A Johnstown company has purchased the Gables office building in downtown Altoona from the two-family company that has owned it for more than 30 years.
Skinner Hill LLC bought the 155,000-square-foot office/rental property that occupies three-quarters of a square block between 11th and 12th avenues from Gable’s Limited Partnership, which represents the interests of the Devorris and Lawruk families, for a price that remains undisclosed, according to the principal of the LLC and emailed statements from Andrea (Devorris) Cohen, president of Blair Companies Real Estate, and Steve Gardner, vice president for leasing and development at Lawruk Land Development.
“A lot of businesses are popping up in the downtown at this time,” said the Skinner Hill principal, who described the online-auction purchase as an “investment” in a phone interview Friday and who asked that his name not be used. “We thought it was a good time to go into this market.”
The new owner isn’t sure yet whether he’ll take advantage of a transferable $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant obtained from the state in 2018 to “daylight” the building by stripping the 50-year-old monolithic brick on the 11th Avenue section to its original ornate, multi-window facade, to conform with the modern retro aesthetic for downtowns.
“We have to study the project, look into it to see if it does make sense to do all of that work,” said the new owner, who’s scheduled to close on the purchase in late April.
“(If the new owner) moves forward with the grant, it will help support successful building renovations and position the building for new tenant expansion, as interest in our downtown area grows,” Cohen wrote.
“They’ll probably want to get their feet wet, determine the needs of the market,” before deciding, Gardner said.
The project would probably require moving tenants around, and he would need to involve them in the decision, the new owner said.
“We need to look at all the pros and cons,” he said.
Daylighting to reveal the original 1892 facade could create an opportunity for use of Historic Tax Credits, according to the online auction announcement of CBRE, the real estate company that conducted the sale.
The building, which includes a parking garage connected with the 12th Avenue section, is 48% occupied, with 23 tenants, including anchor M&T bank with 20,000 square feet, according to Gardner and CBRE.
Other tenants include the local office of State Rep. Lou Schmitt, R-Altoona, Evolution Counseling, Catalyst Space, Catalyst Church, DePiro Entertainment and the Central Pennsylvania Community Foundation, Gardner said.
There were bidders for the building from around the country, according to Cohen and Gardner.
The auction started on March 22 and ended two days later, Gardner said.
Bidders needed to pre-qualify. Virtually all the action occurred within 20 minutes of the close, Gardner said.
The minimum starting bid was $300,000, according to CBRE.
There was a higher “reserve” amount — the minimum the owners were willing to accept, said Gardner, who declined to disclose that reserve amount.
The purchase price exceeded the reserve, but like the new owner, he declined to disclose that price.
The partnership sold the building because investments for the families are trending in the direction of small strip properties, like Hollidaysburg Plaza and Oxford Plaza in Duncansville, which the Lawruk organization has invested in recently, said Gardner.
“The Devorris and Lawruk families own and manage numerous properties in the Central Pa. area and plan to continue to manage and grow our real estate portfolios,” Gardner and Cohen wrote.
The new owner of the Gables building, who recently moved to Johnstown from Scranton, has investment properties in Philadelphia, Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg.
He’s aware of the local significance of the Gables building, which was the prime anchor of downtown when it was the retail hub of the region.
“We know this building has a lot of history and special meaning to Altoona,” he said. “We hope that we can continue to provide a new environment for new startup businesses and other businesses.”
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.
"sold" - Google News
April 05, 2021 at 11:03AM
https://ift.tt/3cPsgCd
Gables office building sold | News, Sports, Jobs - Altoona Mirror
"sold" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3d9iyrC
https://ift.tt/3b37xGF
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Gables office building sold | News, Sports, Jobs - Altoona Mirror"
Post a Comment