Pittsburgh’s Post Industrial Economy Shifts to a Change for the Better

Source: Changing Gears Presents Reinventing Pittsburgh: Part 1

As December welcomes us with a crisp snowfall that blankets our city streets and rivers, we look forward to a promising new economy for Pittsburgh, where the manufacturing plants and industrial buildings have been reinvented to accommodate emerging healthcare, education and technology corporations.

Our smoky, dust filled skyline of yesteryear, now greets us with the fresh air of change. Changing Gears, a public media project about the future of the industrial Midwest, is spending the next few years looking at ways to reinvent the Midwest economy. Reinventing Pittsburgh is the start of their first week-long series.

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The manufacturing hardships experienced in the early 1980’s left the future of the Steel City economy uncertain. Virtually overnight, 150,000 jobs were wiped out, the deindustrialization of the Pittsburgh region began, and the future was unclear.

But today, the economic horizon has made a shift, for the better. The steel industry, which was the muscle of our region in decades past, is a fraction of its former self today, and has evolved from basic industry to service industries in the region. Warehouses and industrial sites are being renovated for new uses, as the homes for corporations in biomedical research, multimedia production, computer gaming development, and even for use as condos, upscale retail, and more.

According to a recent Post-Gazette article article on Pittsburgh neighborhoods, a state tax-incentive for technology start-ups looped Pittsburgh’s Uptown into an innovation zone that includes part of Downtown and the North Side. Development proposals are piling up -- new restaurants in the Consol Energy Center, a residential "portal" project near the Birmingham Bridge, condos in the Fifth Avenue High School, renovation of a Fifth Avenue warehouse into apartments, and more.

“Pittsburgh has changed,” said Raymond Orowetz, P.E., LEED Green Associate of NAI Pittsburgh Commercial. “Whether it’s for the better or not depends on how one has been affected. Regarding the Uptown section of the City in particular, I can’t understand why it’s taken so long. There’s a major university (Duquesne), a major sports venue (the Mellon Arena, most recently replaced by the Consol Energy Center) and a major hospital (Mercy). They’ve been there “forever” and they’re located along the most highly travelled corridor in the city which joins our CBD with our educational/cultural hub coupled with excellent access to public transportation along the entire route. It should be rockin’ just like East Carson Street.”

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh among 8 Cities that want your Business

Source: CNNMoney.com

Pittsburgh has long been known for its winning sports teams and world class museums, but these days, Pittsburgh fares well as a top city becoming a hub for technology start-ups. Although we pale in comparison to heavy weights like Silicon Valley, New York, and Boston, the City of Pittsburgh offers compelling incentives to attract and retain the best talent in our region. First-rate universities and computer science departments, like our local Carnegie Mellon University, have attracted talented students from around the world, seeding technology professionals focused on developing startups that can help boost our local economy.

Pittsburgh has become a place where startups are succeeding, where investors want to live, and students want to stay following graduation. With mega tax breaks and innovative business incubators, the progression of local startups has enabled a cross generational, collaborative entrepreneurial community to develop. Talent retention and improved financial resources for entrepreneurs, are positioning us as a city for success.

“We are not a cookie cutter city,” said John Bilyak, CCIM, Principal & Director of Industrial Brokerage at NAI Pittsburgh Commercial. “With well-preserved neighborhoods, locally owned shops and restaurants, and a first class cultural district, Pittsburgh provides a down home personality within a growing business and technological community. It has become a city of renewal, where generations of people continue to live, work and grow together.”

Earlier this year, Forbes.com ranked Pittsburgh #64 for Best Places for Business and Careers. Pittsburgh’s biggest industries--health care, technology and education--are necessary regardless of the economic outlook.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh is Stuffed with Thanksgiving Weekend Activities

Sources: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, National Retail Federation

From benefits featuring live music and comedic entertainment, to a downtown Trolley Tour, Thanksgiving Day Parade, the annual Turkey Trot, and more, the weekend is stuffed with plenty of activities that the whole family can enjoy together.

Click here for a list of Thanksgiving weekend activities

Following the Thanksgiving celebration, enjoy a fresh-air walk outdoors to work off the extra Holiday helpings. Thirty-six Pittsburgh neighborhoods rank as a "walker's paradise" or "very walkable" in a national analysis at walkscore.com. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article, Pittsburgh weighs in with 36 neighborhoods scoring 70 and above on a scale of 0-100. A walker's paradise score of 90-100 means residents do not need cars. The Central Business District, South Side Flats, North Oakland and Lower Lawrenceville received the highest scores.

This latest ranking gives us good reason to visit downtown Pittsburgh, participate in the Thanksgiving weekend activities, and start our holiday shopping on foot at local retailers in these business districts. More people plan on shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend this year than last, according to the National Retail Federation. The retail trade group is estimating that 138 million Americans plan on shopping during the holiday weekend, an increase of 4 million over last year’s projections.

