Pittsburgh Planners Approve 143-room Strip District Hotel
By Mark Belko
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGG, PA, November 23, 2005. The city planning commission yesterday approved construction of a 143-room hotel in the Strip District despite concerns about its impact on pedestrian and automobile traffic.
Members voted unanimously to approve the development plan for the eight-story Hampton Inn and Suites, to be built on Smallman Street across from the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.
In doing so, they mandated a traffic study to be reviewed and approved by the city Planning Department's transportation planner before building permits are issued. That came in response to concerns raised by city transportation planner Sidney Kaikai about the effect on pedestrian and automobile traffic in the area. Given that the proposed hotel entrance and exit would be on Smallman and the proximity of the intersection at 13th Street, he feared there could be problems. One of the issues the traffic study will look at is whether there should be a traffic light at the intersection.
Joseph P. Indovina, architect for the project, said the requirement of a traffic study would not be a problem. He said the Buncher Co., which is building the hotel, already was planning a study to address such issues. Buncher is hoping to market the hotel to fans attending sporting events, business travelers, conventioneers and people coming into town for Cultural District shows. Mr. Indovina said work should begin in February or March, with completion expected by March 2007. He said the response to the proposal so far has been "very, very positive. It's going to be a real amenity for the Strip."
The hotel will feature top-floor suites, an indoor pool, a breakfast room, an exercise area, meeting facilities and on-site parking. There also are plans for a link to the nearby Allegheny River trail.
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Copyright (c) 2005, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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