A foreign investor appears to be the buyer of the Westinghouse Electric headquarters in Cranberry in a deal that has been shrouded in the kind of secrecy typically reserved for the company’s nuclear program.
A Butler County deed transfer report lists the buyer as CF Cranberry LLC. State corporation bureau records describe the company’s citizenship as foreign. It was created on Jan. 15, two days before the $180 million sale of the sprawling campus was announced.
Neither the deed transfer report nor the state records give any additional information about the identity of the purchaser. Until now, no information had emerged regarding the buyer’s identity in what could end up being one of the region’s biggest real estate transactions this year.
On Friday, New York-based Columbia Property Trust announced in a one-paragraph statement that it had closed on the sale of the 823,979-square-foot complex. But, in an unusual twist, it did not name the buyer. Neither did the Jones Lang LaSalle real estate firm, which represented the seller and recruited the purchaser.
In a local real estate community where there is usually no shortage of speculation, no one seemed to know who bought the property. And neither did the officials of Cranberry Township — until now.
Jerry Andree, township manager, said the deed transfer provides an “excellent start” in determining who was behind the deal.
“This begins unraveling what is there,” he said.
In the early days after the sale without any evidence of a deed transfer, the township feared that it might miss out on as much as $900,000 in deed transfer taxes. But those concerns proved to be unfounded.
The deed transfer report records about $727,000 in taxes going to the township and the same amount earmarked for the Seneca Valley School District. The township and the district each split 1% of the 2% tax and the state gets 1%.
Yet to be resolved is why the listed sale, at $145.4 million, is nearly $35 million less than the announced price of $180 million. Mr. Andree said that is something the township is trying to figure out.
“At least we have some information now. We can start digging into that,” he said.
Nonetheless, “It’s a good return on the taxpayer investment that made that [property] so valuable,” he added.
Even with the latest information, there is little known about the buyer. CF Cranberry is merely a limited liability company created for the purposes of the transaction.
When asked about the buyer Wednesday, Bud Perrone, a spokesman for Columbia Property Trust, provided last week’s press release on the sale but little more.
“I have inquired with [Columbia] and confirmed that they are not providing any additional information or comment beyond what is in the release,” he stated in an email.
In its press release announcing the sale, JLL described the buyer as an “institutional investor” and left it at that. “Unfortunately, we aren’t going to be commenting further than the press release,” spokeswoman Kimberly Steele said in an email Wednesday.
Gerard McLaughlin, executive managing director of the Newmark Knight Frank real estate firm, said he isn’t sure why the buyer hasn’t been named.
“I think more often than not you know who the buyer is. But there are times in large transactions like this you will see they don’t want it out. I couldn’t even tell you what the reason might be,” he said.
Gregg Broujos, regional principal for the Colliers International real estate firm, said foreign investment in Pittsburgh properties, while still unusual, has become more common in recent years, including deals involving a couple of Downtown buildings.
“We are getting much more attention from foreign investment because of the strong market fundamentals, the relatively low price per square foot, and we’re relatively recession proof,” he said. “We ride out recessions pretty well. It’s a stable market.”
No doubt the Westinghouse campus is an attractive property. Completed in 2009, it houses executive offices and research and development and support functions as well as amenities like a bank branch, a cafeteria, and tennis, basketball and volleyball courts.
Since 2007, the property owner has been receiving abatements on township, school district, and Butler County real estate taxes as part of a strategic development area created by the state to keep Westinghouse in Pennsylvania.
In 2006, officials calculated that the taxes abated amounted to about $1.3 million annually. Mr. Andree said that figure would have increased over the years but he did not have a current number. The Westinghouse property will be back on the tax rolls in 2022.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: January 23, 2020, 1:11 a.m.