Friday, November 26th, the traditional start of the Holiday Shopping season, known as “Black Friday,” is a great day to visit the shops and department stores of Downtown Pittsburgh. With many great restaurants and entertainment venues; shoppers can maximize their enjoyment by combining great shopping with fine dining and theatre.

“Thanksgiving weekend provides an opportunity for everyone to come together and enjoy the holiday,” said Ralph Egerman, Principal of NAI Pittsburgh Commercial. “I am particularly excited to introduce our city to family members from out of town, especially the downtown shopping experience at all of the wonderful stores in the Golden Triangle. Macy’s is a priority stop around the holidays.”

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Western Pennsylvania finds 'right direction'

Source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Thomas Olson
Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The stubbornly sluggish economy has not stopped Western Pennsylvania's ability to attract businesses and jobs in the past year or so, economic development experts say. The region through October has attracted 33 new businesses compared to 30 that came into the region for full-year 2009, according to the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

For instance, the number of private-sector jobs in the seven-county region in September was about 9,000 ahead of the same month last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The region's 7.9 percent unemployment rate is significantly lower than the nation's 9.6 percent rate.

By another count, the region through October has attracted 33 new businesses compared to 30 that came into the region for full-year 2009, according to the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

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Recent announcements of new companies coming here, paired with the latest announcement that Pittsburgh has received a top ten job ranking, is solid proof that our region is moving in the right direction for economical growth.

“It is no surprise that Pittsburgh is near the top of the list of the nation’s biggest markets for job retention and creation,” stated Bill Leone, a Principal with NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, Pittsburgh’s premier commercial real estate firm. “Pittsburgh’s financial, healthcare and educational sectors continue to prosper; the velocity of new businesses this year, including those attracted by the development of energy sources; and the maturation of the technology industry, combined with the slight improvement in the economic climate, makes for a very positive direction for our region. We expect tremendous improvement in Pittsburgh’s employment data in what appears to be a bright future for Western Pennsylvania.”

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh, Boston Share Winning Football Stats and Real Estate Markets

Sources: The Providence Journal; FOX Sports; Mass. Market

As the city of Pittsburgh woke Monday morning to a blanket of fog, which reduced visibility in some places to just a few feet, we were reminded of the 39 – 26 defeat to the New England Patriots on Sunday night, and the anticipated matchup between quarterbacks. Brady (103-32, .763) and Roethlisberger (63-27, .700) rank 1-2 among active quarterbacks in regular-season winning percentage. Counting playoff games, Brady is 117-36 (.765) and Roethlisberger is 71-29 (.710). Six years later, Roethlisberger has won two Super Bowls himself, putting him only one behind Brady.

When it comes to winning, the Patriots and Steelers are the pinnacles of the NFL. The Patriots' .632 winning percentage since free agency began in 1993 is the NFL's best, and the Steelers are second at .627. Brady's .767 winning percentage coming in led all quarterbacks, and Roethlisberger's .700 was second.

Successful football statistics are not the only rankings both cities share. By comparison, neither city would be considered a concrete jungle. There is ample green space in both, and each is very neighborhood oriented, drawing opportunities in both residential as well as commercial real estate.

According to a recent blog post by Mass. Market, Zillow.com’s release of its latest quarterly residential home value report indicates that both Pittsburgh and Boston are the only two among the country’s 25 largest metro areas to see gains in home values from the second quarter of this year to the third. They are also the only two metro areas on the top 25 list where fewer than 10 percent of the single-family homes are underwater (it’s 6.3 percent in Pittsburgh, 9.5 percent in Boston). In the past year, home values have risen 1.6 percent in both the Boston and Pittsburgh markets, by Zillow’s calculations. The health of a local residential real estate market is inextricably linked to the health of the local commercial real estate sector. Fully occupied office buildings, hospitals and stores mean there are still plenty of jobs – and those jobs are the lifeblood of a city’s home values. And, while Pittsburgh and Boston have lost key corporate headquarters over the years, the cities maintain vibrant life sciences and education industries.

Paul Horan, Founding Principal of NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, and native of Boston, Massachusetts reacts, “I am pleased to hear about the similarities that both Pittsburgh and Boston share both on and off the field. I have always admired the city of Boston, its culture, and the economical advances it has made in education, healthcare and technology, but I am most proud to call Pittsburgh my home, because I have been able to be a part of a community that continues to grow and earn extraordinary achievements.”

Although the outcome of the football season remains unclear for both teams pursuing Super Bowl status, the fog has lifted from each city in regards to their winning real estate market statistics, and the outlook is very positive.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh tenth on job rankings list

Source: Pittsburgh Business Times
Thursday, November 4, 2010

Pittsburgh was among 44 of the nation's biggest markets that added jobs in September, according to figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pittsburgh ranked 10th in number of jobs created with 9,000 jobs or .91 percent added in September compared to September 2009. The bureau recorded 1,001,600 million private sector jobs for the region in September, up from 992,600 jobs for the same month in 2009.

