Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building hits the market

A hot market is anticipated for a Downtown building where the steam heat for many office buildings has been generated for decades.

The Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building on Fort Duquesne Boulevard between Sixth and Stanwix streets is on the market.

“We’re excited about the opportunity,” said Gregg Broujos, regional principal with Colliers, the firm that’s listing the property jointly with Jones Lang LaSalle.

They aren’t listing an asking price, but expect interest in the nearly-one-acre parcel that includes two connected brick buildings with 121,000 square feet of space and overlooks the Allegheny River, PNC Park and the North Shore.

The buildings are assessed at $1.8 million.

“We think there’s going to be a lot of activity,” Broujos said.

It isn’t often that a parcel of nearly an acre of Downtown property is available, Broujos said.

“Someone may want it for the land value or the buildings,” he said.

PACT was created in 1983 to take over operations of a steam-generating station on Fort Duquesne Boulevard that was previously owned by a subsidiary of Duquesne Light.

The nonprofit has been plagued for years with aging infrastructure and rising costs, prompting clients to drop out and install their own systems. PACT’s customer base has dropped from 102 in 1992 to about 55 today. Clients, including the city and county, have representatives on its board of directors.

The sale doesn’t include the underground tunnels PACT uses to convey steam heat to other buildings, including the City-County Building and Allegheny County Courthouse.

The PACT heating system is old, failing and in need of repair. In March, city officials inked an agreement with Clearway energy for similar heating. PACT is phasing out of its operations, Broujos said.

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PACT general manager Tim O’Brien couldn’t be reached for comment.

The property could be used as an investment, or it could be converted to apartments, office space, lab space or other uses, according to a 29-page marketing packet.