North Shore parcel sale approved

Software firm SAP to anchor office building

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Stadium Authority board members approved the sale of a North Shore riverfront parcel to a Columbus developer Thursday, setting the stage for the construction of a seven-story office building to be anchored by German software firm SAP.

Continental Real Estate Companies will pay $2.2 million for the nearly 1.1 acres of land, now used for parking, next to the former Equitable Resources Building in a deal unanimously approved by the board.

The price, at $47.70 a square foot, is by far the most Continental, which was hired by the Steelers and the Pirates to develop the land between Heinz Field and PNC Park, has paid for North Shore land in any of its last four transactions.

It is three times the $15.47 a square foot it shelled out for the land needed for the North Shore Place I and II office complex ($1.1 million for 1.6 acres) in 2013 and six times the $8 a square foot it paid in 2008 for the Stage AE real estate ($1.37 million for 3.9 acres) — a sale then-city councilman Bill Peduto criticized as a sweetheart deal.

Mr. Peduto, now mayor, had a more favorable view of the price obtained for the new office development. It was based on an appraisal done by Integra Realty Resources.

“The sale price was based on an appraisal, which was jointly commissioned by the stadium authority and the teams, to assure that the public was compensated at market value for the property,” said Kevin Acklin, Mr. Peduto’s chief of staff.

Mary Conturo, stadium authority executive director, said the North Shore real estate appraisals are based on what the property will be used for and the revenue it will generate. She noted the land price for an office building would be different than that for a hotel, for