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Pittsburgh has experienced a very stable labor market, and is working to attract and retain high-quality talent, including, young people. Talent attraction to our region can drive the economy. In fact, Pittsburgh has ranked in the top 10 for personal income growth. According to the Pittsburgh Business Times article, personal income has been on the rise in Pittsburgh over the past 25 years, so much so that a new study ranks it No. 6 among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas in terms of income growth.

Portfolio.com, a national business news site affiliated with the Pittsburgh Business Times, examined federal income data covering the period from 1984 to 2009. The study focused on per capita income, a key indicator of earning power and economic vitality, and used a 25-part formula to create an overall score for income growth. Pittsburgh’s per capita income grew 212 percent in the 25 years from 1984 to 2009 and 22 percent in the five years from 2004 to 2009. Pittsburgh's per capita income in 2009 was $42,216.

Pittsburgh continues to climb rankings and improved its score on Moody's latest, of 60 commercial real estate markets during the third quarter, to move up from a tie for 10th place in the second quarter to a tie for fifth, according to Trib Total Media, Inc staff and wire reports. Pittsburgh ranked #1 in 2009 according to Moody’s Investors Services.

“These latest economic indicators bode well for the commercial real estate industry,” said Ralph Egerman, Principal of NAI Pittsburgh Commercial. “When organizations experience growth, they hire. As hiring opportunities improve, demand for office, warehouse and space of all types increase. Additionally; when employment trends upward, people have more disposal income which helps improve occupancy for all types of retail properties.”


NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh Ranked No. 1 for relocating

Source: CNBC.com
October 2010

Pittsburgh has made a major transformation - from an industrial steel town into a hub for education, health care and the arts. Yet, it’s still surprisingly affordable. The cost of living is 12.2 percent below the national average and the average home price is $116,400, well below the national average of $171,700.

It’s repeatedly ranked as one of the most livable cities: The crime rate is low, it ranks high on both arts and colleges, and it’s at low risk for a natural disaster such as an earthquake, hurricane or tornado.

It’s also repeatedly ranked as one of the best sports cities, with the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team and the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. You would be hard-pressed to find a city with more loyal sports fans – a fact that should not be underestimated when it comes to quality of life.

The unemployment rate is 7.8 percent, well below the national average of 10.2 percent. Indeed.com has named it the No. 18 job market, with two applicants for every job available.

Read the full article

This latest rating pairs nicely with a resume that already includes Best City for Commercial Real Estate, Best Places To Live, Best Housing Market, Best Place to Raise a Family, and Most Bike-Friendly Cities, among other wonderful rankings.

“These favorable statistics, along with our top tier universities and colleges, are among the reasons more and more firms, both nationally and internationally, are committing to do business in Pittsburgh,” said Gregg Broujos, Founding Principal at NAI Pittsburgh Commercial.


NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Gas drilling sparks real estate windfall

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
by: Sam Spatter

September 13, 2010

The natural gas-rich Marcellus shale has created a surge in real estate activity in Southwest Pennsylvania.

It's not confined to leasing acres of land for natural gas drilling operations, but extends to the rental of housing and the leasing of office, industrial and warehouse space since the boom in gas exploration in the mile-deep shale began here two years ago.

"I estimate at least 400,000 square feet of new and existing warehouse space has been leased or purchased — and that's probably a low figure," said Dan Petricca of Coldwell Banker Commercial, who has been actively leasing space to companies.

Dan Adamski, executive vice president, Jones Lang LaSalle Americas Inc., has an even larger estimate. "There is in excess of 1.1 million square feet of office/warehouse space leased by the firms involved in the Marcellus Shale," he said.

That approaches a whole year's worth of leasing activity for the entire Pittsburgh region, figures show. Reports from Grubb & Ellis Pittsburgh show that in 2009, total office and industrial space leased in the region was 1.26 million square feet. Suburban locations — including Southpointe, Washington County, which has seen much of the shale-related growth — contributed significantly to that total.

As for housing, about 80 percent of the activity in Washington and adjoining counties has been in rentals, said Betsy West, president of the Washington-Greene County Association of Realtors. The boom in shale gas exploration, however, has not had a major impact on home sales, she said.

The industrial and residential real estate boom has come from new companies bringing jobs and people to the region, West said.

There has been no exact count of jobs created in Southwest Pennsylvania from the natural gas boom, but one estimate has 44,000 jobs being added statewide.

A survey by the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a trade group representing gas companies, found that 10 companies with operations in Southwest Pennsylvania now have 2,076 employees, and they expect to add 5,185 new jobs through 2011.

Moon-based Atlas Energy Inc., has been on a hiring spree since it announced in April a $1.7 billion joint venture with Reliance Industries Ltd. of India. Atlas has added 158 people to its roster this year, bringing its total to 677 in Pennsylvania, said spokeswoman Claudia Koloski. Most of the hires have come from this region, she said.

