Old Post-Gazette building for sale
No asking price listed for Blvd. of Allies site
The former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette building, a high-profile spot perched at the entrance to Downtown, is for sale.
Block Communications Inc. has hired the CBRE real estate firm to market the 1.65-acre site, which includes the five-story building and a surface parking lot at 34 Boulevard of the Allies.
Located just off the ramp from the Fort Pitt Bridge, the real estate will be available to developers with an interest in either re-purposing the building or demolishing it and starting new.
The property is being listed without an asking price.
David Koch, a CBRE executive vice president who is marketing the site, expects it to attract a lot of interest given the highly visible location at the front door to the Golden Triangle.
“I think it’s the best site in the city of Pittsburgh,” he said. “I think that the exposure you have, the amenities, the public transportation, its proximity to other Class
A buildings and other buildings in the central business district, I don’t think there’s a better site in the city.”
The property, he added, provides easy access to the parkways,is served by public transportation, and has a lot ofparking in the vicinity.
For 88 years, the building served as the heartbeat of local journalism, housing The Pittsburgh Press and the Post-Gazette. After buying The Press in 1923, Scripps Howard constructed the building at a cost of $4 million, with the first papers produced there in 1927.
Scripps sold The Press and the building to the PostGazette in 1993 after an eight-month work stoppage. Ending with the sale was The Press’ 108-year existence.
For decades, passers-by could watch the presses spin out newspapers through the large glass windows in front of the building.
That ended in 2014 when the Post-Gazette moved its printing operations to Clinton after purchasing new high-speed presses. The newsroom moved to a new building on the North Shore in August 2015.
CBRE was hired to sell the 207,000-square-foot Downtown building after an option agreement with Continental Real Estate Companies, originally selected to redevelop the site, expired. Continental had considered a number of options for the property, including offices and a hotel.
Mr. Koch said he is not aware of any remediation issues with the site that would have to be addressed.
He hopes to secure bids from prospective buyers or developers in December, with the ultimate goal of closing on a sale in the first quarter of next year. Helping him with the marketing is CBRE’s Kyle Prawdzik.
The site has a Golden Triangle zoning designation and could host apartments, condominiums, offices, recreation, restaurants, or retail.
Mr. Koch sees potential reuses as offices or possibly housing.
“I think everybody’s in the mix right now. I wouldn’t want to rule anybody out. There might be a developer from out of the city or, heck, even in the city that says I think this would be a great reuse for residential,” he said.
While developers in recent years have had a hard time trying to secure a tenant to build new office towers Downtown, Mr. Koch sees that changing as the Strip District, one of the hottest markets in the city, and the East End fill up.
“I really feel that, as prospective buildings that are either re-purposed or redone in Strip District attract tenants, the central business district — particularly this site — is going to attract great attention,” he said.
Likewise, Dan Adamski, Jones Lang LaSalle managing director, sees potential for the property.
“Although the Strip District is currently experiencing more leasing and development activity than the [central business district], the PG building’s prominence at the gateway to our city presents an intriguing opportunity for developers,” he said.
“It is also an opportunity for the city to enliven what is currently a dead zone in a highly visible location.”