Rockwell Venture Capital Trades Historic Pittsburgh Asset

Convention Tower

Market Street Real Estate Partners has acquired Convention Tower, a 91,000-square-foot office building in downtown Pittsburgh, for $7.7 million. Yardi Matrix identified the seller as Rockwell Venture Capital.

The asset last sold in 1989, when Huntington National Bank traded the property for $3.8 million, Yardi Matrix shows.

The property encompasses two conjoined buildings featuring Victorian and early 20th-century architecture. It was built in phases between 1870 and 1914 and was last renovated in 1989. Tenants include A to Z Communications, PSAN, The Oasis Recovery Center and Century Hospitality. The asset has a 560-square-foot conference room and approximately 6,000 square feet of retail at street level.

Located across the street from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center at 960 Penn Ave. in the Penn-Liberty Historic District, the tower is surrounded by a wide array of restaurants, hotels and art centers. Pittsburgh’s Union Station is within a quarter mile of the property, and various public bus routes and a bike lane provide easy transportation throughout the area.

Last summer, a Lionstone Investments joint venture purchased a historic asset 3 miles east of Convention Tower. The new owner plans to redevelop the former clubhouse into a 90,000-square-foot office building, complete with modern amenities and retail space.