Kelley Hoover, director of brokerage services at Burns & Scalo Real Estate, said nearly 70 percent of her recent leases have been with companies that drill for natural gas or support them. She has worked with about 11 who have leased more than 50,000 square feet of space in local office buildings, with more than 33,000 square feet alone in the Southpointe 1 complex in Washington County.

A combined 21,000 square feet has been leased in areas such as Neville Island, Montour Business Park and Bridgeville, she said.

There are at least 50 companies involved locally in shale operations, and more are coming here, she said. "Every week I hear from another company, usually located in the nation's southwest, who wants to locate an office here," she said.

Hoover said a shortage of leasable space may be developing at Southpointe. "It depends on the amount of space the company needs for its office, but currently it's difficult to find 2,000 square feet available," she said. That's about the size of a GetGo station and pumps.

Because of the influx of natural gas companies into the Southpointe area, the office vacancy rate there is about 8 percent, said Adamski. And some companies are considering adding more space.

Universal Pegasus, based in Houston, Texas., opened an office with 10,000 square feet five months ago at 601 Technology Dr., Southpointe. The company, which employs 15 engineers, project managers and surveyors, expects to add between 50 and 70 mostly local employees over the next 18 months and double its space, said CEO John Jameson. The company provides energy consultation services to the oil and gas industry.

"Southwestern Pennsylvania is projected to be our fastest-growing area in the years to come," Jameson said.

Range Resources Inc. is planning to build its own building, as are others. Developer Horizon Properties has proposed a 180,000-square-foot building for Range in the Southpointe II complex, also in Washington County.

Besides Washington County, other areas are seeing activity. Examples are:

• Megnablend Inc., of Waxabachie, Texas, purchased the former Mars Petcare warehouse in Everson, Fayette County, from Everson Development LLC for $1.25 million.

"The reason we moved here was because of the Marcellus Shale operations, but that was not the only reason," said spokewoman Theresa Taylor.

Megnablend supplies custom chemical blends to the gas and oil industry, and has products for agricultural companies, with several customers here, she said. Megnablend will open its warehouse with six employees, and expects to employ 30 within three to five years.

• Talisman Energy Corp. of Calgary, Canada, decided to relocate its U.S. headquarters from Long Island, N.Y., to Pittsburgh because of the shale boom. The company leased a 50,142-square-foot building at Pennwood Commons, a two-building complex located in Thorn Hill Industrial Park, Cranberry. It is on track to hire 60 employees.

Many of Talisman's employees transferred to the area and buying homes here or renting apartments, said Hoover of Burns & Scalo.

• Allied Technology Inc., which serves the oil and natural gas industry with equipment used from the wellhead to the refinery, plans to build a $7.5 million facility at the Industrial 70 Park at Fitz Henry, South Huntingdon Township, in Westmoreland County. The company anticipates creating about 100 jobs at the plant within three years.

Allied Technology selected the site about a mile off Interstate 70 because of its proximity to the drilling that is occurring in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the easy access, said CEO Wendell Brooks. "We did a pretty careful search," he said.

The influx of workers has had a significant impact on local rental apartments in the past 18 month, said Northwood's West. Most available rental space has been leased. Some workers are knocking on house doors, asking if the owner would they like to rent a room there, she said.

Another phenomenon is the use of mobile homes leased to workers, she said.

"We are seeing an influx of families coming from Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Virginia and Kentucky," she said. "These individuals, who usually have families and homes in their hometown, aren't interested in buying here unless they are able to sell their current home and relocate their family."

"We have seen several workers pool their resources and purchase a small house when rentals could not be found," she said.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Downtown vacancy rate drops

By Sam Spatter, FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Retail activity Downtown improved this year, with a number of new restaurants moving in, resulting in a lower vacancy rate, a report shows.

Downtown's retail vacancy rate for its 1.8 million square feet of space declined to 9.7 percent at the end of June from 10.3 percent rate at the end of 2009, according to Grubb & Ellis' Retail Trends Report -- Mid-Year 2010.

However, the overall retail vacancy rate for the Pittsburgh region increased to 8.4 percent from 7.9 percent at the end of 2009, the report said.

"Retail activity Downtown has picked up over the past 18 months, with a number of new restaurants moving into vacant space," said David Glickman, vice president of Grubb & Ellis' Retail Group.

Glickman cited a newcomer named Elements, which will occupy the former Palomino space in Four Gateway Center, along with Walnut Grove, a Sharp Edge on Penn Avenue, a new Subway, and soon to enter the Downtown market, Massburgher.

Total available retail space in the region increased in the mid-year report to 56.9 million square feet from 56.4 million square feet at the end of 2009.

