For more than 75 years, the Clark Building has been the epicenter of the Downtown jewelry trade, the go-to place for everything from engagement rings to diamond necklaces.

The jewelers who remain in the 23-story building on Liberty Avenue that now houses mostly apartments — with more on the way — want to keep it that way.

Many of them have banded together to promote the Pittsburgh Jewelry District in the Clark Building in hopes of keeping the tradition alive and attracting more business in this age of Amazon and online sales.

“With the years of declining retail [Downtown], losing Macy’s and other stores, we think it’s important to promote retail shopping, bricks and mortar stores,” said Girish Jain, owner of Universal Diamonds, a jewelry importer and wholesaler located on the second floor of the building.

In its heyday, the Clark Building housed dozens of jewelers on its 23 floors. Now it’s down to about 16, all but one housed on the first through third floors.

The last of the fourth-floor jewelers, Rothschild Trading Co., likely will be relocating to a lower level as well, as the building owner, PMC Property Group, converts the fourth floor to apartments.

Two other jewelry businesses, Universal and Star Jewelry, already have relocated from the fourth floor to lower ones.

“The idea was to consolidate space to get them all together. I think that makes operational sense,” said Kevin McKeegan, PMC’s attorney.

Philadelphia-based PMC has a conditional use permit pending before the city planning commission to transfer the development rights of 12 units from a building it owns at 908 Penn Ave. to the Clark Building so that it can add more apartments.

Mr. McKeegan said all 12 of the new apartments — nine one-bedroom and three two-bedroom — will be located on the fourth floor.

PMC is the second developer to make use of such a transfer recently.

Stamford, Conn.-based JCS Capital LLC is buying the rights to 75 units that the Pittsburgh Parking Authority holds at the Grant Street Transportation Center, home to one of its garages and the Greyhound Lines bus terminal.

JCS Capital needed the extra units as part of its plan to convert the 21-story Commonwealth Building at 316 Fourth Ave. into 150 studio and one-bedroom apartments. It isn’t sure yet whether the apartments will be for students or if they will be market rate units available to everyone.

At the Clark Building, many of the jewelers began marketing themselves as the Pittsburgh Jewelry District last year. They have developed signage, their own website — www.jewelrydistrictpgh.com — and fliers to help increase awareness of their presence.

The website touts the nearly 100 years of experience that the group brings, adding, “Having assisted thousands of customers with every possible occasion, our group of dealers can offer a legendary level of service that only decades of experience make possible.”

Mr. Jain said the jewelers, wholesalers and retailers are hoping to work with the city and other Downtown groups to promote the building as a jewelry district and to increase foot traffic.

They also would like to become part of the annual Light-Up Night festivities in November. The group also has been thinking about making arrangements for valet parking during the holiday season.

Decades ago, lots of people knew about the jewelry hub in the Clark Building. But that may not be the case these days, Mr. Jain said. He’s hoping the group, with help from the city and others, can change that.

“We’ve been in the building since 1986. We hope to be here for the next 30 years,” he said of his business. “We’d like to see this building kind of hold on.”

The jewelry trade is part of the Clark Building’s rich history.

Built in 1927, it is named for James W. Clark, the founder of MGM. At one time, it served as the district headquarters of Warner Brothers and attracted movie stars and others in the film industry.

Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

First Published: October 11, 2018, 12:30 p.m.