One of the most recognizable buildings in the Strip District — the one with the giant smiling fish on one side — is up for sale after plans to convert it into a 144-unit apartment complex fizzled.
CBRE began marketing the 336,000-square-foot former cold storage warehouse Tuesday on behalf of its owner, the Sampson Morris Group, which purchased the property for $2 million in 2008.
“We think this is probably the best development site left in the city of Pittsburgh,” said Kyle Prawdzik, CBRE vice president.
Sampson Morris has not set an asking price for the windowless, heavily fortified building at 1501 Penn Ave. Built like a bomb shelter, the seven-story warehouse features a 12-inch-thick concrete outer skin and a 16-inch inner skin separated by a gap.
In 2013, Monroeville-based Sampson won approval from the city planning commission to convert the New Federal Cold Storage Building into a 144-unit apartment complex.
At the time, it presented plans to remove much of the concrete outer skin and punch holes in the inner skin for balconies or patios as an amenity for those living in the apartments.
But after getting city approval, the project ended up going nowhere. The building has sat empty in one of the hottest real estate markets in the Pittsburgh region for the last five years.
The apartment plan, Mr. Prawdzik said, is “off the table” unless another developer wants to revive it.
CBRE is marketing the old warehouse, which includes a small annex, for potential office and residential use.
The building is situated at the entrance to what is becoming known as “Robotics Row” with the presence of companies like Uber and Argo AI, as well as the National Robotics Engineering Center.
Mr Prawdzik said the highest and best use is probably offices, given the location and the strong demand for such space, although he would not rule out a possible residential conversion.
“We’re going to explore all avenues to find the highest value of the site,” he said.
The bunker-like building has such a heavy load capacity that a developer could easily add floors, he noted. With that in mind, CBRE is proposing that one possible reuse could be five floors of parking and seven floors of office.
Although it is putting the warehouse up for sale, Sampson Morris also would be willing to partner with another developer on a potential reuse, Mr. Prawdzik added.
CBRE is advertising the real estate as the “most identifiable building and commanding presence” in the Strip. Mr. Prawdzik said he began fielding calls from potential buyers within minutes of listing the property Tuesday.
“People want to live in the Strip District. People want to play in the Strip District, and people want to work in the Strip District. This is a very impressive site right now,” he said.
Redeveloping a former cold storage building into offices is not unprecedented. It has been done in Chicago, where the old Fulton Market Cold Storage building is now home to search engine giant Google’s Midwest headquarters.
Still to be determined is what happens to the smiling fish sign on the side of the Strip warehouse.
That would be left to the new owner, Mr. Prawdzik said. The sign, erected as a Christmas gift in 1989, has been the emblem of Robert Wholey & Co, the popular Strip fish market. The sign includes $16,000 worth of eco-friendly LED bulbs and measures 100 feet wide by 60 feet high.
Four years ago, Jim Wholey, the Wholey’s president, launched a campaign to find a new home for the smiling fish should the building be redeveloped. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: March 21, 2018, 12:00 p.m.
Updated: March 21, 2018, 12:00 p.m.
