Penguins, Developer Buy Land To Build A Hotel Next To New Arena

Brand For Proposed Hotel Next To New Consol Energy Center Yet To Be Named

The Penguins and Pennsylvania-based developer Horizon Properties Group (HPG) have "purchased one acre of land for a proposed 142-room hotel next to the new" Consol Energy Center, but "won't have to pony up any cash for the transaction," according to Mark Belko of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority's (PACSEA) board members "unanimously approved the $475,000 sale yesterday to Pittsburgh Arena Hotel Associates, an entity that includes the Penguins and [HPG]." Thursday's decision "clears the way for the start of construction this summer on the seven- to eight-story, all-suites hotel." A hotel brand "has yet to be named." To pay for the land, the Penguins "plan to tap into $15[M] in development credits negotiated as part of the March 2007 arena deal that kept the team in Pittsburgh." There "will be no cash involved." PACSEA also chose Hood Design Studio to "develop a pedestrian walkway between Centre Avenue and Fifth Avenue on the west side of the Consol Energy Center" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/8).

CURTAIN CALL: In Pittsburgh, Jeremy Boren reports colorful curtains "will shade a meandering walkway in front of the new Consol Energy Center." "Curtain Call," created by S.F.-based artist Walter Hood, "would create a series of 15-foot-tall curved, stainless-steel curtains next to the walkway linking Centre and Fifth avenues." The curtains "will hold thousands of resin tiles embedded with color photographs." Details of the pictures "might not be clear; they're intended to provide colors and shapes" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 5/8).