Additions included Settlers' Ridge in Robinson and Bakery Square in Larimer, while subtractions included a former Builders Square building in the Braddock Hills Shopping Center (now a charter school) and demolition of the West Hills Shopping Center for a new Wal-Mart in Moon.

New retailers in the market, include Crate and Barrel and California Pizza Kitchen at Ross Park Mall, Ross; and Cadillac Ranch at Settlers Ridge.

A Lowe's Home Improvement is under construction along with LA Fitness and Fidelity Bank at McCandless Crossing in McCandless; Target will open in East Liberty; Red Robin Gourmet Burgers opened in South Hills Village and Saks Fifth Avenue opened Off 5th at Tanger Outlet Center in South Strabane.

On the industrial front, the report showed that for the first time since the end of 2004, vacancy levels increased during the April-June period.

The industrial vacancy rate rose to 10.8 percent at the end of June from 8.6 percent at the end of 2009. The new biggest vacancy is the 2.3 million-square-foot former Sony television assembly plant in Westmoreland County, which closed.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Several Downtown Pittsburgh landmarks up for sale

Friday, July 23, 2010
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The way things are going, the Golden Triangle just might become one gigantic "for sale" sign.

All over Downtown, buildings are going up for sale almost as fast as LeBron James jerseys in Cleveland.

And not just any old building. Some of Pittsburgh's signature real estate is on the block -- from Macy's (formerly Kaufmann's) department store to Gateway Center, the linchpin of the city's first renaissance.

Others up for sale include the Henry W. Oliver Building; the Regional Enterprise Tower, formerly the Alcoa building; EQT Tower, once known as Dominion Tower; and the American Red Cross of Southwestern Pennsylvania building.

And that doesn't even count some of the smaller properties that have hit the market recently.

What's next? The County Courthouse? PPG Place? U.S. Steel Tower?

The surge in sales has made newspaper headlines and even attracted the attention of City Hall. Aides to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl have consulted with local real estate brokers seeking to determine what is driving the phenomenon.

Yarone Zober, Mr. Ravenstahl's chief of staff, said officials have been assured that, overall, the jump in listings is more a sign of the market's vibrancy than anything else.

"By and large, when I talk to people in the industry, the answer is that people are selling in Pittsburgh because they want to sell high," he said.

Experts appear to be divided on just what is fueling the sales binge. Some, like Mr. Zober, believe it is a sign of a robust real estate market. One contrarian sees owners cashing in before the bottom falls out because of fears of a prolonged recession.

Others see it as almost coincidence, with a variety of factors at work rather than a single motivating force.

"There's nothing in the water, if you will. There's logic behind each of these," said Aaron Stauber, the president of New York-based Rugby Realty, which has extensive property holdings in Pittsburgh.

Mr. Stauber believes that in the case of Gateway Center and the EQT Tower, the owners are looking to cash in after upgrading their properties.

Both the Gateway Center complex, with four buildings, and EQT Tower, now the headquarters of utility EQT, have high occupancy rates and are well positioned for a sale, he said.

"The properties are at a position where the highest value can be gained [in a sale]," he said.

Mr. Stauber said some sellers may have held off in listing their real estate over the last few years because of the recession and the credit crunch. With the financial markets stabilizing, he said, now might be a good time to sell.

"For those properties, it's like a pent-up demand situation. They may have come to the market three years ago under normal circumstances," he said.

The fact that the buildings are for sale may be an indication that "we're finally starting to see the market open up," he said.

In a recent interview, Gary Horwitz, president of Los Angeles-based Hertz Investment Group, the owner of Gateway Center, said the firm believes it is an "opportune time" to go to the market and turn a profit because of the demand for quality assets and the strength of the local real estate market.

He called Pittsburgh one of the top five real estate markets in the country right now. Hertz purchased the buildings in Gateway Center for $55 million in 2004. The occupancy rate is now about 85 percent. Mr. Horwitz would not disclose an asking price.

"I think nationally there's a shortage of quality buildings on the market. There's a tremendous amount of cash sitting on the sidelines waiting for quality. This building is going to be well received. It's in a quality city and a quality asset," he said.

Macy's is another which has said it is seeking to capitalize on the strong market Downtown while at the same time looking for someone to better use some of the empty space in the landmark building at Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street. Even with a sale, the department store is expected to remain in the building.

On the other hand, Mr. Stauber believes the Oliver Building and the Regional Enterprise Tower, with lower occupancy rates, face different issues. One factor that may be driving the sale of the Oliver Building, he said, is the loss of the K&L Gates law firm, which moved to One Oliver Plaza, now K&L Gates Center, in March.

"Those are properties where something needs to happen. They need to be repositioned. Either the current owners will reposition them or the new owners will reposition them," he said.

Mr. Stauber, who has made a living turning around underachieving properties, said he will "take a look" at both buildings. Whether he has any further interest, he said, is "subject to further review."

