A Corporate Fitness Center for CBRE’s 525 William Penn Place

525 William Penn Place, Pittsburgh’s fourth-largest corporate office building in the Central Business District, has just completed Phase 1 of amenity renovations that began in 2016 after being acquired by an investment group for $67.65 million, according to a statement published by the Pittsburgh Gazette.

The Class A office tower’s capital improvements include a new lobby, a 7,000 square foot fitness center, a 4,500+ square foot tenant lounge, and an executive parking garage. The new amenities have already attracted several big-name tenants. “Leasing activity has surged since the start of our Phase 1 building renovation last year,” Carmine DiLucente, Senior Associate at CBRE said in an announcement last June. “Any new tenant moving in after August 2019 will enjoy a newly renovated lobby with a fully refreshed facade, a new fitness center and new tenant lounge as part of the renovation."

Even before the upgrades were complete, Cohen & Company signed a long-term lease in the building. Jeff Kovacs, managing partner of Cohen & Company, stated “525 William Penn Place is well suited to manage our growth needs over the coming years. We were attracted by the upscale renovations and amenities the landlord has constructed.“

Kennametal, an American supplier of tooling and industrial materials, moved their World and Corporate Headquarters into the building late last year. Citizens Bank has also renewed its lease for 149,000 square feet of space, and the Pollock Begg Komar Glasser & Vertz law firm moved into 12,000 square feet of space near the end of 2019.

These renovations have virtually made 525 William Penn Place into a new building, and the surge in tenants is a testament to the market’s desire for world-class amenities to offer employees. New tenants are excited about these perks, too — in an interview with Globe Street on Pittsburgh’s recent growth spurt, Dick Cassetti of Colliers International said “We are moving to a building that is undergoing a major refurbishment, 525 William Penn Place… it’s going to have a state-of-the-art fitness center and tenant amenity lounge right off the lobby. Maybe you have a client meeting but don’t want to have it in the office, you can have it in the lounge. There’s coffee in the morning and wine in the afternoon. There’s a cafeteria for those rare days where it rains in Pittsburgh so we have somewhere to go without getting wet. … This move will be very beneficial to our recruiting efforts.”

“525 William Penn Place is well suited to manage our growth needs over the coming years. We were attracted by the upscale renovations and amenities the landlord has constructed. Our new space offers us the ability to accommodate the growth culture of our firm, provide our professionals an innovative working environment and enhances the firm’s service commitment to Western Pennsylvania.”