A Bridgeville developer’s gamble to start construction of the four-story District 15 office building in the Strip District last year without a tenant in hand paid off in a big way when it landed Facebook.
Now RDC Design + Build is ready to roll the dice again in the Strip — on an even grander scale.
RDC once again will team with Orangestar Properties of Mineral Ridge, Ohio, near Youngstown to build a “signature office tower” on Buncher Company-owned property at 15th and Smallman streets next door to District 15.
And like the last one, they are doing so without a tenant in hand, convinced that the demand for space in the Strip, one of the hottest markets in the region, will work to their advantage.
“We’re very confident in the amount of interest that we’ve had to date for this project,” said Shawn Fox, RDC president.
The nine-story building, dubbed District 15 Beta Version, will feature 205,000 square feet of office space, 5,000 square feet of street-level food and beverage, and a unique two-story 20,000-square-foot flex space facing Smallman that can be deployed either for retail or research and development.
That space can be used to build or test pilot projects or for light assembly and manufacturing, depending on the needs of the tenant.
The seven stories of offices will be built above two stories of parking, 380 spaces in all.
RDC and Orangestar also are upping their game in terms of amenities to attract tenants. They will include a tenant lounge, food services, dry cleaning pick up, pet services and multiple terraces. Bicycles and scooters also will be available to rent.
There also will be a fitness center with monthly visits by well known instructors and other programs “to keep our tenants engaged and to use the amenities and not just have them there as an after thought,” said John R. Deklewa, CEO of RDC.
But Mr. Fox said the new building’s biggest selling point is a well worn one — location, location, location.
It is perched at the entrance of a stretch that has become known as “robotics row” housing firms like Apple, Uber, Argo AI, and Robert Bosch LLC. More and more, the Strip, Mr. Fox said, is becoming an extension of Downtown’s central business district.
“What the Strip is becoming, because it’s connected to the CBD, is the new CBD. It’s the tech part of the CBD,” he said.
Construction of the building is expected to start in early summer, with completion targeted for August 2020. RDC declined to disclose the cost, although it is expected to be significantly higher than the $25 million District 15 building.
Mr. Fox would not discuss potential tenants, but said that those who have reached out to RDC include companies that are not currently in the Pittsburgh market or suburban firms looking to move into the city.
“We believe the Strip District with the connectivity it has offers a premium location to tenants that want the amenities of the Strip District, want the amenities of the central business district, and have great transportation access,” he said.
RDC has reached an agreement with the Buncher Company on a long-term ground lease to build at the new location. The building will stretch from 15th Street to the Veteran’s Bridge.
The site, like the District 15 building across the street, is part of Buncher’s ambitious $450 million Riverfront Landing development, which is to feature more than 750 units of housing, plus office and retail space, on 37 acres of prime Allegheny riverfront, much of it now used for parking.
As RDC prepares to start a new building, District 15 is all but complete. Facebook is believed to be taking all 105,000 square feet in that structure, although RDC has repeatedly refused to confirm that.
Besides the District 15 building, the Buncher Riverfront Landing development features a 364-unit luxury apartment complex, with another 443 units in the works. In addition Laurel Communities is planning 46 for-sale townhouses behind the historic produce terminal at a cost of $35 million.
The townhouses will be built along Waterfront Place, the new street that runs between 11th and 21st streets. The entrances to the District 15 and the District 15 Beta Version buildings also will be on Waterfront Place.
“What we’re trying to create here is a campus that really caters to high-tech, cutting edge tenants who will use this as a tool for recruitment and retention of the best and brightest workers,” Mr. Deklewa said.
RDC is not the only one building in the Strip.
Oxford Development Company is getting ready to kick off a second phase of its 3 Crossings project with two three-story, 55,415-square-foot office buildings known as the Stacks at 3 Crossings.
They are part of a broader development that could include up to six office buildings, two apartment buildings, and an 800-space parking garage.
New Jersey-based Rugby Realty also is planning a two-building mixed-use development totaling more than 400,000 square feet on land it owns at 21st and Smallman streets.
Chicago-based McCaffery Interests is preparing to close on the produce terminal and the 1600 Smallman building across the street. Plans for both include office, retail, and other uses.
According to the CBRE real estate firm, which is marketing the District 15 Beta Version building, 86 percent of all urban development is in the Downtown fringe, including the Strip, or Oakland and the East End.
Likewise, out of 928,000 square feet of office space in the construction pipeline at the end of 2018, all but 90,000 square feet of it involved the Strip and other Downtown fringe markets and Oakland/East End, the Newmark Knight Frank real estate company reported.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: January 11, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
