Eastside Story: Chatham’s East End location brings space and revenue to the Shadyside Campus
It’s true: Chatham Eastside is not surrounded by historic mansions. Not once has it been used as a summer retreat. It lacks both a pond and an orchard. But the building at 6585 Penn Avenue is every bit as much about the lauded location, location, location as our campuses at Woodland Road and Eden Hall.
Chatham purchased Eastside – then known as the Eichleay building – in September 2008 to accommodate our growing health sciences programs – including physician’s assistant studies, occupational therapy, and nursing – along with undergraduate and graduate interior architecture programs. “Eastside has turned out to be an even better deal than we thought,” says Walt Fowler, Chatham’s vice president of finance and CFO, “because Bakery Square has really thrived.”
Chatham Eastside has been renovated to the level of LEED-Silver, and sits mere blocks from Bakery Square, a bustling center home to restaurants, retail, and offices including Google Pittsburgh. It also sits at the intersection of East Liberty, one of Pittsburgh’s fastest-growing neighborhoods, and the greenery of Mellon Park. “There aren’t that many big spaces in the East End,” says Fowler. “This building is a tremendous opportunity for Chatham in perpetuity. It’s a great place to expand – 250,000 square feet, of which our programs currently occupy a little under 60,000. And best of all, it’s less than a mile from Woodland Road.”
Two tenants currently rent space at Chatham Eastside. One is SNC/LAVELIN Engineering, a Canadian heavy manufacturing and petroleum engineering firm that leases about 30,000 square feet with a 10,000 square feet secured location. Management Science Associates (MSA), a technology company that focuses on marketing algorithms, takes up the rest of it. “MSA’s space is like a rabbit’s warren,” says Fowler. “They’ve got massive cubicles with multiple monitors, and street signs so you don’t lose your way.” The institutions share some common areas, and there is no unused space at Eastside. “If you take the rent we collect, minus operating costs and debt services, the University comes out about half a million dollars to the positive. We’re essentially getting 60,000 square feet for free. If you went out and leased a comparable size in Bakery Square just a couple blocks away, you’re probably going to pay about $1.2 or $1.3 million per year in lease costs,” states Fowler.
In the immediate future, there are plans to update the building’s audio-visual equipment, including replacing ceiling projectors with smartboards in the Problem-Based Learning rooms. And after that? “Chatham Eastside represents a significant investment in our expanding graduate programs as well as in the future development of East Liberty,” says Fowler. “I’d love for us to put a couple of vertical access windmills on the roof. People would see them and talk about them.”