It didn't take long for another buyer to emerge for Downtown's landmark Union Trust Building.
About a week after a New York-based investment group pulled out of a deal to buy the building at 501 Grant St., a major California-based investor on Thursday stepped up to put the building under agreement for purchase.
"I can tell you that the property is under agreement, but I can't identify the buyer," said Jeffrey Ackerman, executive vice president of the CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh commercial real estate firm.
The building has a market value of $30.75 million, including land, county records show.
Ackerman declined to specify a sale price. He has been marketing the block-long, 11-story building on behalf of Cigna Corp., its Philadelphia-based owner.
The previous potential buyer, a New York investment group that included Houlihan-Parnes/iCap Realty Advisors, of White Plains, and J.J. Operating Corp., of New York City, pulled out when they could not secure financing.
"I don't think that will be a problem this time," Ackerman said. "This is a substantial buyer with major holdings nationally.
"The owner told me they plan to return the building to its original grandeur and spend a substantial amount of money to keep it as a prime office building on Grant Street. They also have plans to upgrade the retail and conference space."
The company is a privately held firm with expertise in rehabilitating older properties, he said.
The agreement to buy the building should close within 60 days.
Even before then, CB Richard Ellis will begin a marketing effort to secure leases with new tenants, he said.
The historic building was designed in Flemish Gothic style by noted Pittsburgh architect F.J. Osterling and built in 1916 for industrialist Henry Clay Frick, but it has been nearly empty since it was vacated by Mellon Financial Corp. last year.
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
