The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Ron DaParma column: Building owners await next big decision

Oct 26, 2008 (The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- EQT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Now that Equitable Resources Inc. has made its choice for office space Downtown, what's next for the market?

Equitable ended months of speculation by announcing it would move its headquarters and two business units to the 32-story 625 Liberty Ave. building.

Equitable leased 257,000 square feet in the 620,000-square-foot building, previously known as Dominion Tower, bringing occupancy there to nearly 97 percent.

The decision left buildings like the new, mixed-use Piatt Place complex at the former Lazarus-Macy's Department Store still looking to fill about180,000 square feet it has available for lease.

One of the next big decisions will be made by the state Department of General Services.

The agency is weighing bids submitted for the State Office Building at Gateway Center and for relocating the 800 workers who occupy 200,000 square feet there.

The state could put all of those workers at one site, but real estate officials say the agency may select several buildings to house different operations.

Another large tenant mulling options is Schneider Downs, an expanding public accounting firm now in the Strip District.

"We may have a decision within a couple of weeks," said Raymond W. Buehler Jr., CEO of the company, which has about 370 employees, including 280 in the city.

"We are one of the top 50 CPA firms in the country -- we're now ranked 36th, and every year since we were founded in 1956 we've been experiencing growth," Buehler said.

Employment stood at 175 in 2004 and at 221 last year, he said, noting that the expansion has accomplished without a merger.

If the company decides to move, it probably will need 70,000 square feet, he said.

That's about 22,000 more than it now occupies -- 42,000 square feet at the building it owns at 1133 Penn Ave. and 6,000 square feet it leases at a building on Penn, where it has an option to take another 12,000 square feet.

Just about every building with space to offer Downtown or in nearby neighborhoods such the Strip, North Side and South Side could be in play, Buehler said.

That includes Piatt Place, 11 Stanwix St. (the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. headquarters), and the Buncher Co.'s 200,000-square-foot building in the Strip that California-based Seagate Technology said it will abandon in June, he said.

"We're looking all over. Just about any building in town with enough space is fair game," he said.

Real estate notes:

--Dukane Radiator has relocated to a new "green" facility at 121 St. Clair Ave., Clairton. The facility houses the firm's sheetmetal machining equipment that has punching, contour nibbling, bending and welding capabilities.

--At the annual meeting Tuesday of the Oakland Business and Improvement District board of directors, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is scheduled to speak. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, 4215 Fifth Ave., Oakland.

--Overton Manor Flats, offering single-floor, maintenance-free living and two outdoor spaces in each home, is being developed at Summerset at Frick Park, Squirrel Hill, by Kacin Builders. The two buildings, each with four units, feature 2,000 square feet in each unit including two bedrooms and a study. Porches and verandas are on the front and back of each unit, along with two parking spaces in a shared integral garage. Two of the eight units have been sold. Prices start at $339,900.

--NevilleSide, a neighborhood of 78 carriage homes with prices starting at $359,900, is near Nevillewood in Collier. The complex is being developed by Phillips Brothers. Each home has a patio with brick posts and maintenance-free vinyl fencing and landscaping for privacy. Rose Vaccarello of Howard Hanna Real Estate Service is marketing the units.

--Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority will apply for a $500,000 grant from the state for the 56-unit Cassabill Estates development in the 31st Ward. The funds will pay for infrastructure including roads, curbs, sidewalks and street lights. The first phase of the complex by Allstate Development LLC, headed by William J. Rogers, was Gates Manor, a 26-unit housing area. To date, 20 lots have been sold and eight houses started.

Transactions:

--Two gasoline stations in Ross have been sold. GKK McKnight LP paid $1.2 million to Golden Oil Co., whose president is George Kehm, for a Texaco at 4861 McKnight Rd. Four 4775 McKnight Rd. LLC., headed by Eliahu Zahavi of New York City, paid $1.12 million for a BP station at 4775 McKnight Rd., according to deeds filed in Allegheny County.

--E.M. Cranberry Corporate Partners has acquired the two-story limestone, tile and brick building at 713-19 Washington Rd., Mt. Lebanon, for $1.17 million. The seller was Charles D. Staley of Washington Road Properties LLC.

Real estate gallery:

--Prudential Preferred Realty hired sales associates Maria Mallory and Megan Gregory, Route 19 South; Luke Madia and Sarah Madia, McCandless; and Robert Burke, Rostraver.

--Help-U-Sell Dixie Realty of Cranberry appointed Richard Stampahar associate broker and John Petrack vice president.

--The Pennsylvania Realtors Education Foundation awarded Victoria Lowry of Triangle Realty the 2008-2009 Education Foundation Scholarship. She is one of 31 recipients.

Contributors: Sam Spatter and Laura L. Lenk

Ron DaParma is the Tribune-Review's real estate writer. He can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.

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