Once part of Pittsburgh’s “Wall Street,” the Standard Life Building, Downtown, has sold for more than $5 million, and the new owner has plans to upgrade its apartments and add “a little pizzazz” to the street-level retail space.
Pele Investment Group closed on the sale of the 12½-story building at Fourth Avenue and Smithfield Street last week after bidding on the property during an online auction sponsored by Auction.com and the Beynon & Co. real estate firm in November.
The auction did not produce a sale, but Pele, a local group, ended up working out a deal in the aftermath to secure the property, said Richard Beynon, president of Beynon & Co.
“We had tremendous interest in the building from all across the nation. It was probably one of the most active listings I’ve had in a long time,” he said. “It just shows the demand for properties in the Pittsburgh area and Pittsburgh being on the map for investors from all over the nation.”
The sales price, at more than $5 million, was more than double the $2 million former owner Penn Hills Place LLC and Penn Hills Arms LLC paid for the property after buying it at sheriff sale in 2013.
It also was far higher than the $525,000 starting bid on the auction. The building is assessed at $2.4 million.
“The income the building was producing substantiated the price of over $5 million,” Mr. Beynon said.
Designed by Alden & Harlow and known for its turn-of-the-century Romanesque revival architecture, the building anchored one end of Fourth Avenue in what was then known as Pittsburgh’s Wall Street because of the many financial institutions in the area.
Built in 1902 for offices, the upper floors of the structure were converted to student housing in 2005 and then turned into apartments by the Penn Hills Place and Penn Hills Arms partnership.
Mr. Beynon said Pele is planning major upgrades to the apartments in hopes of attracting professionals who work in Downtown.
The building, with 41 units, is 97 percent occupied, with rents ranging from $800 to $1,200 a month. With the improvements, the rents will increase, Mr. Beynon said.
At street level, Pele is hoping to secure a high-end deli or “something with a little pizzazz” to occupy the 1,600-square-foot retail space.
Mr. Beynon noted it is a corner spot close to One Oxford Centre, Macy’s, Point Park University and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
For Mr. Beynon, the transaction has special meaning. It marks the fourth time he has sold the property. “Not too many people get to sell one building four times in their lifetime,” he noted.
First Published: January 14, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
