Robot Repair Shop In Downtown Pittsburgh???

"Fraley's Robot Repair Shop" at 210 6th Ave

If you do a double-take (or triple-, quadruple-take) while passing by 210 6th Ave in Downtown's Cultural District ..... You're not alone.  Right there in the window of Fraley's Robot Repair Shop is an anxious-looking robot apparently looking for a way out.  But who in the world is repairing robots?  Who even has any robots to repair?

The truth is that robots are not actually being meticulously restored to mint condition in our tech-savy city.   And Fraley's is not a repair shop of any kind, either.  Rather, it is part of "Project Pop-Up: Downtown", a public art installation created by Toby Atticus Fraley, artist from Washington, Pa.  The installation, which was launched publicly during November’s 51st Annual Light Up Night, gives downtown passers-by a chance to glimpse into a future wherein robot ownership – and  the bothersome repairs that accompany it – may be quite commonplace.

"Project Pop-Up: Downtown" is a partnership between the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Department of City Planning and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) which aims to inject new life into abandoned downtown Pittsburgh storefronts, playing off of the many other positive downtown developments already underway. More than 90 entrepreneurs from throughout the nation submitted grant proposals in hopes of making their “pop-up” dreams a reality in Pittsburgh. These applicants were whittled down to 12 recipients – seven of which launched their projects in November.

Learn more about "Project Pop-Up: Downtown" and the other six “pop-ups” by clicking on the link below.

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate
Project Pop-up: Downtown

Summer 2012 Groundbreaking For Gardens At Market Square

Artist's rendition of Gardens At Market Square

Washington County developer, Millcraft Industries, plans to break ground on a $76.6 million office and hotel project by midsummer, marking its fourth major redevelopment Downtown.  Millcraft's chief operating officer says the company hopes to have the Gardens at Market Square completed in the first quarter of 2014. The project, located on the south end of Forbes Avenue between Wood Street and Market Square, will feature 95,000 square feet of office space, a 175-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel, 23,000 square feet of retail space, and a 325-space parking garage.

Office and retail portions will hopefully open by December 2013 and the hotel by March 2014.  Two unnamed tenants have already signed up to take half the office space.  Millcraft also will be looking for "destination" type retail, as well as entertainment and restaurants, to fill the retail space.

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate
Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership

Fountain At The Point To Be Repaired

Fountain at The Point

Pittsburgh's iconic fountain at The Point draws its water from a fourth "underground" river which runs beneath the Ohio River.  The fountain, which opened in 1974, has worked only sporadically since 2009 because of mechanical problems and general disrepair. It is scheduled for complete rehabilitation starting in fall and ending sometime in 2012.

The fountain stopped running last July when officials decided it needed extensive repairs and added it as the fourth phase of a $42 million, five-year park renovation that is mostly state-funded, with donations from Riverlife specifically for the fountain.  Some of the original design elements of the 1970s were never completed because of lack of money at the time.  The current restoration will revive some of those elements, including a raised plaza that would make it easier for people to sit along the fountain's granite edges.  Additions will include a waterfall inside the fountain base and energy-efficient lighting to permit nighttime illumination in colors.

Downtown

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Pittsburgh's Underground River

PNC To Build Green Downtown Skyscraper

PNC purchased three lots from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, the last in a series of properties needed to build a 40-story, $400 million office tower that will incorporate the latest green building principles.  PNC paid $1.1 million for the three lots and the project is being hailed as evidence of Pittsburgh's progress in the face of national economic woes.

Occupying the three lots now are worn buildings that URA executive director Rob Stephany called some of Downtown's "biggest liabilities." Construction is scheduled to begin next year and be completed by mid-2015. The building will occupy a block on Wood Street in the Fifth and Forbes Avenue corridor and create much-desired temporary and permanent jobs.



Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate
PNC Bank

Two Locals Nominated For Food & Wine's "The People's Best New Chef" Award

Sonja Finn, ower/chef of Dinette in East Liberty

 Two local chefs have been nominated for Food & Wine Magazine's "The People's Best New Chef" award:  Sonja Finn, 31, chef/owner of Dinette in East Liberty, and Justin Severino, executive chef of Elements Contemporary Cuisine, Downtown.

Trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., Ms. Finn serves thin-crust pizzas, salads, soups and hearty small plates crafted from largely local ingredients. Ms. Finn, whose experience includes working at San Francisco's legendary Zuni Cafe, was a semi-finalist for the James Beard "Rising Star Chef" in 2009 and 2010. A Pittsburgh native, she began as a prep cook at age 18 for Toni Pais at Baum Vivant.

