Pittsburgh March 2021 – Key Take-Aways
• Sarah Fullwood with the University of Pittsburgh Innovation Institute encouraged the Members and Guests to attend some of their upcoming events – that are starting to be hybrid with live and virtual attendees.
• Allegheny Conference’s Jim Futrell reports that Pittsburgh’s covid rate is below the national average with the rate of new cases being reported down by 10.5% over the last two weeks and as of March 10, almost 500k have received the first dose of the vaccine. He definitely feels there is an overall sense of optimism returning to the community.
• Don Johnston and Marne Babich with Grossman Yanak & Ford are in a hiring mode – but can’t find experienced talent (so if anyone has any leads, let them know!) They are continuing to work with clients on PPP and PPP2 and the Employee Retention Credit. The application filing deadline for PPP2 is March 31.
• New Member Ray Steeb with eFacility reports that with the turn of the new year, business is picking up as owners and developers are focused on cost cutting opportunities (especially in maintenance and operations) where eFacility can provide tremendous value.
• Mark McDonnell with AdVenture Development reports that surprisingly they only lost 3 retail tenants – and none of those lost related to the pandemic; even better, they are backfilling those spaces quickly. On the restaurant front, they didn’t lose any and plan to purchase a large tent for their use again in the parking areas once the weather turns. Mark also reports that steel and lumber pricing continues to go up and there are delays in getting materials and appliances due to supply chain issues.
• Hanna Langholz’s AJ Pantoni further weighed in on the supply chain issues referencing the issue with containers – they are getting into the US, but getting back out is the issue. AJ is also working with a client on a large 250k sf assignment…but there is no existing product, so he is hitting the phones with all developers on opportunities they might have.
• Kelsey Kanspedos and John Piascik with Bohler continue to see lots of activity in the single family, multi-family, industrial and tech flex segments.
• Falkbuilt’s Amanda Buczynski reports they are seeing strong demand for prefab interiors across all sectors, especially in industrial and retail. They are also seeing a lot of activity with outpatient clinics in Ohio.
• Pittsburgh Champion and HB Development’s Gene Boyer is in the final stage of predevelopment for a project west of the city and should know next steps soon. Modular development is moving forward and is in the design and permitting phase.
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