At the same time, Rugby Realty may put the Manor Building on Forbes Avenue on the market again, he noted. The firm offered the 11-story structure for sale in 2008, but ended up pulling it off the market because of the recession.

Herky Pollock, an executive vice president for real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, said the central business district has seen an increase in rental rates and net absorption over the last few years.

That, he added, "bodes well for future potential investors and it allows owners to reap the benefits of these increases."

"You'd be hard pressed to find a city outside of Chicago, New York or Boston that has experienced the stability and growth that Pittsburgh has experienced in the last five years," he said.

According to CB Richard Ellis, the office vacancy rate Downtown in the first quarter was 12.2 percent, one of the lowest in the Pittsburgh market. The average lease rate for Class A office space was $23.70, the highest in the market.

While some see the wave of buildings for sale as a good indicator, Tom Sullivan, a commercial broker for Pennsylvania Commercial Real Estate, isn't one of them.

He maintained that some owners may be selling because they are worried about a prolonged recession and see rental rates plunging and occupancy dipping over the next few years.

"I don't believe it is because it's such a robust market. I think these people see it as it's not going to get much better than it is today," he said.

Mr. Sullivan believes a proposal to sell off city parking authority garages and city meters to help stabilize the city pension fund would only make matters worse, since parking rates would increase dramatically over the next five years. That could deter people from wanting to work Downtown and cause businesses to look for locations in the suburbs.

He said that, in his experience, one of the biggest issues in trying to land tenants for buildings Downtown is the cost of parking.

"If they do anything close to what they're talking about, there's going to be a greater exodus Downtown," he said.

But Mr. Zober said the parking authority owns only 25 percent of the spaces Downtown. The rest are in private hands and generally charge higher daily rates than the city.

"This is a way for us to get even with the private market," he said. "Hopefully, it will have a negligible effect rather than a great effect. If we controlled 100 percent of the parking Downtown, I would understand the concern."

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Commercial real estate activity in Pittsburgh region beats U.S.

By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Thursday, July 22, 2010

The volume of sales of commercial real estate in the five-county Pittsburgh area is fairing better than such property sales around the United States, according to a report Wednesday from RealStats, a real estate research firm on the South Side.

The $396 million worth of transactions through June 2010 represented 59.3 percent of the annual average over the previous five years. The comparable figure for the nation, however, was 26 percent.

Allegheny County accounted for almost $278 million of the region's first-half 2010 sales, and Westmoreland accounted for $45 million. First-half sales of offices and other commercial properties in the Pittsburgh area peaked at $907 million in 2006 and fell to $257 million in first-half 2009.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial Announces the Sale of Heritage Meadows Apartments

PITTSBURGH, PA – (July 20, 2010)

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial and Coldwell Banker Commercial are proud to announce the sale of Heritage Meadows Apartments for $2,250,000. Heritage Meadows is a 36 unit apartment complex in Peters Township.

John Adair of Coldwell Banker and Gregg Broujos and Luke Hingson of NAI Pittsburgh Commercial represented the sellers. The buyer is Heritage Meadows Partners L.P, a local investor syndication.

“The sale of Heritage Meadows is another example of the extremely strong multi-family market in Western Pennsylvania” according to Gregg Broujos, founding principal at NAI Pittsburgh Commercial

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, locally owned company and established leader of Western Pennsylvania’s Commercial Real Estate Industry, provides results-oriented brokerage,
consulting, marketing and research services to businesses and investors throughout the world.

For additional information on multi-family opportunities, please contact Luke Hingson (ext. 208) or Gregg Broujos (ext. 206) at (412) 321-4200.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Commercial Market Falls to 10th

By Sam Spatter, FOR THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Pittsburgh improved its score on Moody's latest ranking of commercial real estate markets in 60 metropolitan areas during the second quarter. But the region fell from fifth place to 10th.

The region ″still is a good market. It's just that other metro areas improved their markets greater than Pittsburgh,″ said Keith Banhazl, a vice president with Moody's Investors Service, which compiles the report known as the Red-Green-Yellow survey each quarter.

Honolulu made the top of the latest list, followed by New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City and San Jose.

Randy McCombs, a principal with Grant Street Associates, Downtown, noted the region still is in the top 10 -- ″a good indication that Pittsburgh continues on its nice and steady commercial real estate way,″ he said.

Only a year ago, Moody's ranked Pittsburgh first in the nation. The survey gauged Pittsburgh on occupancy rates for apartment and office buildings and hotels.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is Pleased to Announce:

Raymond C. Orowetz, P.E. obtains LEED Green Associate credential

PITTSBURGH, PA July 19 2010

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is pleased to announce that Raymond C. Orowetz, P.E., recently passed the LEED Green Associate exam as administered by the Green Building Certification Institute. This credential denotes knowledge of green building principles, technologies, best practices and the rapidly evolving LEED Rating System. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally recognized third-party green building certification system and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance buildings.