Chef Severino, 32, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio, trained at the Pennsylvania Culinary School (now Le Cordon Bleu) and previously worked at Eleven in the Strip District. There he got to exercise his butchery and charcuterie chops learned in California, at famed farm-to-table restaurant Manresa as well as at his own charcuterie business, where he used only local meats.

Nominees "are all talented innovators, who have run their kitchens for five or fewer years."  The winner of this award will be determined by popular vote. Whereas Food & Wine's editors will continue to select the magazine's Best New Chef Award.

For this award the magazine, "with the help of its trusted sources, chefs and food insiders," compiled a list of 100 nominees, 10 each from 10 regions across the United States.

Anyone may vote, but only once for each region. The chef who receives the most votes overall wins. To vote go to eatocracy.com/foodandwine. The People's award will be announced on March 2.

Dinette

Downtown Pittsburgh

Elements Contemporary Cuisine

Food & Wine Magazine

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Consol Energy Center Wins Award

Consol Energy Center

Since its completion, there has been a great buzz about Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center.  Early predictions and expectations came true on Saturday at the 22nd annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards in Los Angeles when the Center was named the nation's Best New Major Concert Venue for 2010.

Along with being the new home to the Penguins, Consol has played host to the likes of Paul McCartney, Lady Gaga, Rush and the Eagles since opening in August. It also welcomed Roger Waters' "The Wall" tour, which was named Major Tour of the Year and Most Creative Stage Production.

Huge ticket sales played a factor in winning the award.  If tickets weren't selling, the promoters would not have voted for the venue. The nominations were made by a cross section of more than 150 industry professionals and voting was done online by subscribers of Pollstar, the industry's leading trade publication. Consol's competition in the major venue category were the 1STBank Center, near Denver; Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.; and Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn.

Consol Energy Center

Pollstar Concert Industry Awards

Pittsburgh Penquins

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

K&L Gates In Brussels

Last year, Pittsburgh's K&L Gates started off 2010 with new offices in Tokyo and Moscow.  In the previous year, 2009, the firm entered the Dubai and Singapore markets.  This year, the firm has looked to the hub of the European Union, announcing last week it had opened an office in Brussels, Belgium. This makes the 37th office for K&L Gates. The new office will be led by competition and corporate partners Philip Torbol and Patrice Corbiau.

Mr. Torbol concentrates his practice on EU competition law, state aid and government strategies. He advises European, U.S. and Asian clients on matters such as cartel investigations, merger control and anti-competitive conduct.  Mr. Corbiau advises Belgian and multinational corporations on a range of corporate and commercial transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, distribution and licensing in EU jurisdictions and dispute resolution.

K&L Gates
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

National Veterans Wheelchair Games Coming To Pittsburgh

Registration is now open for the largest annual wheelchair sports event in the world, which will be held in Pittsburgh this summer. More than 500 veterans from the United States, Puerto Rico and Great Britain are expected to participate in the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, which will be held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and other locations Aug. 1-6.

The games are sponsored jointly by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. They are open to all U.S. military veterans who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, neurological conditions, amputations or other mobility impairments.  There also will be a "Kids Day at the Games" on Aug. 5 for children with disabilities.

To compete, register on the Games' website or call Chad Evans, athlete recruitment chairman, at 412-954-4741. Application deadline is April 15. If you'd like to sign up your child for the Kids Day activities, call Kyra Kotec at 412-822-3200. Thousands of volunteers are needed; for more information, contact Richard Kiehn at 412-954-4582.


National Veterans Wheelchair Games
Department of Veterans Affairs
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

A Changing Downtown

Downtown Along The Mon

A new Downtown Partnership study shows very positive changes for Downtown ....

-  Peak age for Downtown Residents is 25 - 29.
-  A third of Downtown residents have incomes of $100,000 or more.
-  Two thirds of Downtown workers have jobs in the service or financial sectors.
-  Students comprise 13% of residents, up from 4% in 2003.
-  53% of Downtown commuters use public transportation, up from 48% in 2003.
-  The average commute to Downtown is 13 miles which is about 38 minutes.
-  4 in 10 commuters are 35 years old or younger.
-  More people are coming Downtown on weekends just to exercise.
-  Office space occupancy is 90%, the highest in 20 years.
-  Hotel occupancy is 65%, higher than the national average.
-  Average household size is 1.5 people

Read more ....
Downtown Partnership Website ...
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate ....

Mama Fu's Coming To Pittsburgh

Ahi Tuna Salad

Two Mama Fu's Asian House restaurants are planned to open in the Pittsburgh area with six more possible in the next few years.  According to franchise owner Mark Shaw, the first two restaurants will open early next year.  Possible locations for all eight will be Downtown Pittsburgh, Squirrel Hill, South Side, Monroeville, Mt Lebanon & Cranberry.  Read More ....

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