Unique Strip District warehouse adorned with iconic smiling fish sign gets new owner
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The distinctive Strip District building with the giant smiling fish on one side has been hooked by a new owner.
New York-based JMC Holdings, the owner of the Pennsylvanian Downtown, has finalized its purchase of the 336,000-square-foot former New Federal Cold Storage warehouse at 1501 Penn Ave.
Built like a bomb shelter, the windowless, seven-story warehouse was put up for sale by the Sampson Morris Group in March after plans to convert it into a 144unit apartment complex fizzled.
Matt Cassin, JMC Holdings owner, confirmed Monday that his firm had closed on the purchase of the building, which features a 12-inch-thick concrete outer skin and a 16-inch inner skin separated by a gap.
He declined to say how much the real estate company paid for the property. Sampson Morris, which purchased the building in 2008 for $2 million, did not set an asking price.
CBRE had been marketing the old warehouse for potential office and residential use.
JMC is “considering a host of different options” for the building but has yet to settle on a specific reuse, Ms. Cassin said.
There has been speculation that JMC planned to convert the existing building to parking and build an office tower on top of that — in line with a CBRE suggestion for five floors of parking and seven floors of office. However, Mr. Cassin answered, “not really,” when asked about the speculation.
“I don’t have a defined business plan yet. I can’t really discuss it because I don’t yet have a clear vision for what the building is going to look like or how it’s going to function,” he said.
As for that smiling fish sign, something of a Strip landmark? “I’m sure it will remain in some way, shape or form,” he said.
Mike Lee, president of the Strip District Neighbors community group, said the organization has had some informal meetings with JMC but hasn’t seen a definitive plan for its redevelopment.
He acknowledged the vacant former warehouse, used for years by Robert Wholey & Co., is a “tough building to work with” given its construction.
“The question is not necessarily the mix [of reuses] but how to do this given the limitations of the building,” he said.
Strip District Neighbors has yet to take a position on any potential redevelopment.
“Right now, it’s just a big concrete box. I guess anything would be better to us. It is historically significant but it is a tough building to work with, to be sure,” Mr. Lee said.
Gregg Broujos, managing director of the Colliers International real estate firm, said the cold storage building offers a prime redevelopment opportunity in perhaps the hottest real estate market in the region.
“Whatever their plans, the