Mr. Orowetz, also a register professional civil engineer, has been affiliated with NAI since June of 2005 following a fifteen year stint as president of his own commercial real estate firm and has a total of 25 years experience in the commercial real estate industry.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial, a locally owned company and established leader of Western Pennsylvania’s Commercial Real Estate Industry, provides results-oriented brokerage, consulting, marketing and research services to businesses and investors throughout the world.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Patrick Sentner, SIOR, interviewed on KDKA Channel 2 News

Several Buildings In Downtown Pittsburgh Go Up For Sale:

Click here to hear our own Patrick Sentner, SIOR, provide his insight on the local Pittsburgh market in a recent interview with KDKA’s Jon Delano.

Apartment rents in Pittsburgh region edge upward by 3 percent

Average apartment rents in the Pittsburgh region, over the past six months, have increased by 3 percent, according to a national survey.

Average rent -- within a 10 mile radius of Pittsburgh -- is $792, said rentjungle.com, an apartment search and market research website. It reported it was $789 at the end of the first quarter.

Locally, one bedroom apartments rent for $659 a month on an average and two bedroom apartments average $808 a month, it said.

The most expensive Pittsburgh neighborhoods to rent apartments are in the South Side, rentjingle said. That includes the South Shore, Southside Slopes and Southside Flats.

Average rents for all size apartments there range from about $1,100 to $1,000, the report said.

Cheapest rents are in the neighborhoods of Stanton Heights. about $700, Lower Lawrenceville about $720 and East Liberty, about $750.

Debbie Roberts, general manager of the 298-unit Cork Factory in the Strip District, said Pittsburgh's apartment market is extremely strong, noting her complex is at 99 percent occupied

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Global Economic Outlook with Dr. Peter Linneman

Web Conference
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Time: 1 PM to 2 PM EDT

Is the Economic Recovery on Solid Ground?
Join NAI Global Chief Economist Dr. Peter Linneman for a discussion on how the European debt crisis will impact economic recovery in the U.S. and the rest of the world. Is our confidence shaken, or just stirred? Dr. Linneman will also be available to answer your questions during the event.

Dr. Lineman, widely recognized as one of the leading strategic thinkers in the real estate industry, was recently cited as one of the 25 most influential people in real estate by Realtor Magazine. He serves as the Albert Sussman Professor of Real Estate, Finance and Public Policy at the Wharton School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Principal, Linneman Associates.

The Global Economic Outlook Web Conference will be held July 21, 2010 at 1:00 PM EDT. Participation is limited, so be sure to register early by clicking here.

Downtown Pittsburgh property owners test commercial real estate market

Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley

If there’s one thing Gary Horwitz, president of Los Angeles-based Hertz Investment Group, wants to make clear about his company’s plans to sell the 1.5 million-square-foot Gateway Center Downtown, it’s this: They’re not selling because they have to.

“It’s not a distressed sale. We’re selling this because we think it is the right time,” he said, adding the company is considering purchasing other property in town. “I think it will be a good investment, and I think it will encourage us to invest in other properties in Pittsburgh.”

For reasons all their own, Downtown has seen a number of significant properties go up for sale recently.

Unlike five or six years ago, when local brokerage professionals were describing the market as the worst in 30 years, Pittsburgh’s commercial real estate sector today is outperforming a national market that continues to struggle.

Property owners such as Hertz are seeking to capitalize on that position.

In addition to Gateway Center’s potential, Hertz’s commercial brokers — the Los Angeles office of Grubb & Ellis — are marketing the strength of Pittsburgh and its Downtown, which includes a low 7.6 percent vacancy rate for Class A office property, a top-five ranking for overall real estate market performance, a mix of Fortune 500 companies and an emerging energy sector.

Not far from Gateway Center, the Southwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the American Red Cross acknowledged this week it is working to hire a commercial real estate firm to put its Downtown office building up for sale and to help it find new property in which to operate. The Red Cross expects to choose a brokerage firm in the next few weeks and put its four-story, 38,000-square-foot headquarters building on the market soon after, said Brian Knavish, the organization’s director of media relations.

Both properties join the Oliver Building; EQT Plaza, formerly known as Dominion Tower; and the Regional Enterprise Tower among major Downtown buildings recently marketed for sale.

“Everything is up for sale Downtown now,” said Ned Doran, an executive vice president with GVA Oxford.

EYES ON HERTZ
The local real estate community will watch closely to see if Hertz, which bought the property in 2004 from TrizecHahn Corp., can turn a profit on the sale of Gateway. The company paid $55 million for the property and invested another $8 million in upgrades.

Stephen Blank, a senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute who follows real estate capital markets and investment, said commercial real estate values remain down, by some estimates nearly 40 percent.

“Values are clearly down peak to trough from 2007 to the end of 2009,” he said.

That trend, coupled with more stringent financing terms, poses challenges for sellers, Blank said. At the same time, he sees improvements in the overall market and a lot of capital on the sidelines.

