Interesting article about Downtown's Class B office space (Pittsburgh: lower-class, hotels)

[BrianTH]

Article:

Plenty of B class space available in Downtown Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Based on some counts, vacancies in Class B have gone the opposite way as vacancies in Class A, with the explanation being that tenants took advantage of the recession to move to nicer offices. But if you read through the end, you'll see it is not quite that simple, in part because some vacant Class B is in development for non-office projects (residential or hotel), and thus by other counts the Class B vacancy rate is now falling.

To add my two cents, as we have discussed before, I do think the office tenant mix Downtown is shifting a bit more upscale. That means Downtown needs more Class A space, and there are several projects in the works to supply it (new buildings, or renovations of older buildings). But to that extent there are lower-class buildings being freed for conversion projects, that is great news for the overall development of Downtown as a live/work/play neighborhood.

[airwave09]

The conversion of of a ton of Class B office space to non-office will be the key to continuing Downtown's momentum. Companies will always want office space downtown and soon the only option will be for developers to build new Class A. Another mini-development boom could be on the horizon.

[AaronPGH]

If all of the Class-B plans go through in the buildings around Mellon Square, that part of town will be drastically different. Crossing my fingers...

[sskink]

The Kimpton hotels I've stayed at are pretty cool. Roomier than a typical Ace layout. Hope that happens.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Crossing my fingers...

Me too. The renovations of Mellon Square itself should also nicely complement whichever of these projects come to fruition.