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PITTSBURGH COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

WEEK #29

'A critical step:' Gulf Tower moves closer to proposed residential-hotel conversion


The plan to convert Downtown’s historic Gulf Tower into apartments and an upscale hotel appears to be a step closer to reality.


Rugby Realty, owner of the 44-story skyscraper, with the famous weather beacon at its top, recently paid off a $35 million mortgage on the building as the loan reached maturity.



Cutting the debt on the property — Rugby replaced the $35 million mortgage with a $10 million mortgage — helps to position the building for redevelopment, attorney Jonathan Kamin said Tuesday...Read More

JV holds groundbreaking 2.0 for industrial project in Washington County


Five years after a previous groundbreaking to clear a long neglected industrial property for a new use, Crossgates Inc. and a new partner held a new groundbreaking to kick off construction on what's expected to be the first new industrial building of major scale in Washington County in many years.


The project is the redevelopment of the former Brockway Glass Plant, a relic from another age that had been decaying into a brownfield at a rail-served site of nearly 20 acres near the junction of Interstates 79 and 70 in Canton Township, Washington County.



The Crossgates affiliate for the project, Running Brooke II Associates, now includes Elmhurst Development LLC, the downtown Pittsburgh-based real estate firm that owns and develops properties in a variety of real estate sectors...Read More

A new beginning? PNC evaluating 'strategy' for empty Smithfield Street building



More than a decade ago, PNC Financial Services Group stepped in to rescue a historic Downtown bank building that had been vacant for nearly eight years after being converted into a Lord & Taylor department store.


PNC intervened to buy the former Mellon Bank in 2012 after Lord & Taylor closed in 2004, just four years after it opened and the then-owner failed to land another department store or retailer to use it.



Twelve years later, the building at 500 Smithfield St. is empty again, and it’s now PNC struggling to fill the once-glorious bank hall stripped of much of its grandeur in the department store makeover...Read More

Doing the math on the future prospects of BNY Mellon Center


Rising 54 stories above Grant Street, BNY Mellon Center stands as a teetering question mark for downtown as its second largest building.


As Bank of New York Mellon works to renovate the building it owns next door at 500 Ross, the financial institution has yet to show any signs of renewing its master lease at the more than 1.5 million square foot office tower at 500 Grant, which is set to expire in 2028.



A spokesman for MetLife, which owns the building, didn't have any updates regarding the property, noting that BNY has another four years on its lease. It's a master lease for the entire building that is limited enough in term that the building has been losing tenants because BNY can't commit to new leases from other companies beyond the end of its own...Read More

U.S. housing starts increase on pickup in multifamily construction


New U.S. home construction picked up in June, though a decline in single-family housing starts to an eight-month low underscored a real estate market challenged by high interest rates.


Total housing starts increased 3% to a 1.35 million annualized rate last month, driven by a 19.6% surge in multifamily construction, according to government data released Wednesday. Starts of one-family homes fell for a fourth straight month.



Building permits, a proxy of future construction activity, rose 3.4% to a 1.45 million annual rate, also driven by a pickup in applications for multifamily projects...Read More

‘Not a fair system’: Calls for regular property reassessments dominate state policy committee hearing


In this day and age, it’s tough to find consensus on just about any issue. But they managed to do it at the Allegheny County Courthouse Monday — and the subject involved, of all things, property reassessments.


During a two-hour meeting in the Gold Room, local school and government officials, a county appeals board member, a realtors’ rep, an attorney and a housing advocate all pushed for the same thing: Regular reassessments, not only locally but statewide.


The calls came during a state Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing spearheaded by Sen. Wayne Fontana to discuss Pennsylvania’s “dysfunctional property reassessment system” and the costs associated with not fixing it...Read More

In an effort to keep our clients and colleagues informed about the Pittsburgh commercial real estate market, we send out a weekly email with the top news stories that affect you. Each day we sort through various industry publications and local news sources to narrow down the top articles that matter to the Pittsburgh commercial real estate investor.
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