PNC buys buildings near Downtown HQ
Using art program, retail to fill spaces
PNC Bank is snatching up two city-owned properties on Wood Street in Downtown as part of a buying spree in the block across from its national headquarters.
Home Town Real Estate LLC, a bank affiliate, is buying the Skinny Building at the corner of Wood and Forbes Avenue and the adjacent John M. Roberts and Co. building at 429-431 Wood from the Urban Redevelopment Authority for $1.3 million plus costs.
URA board members are scheduled to vote on the proposed transaction at their meeting Thursday.
The acquisitions by the bank follow two other purchases it made in the block between Forbes and Fifth avenues since the beginning of the year using fictitious names to hide its identity.
In February, Driver Developers LLC bought a vacant four-story building at 439 Wood for a hefty $2.76 million — twice the price of the two URA-owned buildings.
And in April, Bridges Real Estate Investors LLC purchased a building at 433 Wood, home of
Mamma Lucia’s Pizzeria, one door down, for $1.35 million.
In a statement Tuesday, PNC confirmed for the first time that it was behind the deals, saying it had purchased “a collection of buildings on Wood Street” with plans to redevelop them for mixed-use space that will support its employees as well as the Downtown Pittsburgh community as a whole.
“As the bank continues to grow and acquire new talent, our continued development on Wood Street will allow us to procure additional employee office and amenity space while also offering us the unique opportunity to pilot new office concepts,” it stated.
“Additionally, our plans will provide an opportunity for us to support local businesses and artists in a way that we believe will bring a renewed vibrancy to this corridor of Downtown Pittsburgh. We look forward to redeveloping the acquired buildings for these purposes and to furthering our investment in our hometown.”
Its statement ends the mystery as to who was behind the earlier purchases on Wood. At the time they came to light in April, PNC had no comment, though there was widespread speculation that the bank was behind them.
The pattern in the acquisitionswas similar to one employed by the bank a decade ago when it spent more than $18 million acquiring the seven properties on Wood, Forbes and Fifth needed for its headquarters using fictitious names.
In its statement Tuesday, PNC said that it had “made very fair offers to all the building owners on the block, though not all have elected to sell at this time.” Three other properties, including Kashi Jewelers at the corner of Wood and Fifth, have not sold.
“We are happy with the buildings we have acquired, and we are moving forward with our plans. We look forward to working with the other owners, the city of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority to continue being a good neighbor as the project progresses,” PNC stated.
The acquisitions represent the latest effort by PNC over the past 15 years to enliven Downtown by expanding its own footprint. The bank built its headquarters in what was a downtrodden section of Wood pockmarked by boarded-up storefronts.
It did the same on Fifth, demolishing a block of rundown buildings to erect the 23-story Three PNC Plaza, which includes the home to the Reed Smith law firm, the Fairmont Pittsburgh hotel and residential condominiums.
In a summary accompanying the proposed sale of the two city-owned structures, the URA stated that PNC plans to convert the Roberts building into flexible employee office space.
The bank also intends to run an art program out of the upper floors of the 988square-foot Skinny Building. Some believe the structure, with a frame measuring a mere 5 feet, 2 inches wide and 80 feet long, is the world’s thinnest building.
In addition, PNC plans to pilot incubation spaces for small retail businesses along the corridor, according to the URA summary.
The URA purchased both buildings, which date back to the early 1900s, in 2013. The Roberts building was most recently occupied by a 7-Eleven, whose lease expired in February, leaving the space empty.
At the corner, the threestory Skinny Building has been used over the years as a lunch counter, a produce stand, a cookie shop, a jewelry store, a hair salon, and a space to hustle T-shirts, hats and other items. The retail space is now being leased to a clothing and variety store on a month-to-month basis.
The upper floors are vacant and “in need of repair,” the URA stated.
As part of the transaction, the authority will enter into a 99-year covenant agreement with PNC to protect the facades of the two buildings, both of which have been restored with the help of state grant money, and to prevent a future owner from demolishing them.
Furthermore, PNC has agreed to contract with a third party to organize a revolving artinstallation program in the bay windows of the Skinny Building overlooking Forbes, one that would “ideally feature local artists and students.” The city also plans to start a pop-up art program in the structure.
Total development costs for the reuses are estimated at $6.1 million, with $4.8 million of that direct investment in the buildings.