Dan Puntil, a senior vice president who manages the office of Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, said the national investment community is beginning to consider Pittsburgh in ways it hasn’t before.

“There’s a lot of people out there looking for real estate deals right now,” Puntil said. “Pittsburgh has always been somewhat overlooked by the investment community. Lately, there are some people coming into the market.”

Horwitz sees that as the case. He said the company decided to put the property on the market after it generated a strong number of inquiries.

“The motivating factor is we’re a national real estate company. We operate in 12 markets throughout the United States, and Pittsburgh has consistently been the strongest of those markets,” he said. “We’re really reacting to consistent requests of inquiry for Gateway Center.”

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh Economy Ranks as Top 100 Strongest

Pittsburgh Business Times
Pittsburgh, PA (May 15, 2010)

Metro Pittsburgh has the 73rd strongest economy in the United States, according to a study released Wednesday by Policom Corp.

The top 10 are Seattle; Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria; Denver; Houston; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Des Moines, Iowa; San Diego; Madison, Wis.; and Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington.

So what constitutes a top area in terms of economics?

"The top rated areas have had rapid, consistent growth in both size and quality for an extended period of time," said William Fruth, president of Palm City, Fla.-based Policom. “The rankings do not reflect the latest ‘hotspot’ or boom town, but the areas which have the best economic foundation. While most communities have slowed or declined during this recession, the strongest areas have been able to weather the storm.”

The study focused on 366 metropolitan areas, including Pittsburgh. The firm considers a metropolitan area to be at least one urbanized geographic location that has a population of 50,000 or more persons.

To determine how these areas are performing, Policom measures 23 different economic factors.

The data company followed 20 years of data covering 23 economic factors to create the rankings. The most recent study focused on a 19-year period stretching from 1989 to 2008.

Policom is an independent research firm that focuses on economics and specializes in analyzing local and state economies.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.

Pittsburgh Named Most Livable City Again

Tuesday, May 04, 2010
By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Once again, Pittsburgh has been named the country's Most Livable City, this time by Forbes.com.

The business publication ranked the metropolitan area as No. 1, based on its arts and leisure scene, job prospects, safety and affordability -- but not, obviously, on its baseball team.

This is the second-year running that the city has picked up a Most Livable distinction. Last year, British magazine The Economist named Pittsburgh No. 1 in the United States, and 29th worldwide. But it's a big jump from where Forbes ranked Pittsburgh in 2009, when it came in at No. 10.

Reiterating the description that has won high marks from other ratings mavens as well, Forbes reporter Francesca Levy wrote of the city's rebound from its manufacturing past, with "disused steel mills" transformed into multimedia art centers.

In addition to the Rust Belt renaissance, the article cited the city's strong university presence with more than a dozen campuses, noting that college towns in general have a younger, more educated and consumer-oriented population.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl pounced on the news, sending out a statement that "Our city has come a long way and I'm thrilled that Forbes.com has once again recognized Pittsburgh's unique position as a city that truly has it all -- entertainment and affordability, but most importantly, safety and jobs."

If people are guffawing at the honor the way they did in 1985, when the city won its first Most Livable distinction, from the Places Rated Almanac, they're woefully out of date, said Joe McGrath, president of Visit Pittsburgh, the official tourist promotion agency of Allegheny County.

"This is more validation that our product is as good as we say it is," he said.

So why is the region still losing population?

"It takes a while to steer a new course and change directions," Mr. McGrath said. "But it is happening."

The methodology looked at five measures in the 200 largest Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Economically, cities were ranked both by their five-year income growth and current unemployment rate, using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The stronger the income growth and the lower the unemployment, the higher each city ranked.

"Jobs don't mean everything, though," the article said. "A city is more livable if a family's income goes further. Using cost of living data from Moody's Economy.com, we ranked cities higher that had lower costs for everyday goods."

Inexpensive is not always desirable, however, so the ranking included crimes per 100,000 residents, using data from the FBI and Sperling's Best Places. Also considered was a thriving local culture crucial to livability, based on an index from Sperling's Best Places.

Each city's final score was an average of all the factors. Looking at Pittsburgh's numbers, it appears that low crime rate, active arts scene and high income growth put the city over the top. The city's score card:

Low unemployment: 73

Low crime: 15

Income growth: 20

Low cost of living: 52

Arts and leisure: 26

After Pittsburgh in the top slot, Forbes.com ranked these cities: 2) Ogden-Clearfield, Utah; 3) Provo-Orem, Utah; 4) Ann Arbor, Mich.; 5) Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.; 6) Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa; 7) Manchester-Nashua, N.H.; 8) Trenton-Ewing N.J.; 9) a tie, with Lincoln, Neb., and Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.

NAI Pittsburgh Commercial is a Pittsburgh proud locally owned and operated company. To see some of the investment and development opportunities available in the Pittsburgh region click here.