Real estate investors give long looks to Pittsburgh (Washington, Oakland: neighborhoods, to relocate)

[airwave09]

Real estate investors give long looks to Pittsburgh
From clunker to Cadillac, Class A office space is sizzling
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


It wasn't that long ago that real estate investors treated Pittsburgh much like a clunker in a fancy car lot that didn't even deserve a glance.
But these days, Downtown is getting a lot of looks, thanks to a real estate market that is giving larger cities like San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C., a run for their money.
Pittsburgh, you might say, has gone from clunker to Cadillac.
No one knows that better than Jeffrey Ackerman, a CB Richard Ellis executive who proved to be a popular guy at a recent company symposium for institutional investors in Scottsdale, Ariz. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to know about Pittsburgh.

Read more: Real estate investors give long looks to Pittsburgh

[gameguy56]

What's good for downtown is good for the city and the broader region as a whole

[pman]

I wonder how class C office compares to what one could get if the space were converted to residential

[BrianTH]

It is nice to hear people are educating themselves about Pittsburgh. The numbers have looked good for a while now, but I think a lot of people are still lumping Pittsburgh in with all the other "rust belt" cities.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by pman

I wonder how class C office compares to what one could get if the space were converted to residential

I'd guess if you can do a conversion for a reasonable amount, it would be a good change. In fact, I assume that is the logic behind the planned conversion projects for the State Office and Verizon buildings.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

It is nice to hear people are educating themselves about Pittsburgh. The numbers have looked good for a while now, but I think a lot of people are still lumping Pittsburgh in with all the other "rust belt" cities.

That may be so, but as this article highlights there are now a lot of outside investors giving Pittsburgh a look, which is more than the almost non-existant number that were doing so before.

Like they say, it starts with a trickle and before long it becomes a raging stream as word spreads around. We are on the right track.

[airwave09]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

What's good for downtown is good for the city and the broader region as a whole

Yep, downtown is and will always be the face of the city. There is no doubt in my mind that if we concentrate on making it as well as the immediate neighborhoods surrounding it as awesome as possible, the momentum from that investment will spread to the rest of the city and region.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by airwave09

Yep, downtown is and will always be the face of the city. There is no doubt in my mind that if we concentrate on making it as well as the immediate neighborhoods surrounding it as awesome as possible, the momentum from that investment will spread to the rest of the city and region.

Good to hear that Oakland is doing well too.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

Good to hear that Oakland is doing well too.

I think you could argue that Oakland is more important as a "face" of the city. Sure, probably more out-of-towners see Downtown, but how many of them will be looking to relocate soon? On the other hand, there are loads of fresh students coming in each semester that are potential future Pittsburghers.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by airwave09

That may be so, but as this article highlights there are now a lot of outside investors giving Pittsburgh a look, which is more than the almost non-existant number that were doing so before.

Like they say, it starts with a trickle and before long it becomes a raging stream as word spreads around. We are on the right track.

Absolutely. I think we would already be farther along this path if not for the financial crisis in real estate, but investors won't ignore a good opportunity forever.