Bakery Square update: $150M mixed-use center develops East End in new direction
January 27, 2010 |
| Bakery Square is shaping up near the corner of Fifth and Penn Avenues, transforming the former Nabisco factory into a mixed-use center that is quickly filling up with retailers and big-name corporations and institutions. Google recently announced it's moving its Pittsburgh headquarters into 40,000 square feet of the $150 million development. The build-out is being designed by Strada, and the offices are expected to open in May. This announcement has increased demand for the already in-demand office space, says Jeremy Kronman with CB Richard Ellis. "We had 220,000 square feet, and now we're down to 110,000--half the space we had before Google's announcement. And Bakery Square doesn't even open till May. This is all pre-leasing," says Kronman. Bakery Square already houses offices for the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, which moved into its space in mid-December. Other committed companies include the 110-room Marriott SpringHill Suites hotel (already booking conferences for June and July); the 41,550-square-foot Urban Active fitness center (opening summer 2010 with a full-size indoor pool, and currently signing new members); and local chain Coffee Tree Roasters, which is constructing an outdoor caf? area (just one of several outdoors areas in Bakery Square). Other retailers are still under wraps--Walnut Capital has confidentiality agreements with major prospects--but rumors of Pottery Barn and Anthropologie are swirling, and Kronman confirms companies in "that genre of retailers" will be moving in. Bakery Square, developed by Walnut Capital and designed by Astorino, is pursuing LEED Silver--or higher--certification. Its eco-conscious assets include user-friendly features such as showers for bike commuters, and construction choices, such as re-using parts of the old factory building as fill for the site. Additionally, Bakery Square is reshaping not just the Nabisco brownfield, but also the surrounding areas--the project includes a redevelopment of the Fifth and Penn Avenue intersection (including turning lanes and widening the street), and the creation of a Penn Avenue bike lane. "The East End is already a residential destination with housing all over Shadyside, and a retail destination with Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and now the Target that's under construction. The area never quite had that corporate presence, and that's what Bakery Square is doing," says Kronman. "Oakland is surrounded by an island. It's grown down Second Avenue, and now it's growing in the other direction. The lineup of office tenants is going to include some of the largest corporations in the U.S. and some of the largest regional education groups, too." |
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