From the Pittsburgh Business Times
:http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2013/07/11/gardens-indigo-hotel-
moving-forward.html
Jul 11, 2013, 5:08pm EDT
Gardens, Indigo Hotel moving forward
Tim SchooleyReporter- Pittsburgh Business TimesEmail | Twitter | Google+ | Facebook
Two major projects signaled they’re ready to go at Thursday’s board meeting of the UrbanRedevelopment Authority.
The Gardens, Millcraft Investment’s mixed-use development just off Market Square that was firstproposed in 2006, received a unanimous vote by the board to sell the now open land for theproject to the company for an appraised value of $2.375 million. The Gardens includes a 198-room Hilton Garden Inn, along with a 125,000-square-foot office building.
In East Liberty, the company affiliated with Washington, D.C.-based developer Nigel Parkinson,will receive a Pittsburgh Development Fund loan for $1.7 million along with $75,000 in street-face funds to push forward with a new Indigo Hotel, also based on a unanimous vote by theURA board. The hotel will have 135 rooms and anchor a larger Indigo Square on Broad Street.
Both projects have been in the works long enough to have been either delayed or sideswiped bythe Great Recession only to now reach the final stage of starting construction.
In Millcraft’s case, the Gardens project comes with an escalating price tag.
“The project is now approaching $100 million, much to Millcraft’s dismay,” said RobertRubinstein, acting director of the URA. “But it’s still a great project.”
Brian Walker, CFO of Millcraft, recalled when the project’s budget was less than $80 million andnoted the development now has 11 layers of financing, including tax-increment financing andother support from the city.
While Turner Construction is expected to serve as both the construction firm to build theGardens and an anchoring office tenant for it, Walker didn’t indicate any other committed officetenants.
“We’re as excited as can be to see it popping out of the ground,” said Walker, who estimated alate August groundbreaking and an expected opening next summer.
Tom Link, a URA staff member, emphasized the back-from-the-dead nature of the Indigo Hotelproject in introducing it by saying: “If you’re experiencing some deja vu, you’re not crazy.”
The partners in the Indigo project, which include hotel operator IHG and Parkinson, have longsought support from the city in order to establish a new public plaza in front of the hotel.
“It will be a community plaza,” Parkinson said. “Indigo is community driven.”
Parkinson said he was able to finalize financing through a bank in his hometown, making aveiled jab at his struggles to get financing from banks in Pittsburgh.
“Our bank said Pittsburgh is up-and-coming,” he said.
State Sen. Jim Ferlo, a URA board member, noted the Indigo Hotel will be built near the site ofanother new hotel in East Liberty. The Ace Hotel is slated for the former YMCA building a fewblocks away.
“I have some concern about a competitive boutique hotel,” said Ferlo, who nonethelesssupported the project with the expectation it would be the only one in the city and wouldoperate with a reservation system that would limit too much overlap.
Parkinson said the Indigo is expected to open next year.
Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, construction, hospitality, arts andentertainment, and government. Contact him at [email protected] or 412-208-3826.
'Plain' East Liberty hotel doesn't impressPittsburgh city plannersApril 3, 2013 12:00 AM
By Mark Belko Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Plans for a 137-room boutique hotel in East Liberty hit a bit of turbulence before the cityplanning commission Tuesday.
At the same meeting, members got their first glimpse of a proposal for another big developmentin the East End neighborhood -- a 360-unit apartment complex built around a $52 million transitcenter.
The commission delayed a final vote on plans by Governor's Hotel Co. LP to build a Hotel Indigoafter several members expressed concern about the side of the building facing North HighlandAvenue.
"This has a real plain look to me, something you would see driving down the highway,"commission chairwoman Wrenna Watson said.
Other members said the side facing Highland looked too much like an office building or did nothave a "presence" at street level in an area booming with redevelopment. They also wanted to seemore detail regarding landscaping and lighting at the hotel, to be built at the corner of NorthHighland and Broad Street.
"You're setting the tone for the next 20 years with this building," member Page Thomas said.
Felix A. Cardella III, president of TKA Architects, said afterward he should be able to address theconcerns raised by the commission before it meets again in two weeks.
Governor's Hotel Co. LP hopes to break ground this spring and have the hotel open about a yearfrom now. The developer will utilize three existing buildings, including the former Governor'sHotel, and a new five-story addition.
The hotel will feature oversized beds, hardwood-style floors with area rugs and spa-styleshowers. It will be managed by InterContinental Hospitality Group. Rates are expected to rangefrom $140 to $150 a night.
A short distance away, Mosites Co. is proposing a 360-unit apartment complex on a four-acreparcel of land adjacent to the East Busway. The $52 million transit center, which will serve as thehub for nearly 1,000 bus arrivals and departures each day, will feature new bus shelters, a newpedestrian bridge and a bicycle depot.
The development also will include 42,000 square feet of retail space, a central courtyard with aswimming pool, a rooftop garden, and parking for 540 vehicles. Mosites already has landed aclothing store to anchor part of the retail space.
Steve Mosites, president of Mosites Co., said bids should go out on the transit center, the parkingand other site infrastructure this summer. Mosites expects to get started on the apartments nextyear, with the first ready for occupancy in spring 2015.
In other action, the commission continued its hearing on L.W. Molnar Associates' proposedOakland Portal development of offices and a hotel on a 12-acre site between Fifth and Forbesavenues at Robinson Street until April 16.