The distinctive glass and aluminum North Shore building that houses the headquarters for Alcoa and Arconic is up for sale.
But don’t expect either company or a third public company with offices there — Arconic spinoff, Howmet Aerospace — to be leaving any time soon.
Howmet, formed in 2020 after a split from Arconic, has hired Texas-based Fischer Capital Market Services to possibly sell the curved, six-story structure on the Allegheny riverfront built at a cost of $67 million.
The building, located at 201 Isabella St. near PNC Park and the Andy Warhol Museum, is being offered for sale without a formal asking price, according to a property listing obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
“This offering presents a compelling opportunity to acquire a recently renovated Class A office property secured by strong credit tenancy with a weighted average lease term of 8.6 years,” the executive summary states.
According to the summary, Alcoa, Arconic, and Howmet all plan to remain tenants in the building, which replaced Alcoa’s all-aluminum 30-story building on Downtown’s Sixth Avenue.
Alcoa’s current lease, which began in November 2016, runs until Oct. 31, 2029. The aluminum producer occupies 89,329 square feet in the building.
Arconic, which holds 60,324 square feet, signed a lease in April 2020 that runs another eight years until March 31, 2030.
Howmet, meanwhile, plans to sign a new 10-year lease for 69,989 square feet that would run until March 31, 2032, as a condition of the sale, according to the executive summary.
It added that the existing tenants have options to extend their leases.
An Alcoa spokesman declined comment Monday. An Arconic spokesperson referred questions to Howmet, which maintained that a sale is only one possible option.
“Howmet Aerospace is currently exploring whether to sell its building in Downtown Pittsburgh and lease it back, or to maintain ownership and continue operating the building,” it said in a statement.
“It is a routine financial consideration. Pittsburgh is our home and will remain our headquarters for the foreseeable future.”
Alcoa moved into the 219,642-square-foot building, constructed as its world headquarters, in 1998.
Since 2016, it has shared the structure with Arconic, the company created after Alcoa separated its mining, refining and aluminum businesses from downstream businesses that produce aluminum and titanium parts for aerospace, automotive and other sectors.
In April 2020, Pittsburgh-based Arconic officially split into two companies — Arconic Corp. and Howmet Aerospace — after Arconic’s failed sale to a private equity firm in 2019.
According to the executive summary on the sales materials, Howmet is now the owner of the North Shore real estate — a title Alcoa had held for many years before the various splits.
The summary stated that the building has undergone more than $19 million in capital improvements over the past few years.
Those have included a roof replacement and swapping out and modernizing major mechanical components of the HVAC system.
In addition, changes were made to maximize rentable floor area, “creating modern office building amenities and shared spaces to serve the needs of tenants.”
In 2018, Alcoa had considered moving out of the North Shore headquarters and had scouted locations in Downtown, on the South Side, in the Strip District and Oakland before deciding to stay put.
After constructing the North Shore building, Alcoa moved its headquarters to New York City in 2006 before returning to Pittsburgh in 2017. The building features six above-ground levels and two underground levels.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262
First Published: January 17, 2022, 5:32 p.m.
