Thursday, August 13, 2015

UPDATED: The Towering Isthmus: The Towers of Porta Bella


'Tis finished.  ('Cept for some final interior work.)

The view from State and North Francis.

Photo taken by Retiring Guy on Monday, August 10.

The view from State and West Gilman.

Photo taken by Retiring Guy on Tuesday, August 11.

Photo taken by Retiring Guy on Tuesday, March 10, 2015.


Photo taken by Retiring Guy on November 10, 2014. 


Madison's Hub is not the first.

Luxury student housing in Columbia open doors.  (The State, 10/4/2013)
The $40 million project includes: a multi-level swimming pool, 60-person hot tub, fire pit, sand volley ball court and 20-foot outdoor LED TV screen – all situated on a city-owned garage rooftop. And that’s just the beginning. Think private steam rooms and music streaming into your shower.

Luxury wasn't in my vocabulary when I attended college and graduate school.

Here's a view of the only window in a "studio" apartment I rented at 333 Melwood Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA, where each apartment, originally one per floor, had been subdivided into 5 single-occupancy furnished units.


I lived in this roach-infested room during the year I attended the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences at Pitt.    (As the June 2014 Google Street View shows, the even-numbered side of the street has been redeveloped since 1974.   It used to be more of the triple-decker same.)

And here's an exterior view of the alley behind the building.


Isn't it lovely?

Despite the grubby living conditions, I thoroughly enjoyed the year I spent in Pittsburgh.  

Original post, published on July 17, 2014, starts here.


The actual name of the building is The Hub at Madison, and it's rising high above one of Madison's most popular special-event restaurants.  (Maybe this designation should be offered in the past tense, although our last visit there 2 summers ago was highly satisfactory.)  

Part of the site had been home to the University Inn.  (Not to mention 3 of my favorite restaurants: Husnu's, Buraka,  and Kabul.)

The Hub will have 200-300 apartments for lease -- and this range was verified in two sources.  (Can't the developer be more precise?) There will be 20,000 to 30,000 square feet of retail space, perhaps at rates that will prohibit any of my beloved eateries from returning to this block of State Street.  (Good news here, though.  According to its Facebook page, Kabul is opening "very soon" in the State Street space occupied by Gino's for many years.  This announcement was made 2 months ago.)

Other "Towering Isthmus" posts:The Hub, the new hulk in town.  (11/16/2014)
North Bedford Street Project Still in the Proposal Stage.  (11/11/2014)
Say goodbye to 425, 431, and 435 West Johnson Street.  (11/11/2014)
Madison Plan Commission rejects 10-story boutique hotel to take place of Pahl Tire.  (10/25/2014)
UPDATED: The Towering Isthmus: Deconstruction complete at 17, 19, 25 North Webster and 201 East Mifflin streets.  (10/25/2014)
Coming soon: Another chapter in The Towering Isthmus Saga? (9/19/2014)
Blue Velvet.  (9/10/2014)
The New Edgewater Hotel gets ready for its fireworks celebration.  (9/10/2014) 
Among the first wave of towers on the Isthmus.  (9/9/2014)
For those of you who haven't stood at the intersection of West Gilman and State Street in Madison Wisconsin lately.  (9/9/2014)
A tree grows on West Gilman Street.  (9/9/2014) 
Nobly or otherwise, this is no longer the question.  (9/8/2014) 
Deconstruction complete at 17, 19, 25 North Webster and 201 East Mifflin Streets.  (9/7/2014)
The towering isthmus (left to right).  (8/27/2014)
9 more stories to go.  (7/25/2014)
The Towering Isthmus (and the 3 cranes): For folks who can afford the view.  (7/22/2014) 
That Was Then, This is Now: The 400 Block of West Gilman.  (7/18/2014)
The towers of Porta Bella.  (7/18/2014)
New housing rising.  (5/8/2014)
Cranes over Porta Bella.  (4/22/2014)

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