Tocci and Kelly Jerry, Seven Fields; Shannon Blair, Peters; Colleen Hopkins, Karen White, Cheryl Rosenberg and Danielle March, new homes southwest; Doris D. Jones, Vivian Novak and Tara Leigh Milkovich, South Hills; Jessica Lynn Jones and Marisa Anthoney, Beaver County; Wendy S. Cieslinksi and Patricia Keltz, Kiski Valley/Apollo; Michael D. Studt and Debbie Ford, Allegheny Valley; Lisa Massa, Greensburg; Gina Lazzaro and Natalie Marrone, Murrysville, and Jill Kaye, New Homes East.
The Real Estate Gallery is a listing of personnel moves. Submitted items should include contact names and telephone numbers. Photographs should bear the names of the individuals. Items may be mailed to: Real Estate, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, D.L. Clark Building, 503 Martindale St., Pittsburgh, PA 15212 , faxed to 412-320-7921 or e-mailed to business@tribweb.com.
Contributors: Sam Spatter and Laura L. Lenk
Ron DaParma is the Tribune-Review's real estate writer. He can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
To see more of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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