Bakery Square still going strong
| Pittsburgh Post Gazzette
Mark Belko April 09, 2009 |
The recession doesn't seem to be dragging down the $130 million Bakery Square project in the East End. Developer Walnut Capital Management announced yesterday that it had landed its first office tenant -- the University of Pittsburgh's Human Engineering Research Laboratories. HERL, a partnership between Pitt, UPMC, and the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, will take about 40,000 square feet in Bakery Square, the former Nabisco plant in Larimer. HERL is led by Dr. Rory Cooper, one of the world's foremost authorities on wheelchair design. He uses a wheelchair as a result of injuries suffered during military service. At least 100 employees will be relocating from the VA complex on Highland Drive, said Gregg M. Perelman, Walnut Capital managing partner. They plan to move in by September or October. "We're so excited. The university also is looking to take additional space in the building. We're excited to have the University of Pittsburgh involved in this project," he said. Walnut Capital has about 200,000 square feet of office space available in the Bakery Square complex, which also will include retail and a hotel. During a brokers reception yesterday, the developer confirmed that home furnishings retailer Pottery Barn will be relocating to Bakery Square from Walnut Street in Shadyside. It will join sister store West Elm furniture; Anthropologie, a women's clothing store; and Urban Active Fitness at the site. All are scheduled to open in spring 2010. Once its lease is up, Pottery Barn will be leaving a three-level store in Shadyside rented from Walnut Capital to take the Bakery Square space. Mr. Perelman said the retailer would have left the East End altogether if it could not find a space big enough for single-level store, which it prefers. Walnut Capital also reportedly is negotiating with Ann Taylor Loft, which closed a store in SouthSide Works earlier this year, and Ugly Tuna Saloona, a Florida-based seafood grill, to locate at Bakery Square. It also is in talks with a local restaurant and a Japanese steak house.
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