Someone’s buying Downtown real estate
Sales include three Wood St. properties
Someone once again is playing Monopoly on Downtown’s Wood Street.
Eleven years after PNC began assembling property for its new headquarters using fictitious names, the same pattern now appears to be at work directly across the street.
In February, a buyer using the fictitious name of Driver Developers LLC purchased a vacant fourstory building at 439 Wood for a hefty $2.76 million in the block between Forbes and Fifth avenues.
And earlier this month, Bridges Real Estate Investors LLC acquired a building at 433 Wood, the home of Mamma Lucia’s Pizzeria, one door down, for $1.35 million.
That’s not all. It also appears a building at 443 Wood that houses Ninja Electronics is under agreement to be sold.
Milton Barr, Ninja Electronics owner, said he has been told he must vacate the building, although he hasn’t been given a date as to when he must be out.
“There seems to be a sense of urgency,” he said.
The transactions have fueled speculation that they are part of an
for a larger development, similar to what PNC did a decade ago.
In each case, the common thread in the recent deals is Gregg Broujos, regional principal of the Colliers International real estate firm in Downtown. He has served as the broker in the two sales and appears to be involved in the one that has yet to close.
Mr. Broujos declined comment Wednesday.
The two entities involved — Driver Developers LLC and Bridges Real Estate Investors LLC — both were incorporated in Delaware on the same date in 2019 — Oct. 9.
A limited liability company called Bridges Real Estate Investors with a Monaca, Beaver County, address also was incorporated in Pennsylvania on Sept. 17, 2018. It’s unclear if it is the same company.
A message left at the phone number found on the web for Bridges Real Estate Investors in Beaver County was not returned.
Just who is behind the purchases has sparked widespread speculation in the real estate community, with most of it falling on PNC.
“Someone is doing an assemblage, and all fingers point to PNC,” said one real estate developer.
The acquisitions fit the same pattern the bank employed a decade ago in buying real estate needed for its headquarters, known as the Tower at PNC Plaza, on the opposite side of Wood.
Over a year, it spent more than $18 million acquiring the seven properties needed for the development, using fictitious names to keep people from knowing who was behind the transactions. The prices paid were far above market value at the time.
All occurred on the same stretch of Wood where the most recent acquisitions took place. The section is right in the heart of the bank’s campus, with its One, Two and Three PNC buildings located on or just off Fifth.
Asked whether PNC was behind the purchases at 433 and 439 Wood, spokeswoman Marcey Zwiebel responded, “We don’t have a comment to offer.”
Linda Heininger, who represented the sellers in the 439 Wood transaction, said she did not know who is behind the purchase and did not press Mr. Broujos to find out.
Ms. Heininger said she had been negotiating with the eventual buyer for almost a year.
“It was one of those walk away, come back, walk away,” she said. “It was very interesting, but we got it done.”
The owners, Oren and Eitan Solomon, had had other offers over the past four years but didn’t want to sell. She finally persuaded them to do so with an offer that she acknowledged was high for the market.
“They finally saw the light and held out for a really good price, and we got it done,” she said.
Given the price, the buyer, she added, “must have really wanted the property.”
“It’s truly a great thing for Pittsburgh, whoever is doing this,” she said.
Adding to the mystery is that while Mr. Barr said he is being pressured to leave the building quickly, Behrooz Rahimzadeh, owner of Mamma Lucia’s, stated he was given a lease to stay at his location for two more years.
The two properties that have been purchased and the one that’s under agreement are in the middle of the block.
David Kashi, who owns the building at the corner of Wood and Fifth, said he also had been approached by someone two or three months ago who asked him whether he was interested in selling.
That didn’t go anywhere, he noted. He said he never has received a formal offer.
Mr. Kashi has operated a jewelry store at the location since 2000. He said he’s willing to sell at the “right price.” But he added he’s not certain what that is.
“This is my living, my future and my kids’ future,” he said. “I’m not sure what I want.”
At the Forbes end of the block, the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority owns the Skinny Building at 241 Forbes and the John M. Roberts & Son building at 429-431 Wood next to the pizzeria.
It acquired both in 2013 for $1.3 million. A URA spokeswoman had no comment when asked whether the authority had been approached about selling the buildings.
Any developer likely would need the properties at both corners as part of any large assemblage. There also could be restrictions as to what can happen with the restored facades of those buildings.
For any large development like a new office tower to occur, the builder also likely would need the CVS property that sits behind the Wood Street properties.
The upper two floors of that building, which runs the length of the block from Forbes to Fifth, have been listed for sale for some time by Aegis Realty Partners. A broker did not return a call seeking comment.
CVS occupies the first floor. There is no indication it is willing to sell.
None of that has stopped the speculation. While some see PNC behind the moves, others aren’t so sure. One real estate source stated it could be First National Bank, noting that Mr. Broujos is its broker in the deal to build a new headquarters at the former Civic Arena site.
Jennifer Reel, an FNB spokeswoman, did not return an email seeking comment.
Gerard McLaughlin, executive managing director of the Newmark Knight Frank real estate firm, said it may not be PNC or FNB. It could be someone who wants to take advantage of the investment in the corridor.
“It could be anybody, to be honest with you. At the end of the day, it could be an investor who sees that as a prime location for the future and wanted some place to park his money,” he said. “With all the investment that has gone in and around there, it’s not a bad block.”