Brace yourself, Butler Street
Adeveloper of the former Sears Warehouse in Upper Lawrenceville will ask the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment on Thursday for variances for 526 more surface parking spaces than are allowed for the site.
At 320,000 square feet, the property at 27 51st St. is the scale at which Spear Street Capital undertakes projects in the United States, Canada and Europe. The developer’s plans include downsizing the space to 260,000 square feet, said Laura Dunn, Spear Street’s senior vice president. Its targeted tenant would be in the field of autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence or robotics.
The traffic nightmare that already visits Butler Street much of the day is the only argument some people need to oppose having 500plus more cars jockeying to join the bottleneck at rush hours.
But there’s food for thought in some of the details.
The paved surface that exists today has capacity for hundreds more than 526 cars. If Spear Street were to build a parking garage, 525 cars would be permitted to be in it, but Ms. Dunn said her company does not want to build a parking tower. It would rather use the surface that’s already there, thus the need for variances.
Spear Street would plant 150 trees, add a 35,000 square-foot courtyard, a park-like riverfront setting with a segment of bicycle trail for future segments to link to, and amenities including bike storage, showers and lockers.
A few hundred employees will have to use transit or bicycles or walk, because Ms. Dunn said the site is expected to accommodate about 800 employees.
Scott Bricker, executive director of Bike Pittsburgh, said he has backed off from his “hell no” first reaction.
“They are putting in bike parking and a segment of trail, and they should be commended for that,” he said, “but I really hope at some point we are taking less of a piecemeal approach and having a broader conversation about parking. I still think there are a lot of opportunities to attract people by other modes of transportation besides cars.”
For more than 15 years, urban advocates of transit and bicycle commutes nationally have called
for an end to outdated minimum parking requirements, which have guided zoning bodies for decades. Pittsburgh has eliminated minimums in Downtown. Buffalo, N.Y., recently did away with minimums citywide.
This move gives developers flexibility in tight spaces, promotes transit and bicycle use, and can save historic buildings that might otherwise be razed for parking.
Spear Street’s proposal is one among a slew that are synergistic with a culture still wedded to cars. It’s not up to developers to take the lead in reversing this; it’s up to policymakers.
Pittsburgh has a great plan in place to reduce the need for cars from Downtown to Highland Park, but it has hit speed bumps in getting implemented.
More than a decade ago, the Allegheny River Green Boulevard plan was proposed as a 6.45-mile “green spine” that would connect the river neighborhoods with lanes for bikes, pedestrians and passenger rail.
In 2010, the federal government devoted $1.5 million to the plan, which originated with the Urban Redevelopment Authority and Riverlife. It took into account real estate considerations, open space and transportation. The plan was completed in 2013.
It has depended on cooperation from the Allegheny Valley Railroad for use of its right of way, which it has not gotten.
Riverlife’s CEO Matthew Galluzzo said many developers actually have been following the plan on their own. Spear Street could be seen as one of those with its riverfront open space and bike trail segment. The Foundry at 41st Street gave the riverfront portion of its residential and commercial property to open space as well.
“Most developers today understand the value of providing amenities that include open space, trail connections, bike tire changing facilities, bike storage, public restrooms,” Mr. Galluzzo said. “From Riverlife’s perspective, progress is incremental. We will keep pushing for it.”
Jason Roth, an East Liberty resident who gets around mostly by bicycle, said Port Authority buses 87, 91 and 93 deliver riders to within a fairly close walk or bike ride from Spear Street’s site. Depending on points of origin, people may need to take two buses, he said, “but that doesn’t make the argument for 500 more cars every day.”
Because we let them, cars still win most of the arguments.
We can only guess how effective a completed Green Boulevard, with passenger rail service, would be today in eliminating the need for hundreds of cars to and from a Spear Street-scale development. As it is, the options in this case may be more cars or nothing.
Without the zoning board’s approval, Ms. Dunn said, “that may call into question our ability to do this project.”