SWITCHING SPACES
Grable Foundation to move headquarters to Koppers Building, Downtown
The Grable Foundation is changing addresses.
It is moving its Downtown headquarters from the second floor of Centre City Tower on Smithfield Street to the 24th floor of the Koppers Building on Grant Street about a block away.
The foundation plans to relocate this summer at the end of its lease at Centre City.
It will be moving into a shell space at the Koppers Building that has been vacant for some time. That will give it an “opportunity to develop a modern working space in something that’s classically Pittsburgh,” said executive director Gregg Behr.
“We love the building. It’s classic Pittsburgh,” he added. “It’s like building out space in an old home and that space spoke to us.”
In its search for a new headquarters, Mr. Behr said the foundation wanted to stay Downtown, which has struggled during the pandemic with so many office employees working from home and cultural events shut down.
“Being part of the core city is important,” he said. “We just wanted to make sure that we found the right space to support the longterm vision our trustees have.”
The foundation has about 10 employees, all of whom will be making the move to the 9,500-squarefoot space, which is slightly smaller than what it currently occupies.
Larry Walsh, chief operating officer and principal of Rugby Realty, the building owner, said the company was happy to land the Grable Foundation and get a tenant for the 24th floor.
M&T Bank also is planning to take another 2,000-plus square feet of office space in the building, he said. Rugby also has a tentative deal in place with a firm to take 23,000 square feet on the fifth and sixth floors.
The additions will bring the building’s occupancy to more than 85%.
In recent years, Rugby has added a tenant innovation center in the lobby and a fitness center and conference center in the building’s lower level. It also has restored the brass on the elevator doors in the lobby.
Such improvements have “just resonated with prospects over the last six months,” he said.
Rugby also owns two other Grant Street landmarks — the Frick Building and Gulf Tower.