songbird ombudsman: Real estate notes

By Sam Spatter

Published: Saturday, January 19, 2013, 9:00?p.m.
Updated 10 hours ago

? The Brix at 26, an 87-unit apartment complex on the site of the former Goodwill Building on S. Carson Street in the South Side, will open for occupancy on Feb. 1 with more than 20 percent of its apartments pre-leased. ?We are very pleased with the interest the building is receiving, and the only problem is we only have a total of 87 units to lease,? said Jim Scalo, a partner of Burns & Scalo Real Estate Co., owner/developer. The building has environmentally friendly construction and is pet and smoke free, which has been popular, he said. One bedrooms are renting for $1,450 to $2,100, and two-bedrooms for $1,736 to $2,200.

? Duquesne University and Carnegie Mellon University will seek approval Tuesday from the Allegheny County Higher Education Building Authority to seek tax-exempt revenue bonds. Duquesne seeks $17 million to finance all or part of renovations to Duquesne Towers, St. Ann?s Hall, Libermann Hall and for other capital expendures. Carnegie Mellon seeks up to $60 million for construction, furnishing and equipping the 105,000-square-foot Nano/Bio/Energy Technologies Building. The funds would also cover improvements to clean rooms, wet and dry labs and energy research space. A hearing is set for 10:30 a.m., 425 Sixth Ave., Suite 800, Downtown.

? EQT Corp. is adding 23,494 square feet to its space on the 12th floor of its headquarters, EQT Plaza, 625 Liberty Ave., Downtown. That will give it 235,994 square feet in the building. David Massaro of Massaro Properties LLC is representing EQT in the expansion. Pat Greene of CBRE Inc. represents the landlord, Liberty Avenue Holdings, affiliated with Highwood Properties of Raleigh, N.C.

? Heather Nally has opened the Micro Diner at 221 Shiloh St., Mt. Washington, thanks to a $29,060 loan from the Pittsburgh Business Growth Fund from the Urban Redevelopment Authority toward the total investment of $72,651. Six jobs were created. Micro serves breakfast all day.

? A request to demolish a building at 202 Rodi Road will be heard by the Penn Hills Planning Commission Thursday. Morris Knowles & Associates would then build a 1,600-square-foot addition to an adjacent building for a kidney dialysis center, DaVita Dialysis. A hearing is at 7 p.m., municipal building, 12245 Frankstown Road.

? A rebuilt Goodwill store at 89 Jefferson Ave., Washington, will hold a grand opening at 9 a.m. on Wednesday with prizes, refreshments and gift cards. The store is the fifth of Goodwill?s new prototype stores, said David Tobiczyk, vice president of marketing for Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania. It will have 9,300 square feet of sales space within the 15,000-square-foot structure and include a collection center with 20 employees. Burns & Scalo Real Estate Advisory Services Inc. was developer and general contractor. A temporary Goodwill store at 853 Jefferson will close at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Sam Spatter is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7843 or sspatter@tribweb.com.