Tuesday, September 25, 2012
After sitting dormant since 2003, there have been signs of life in recent weeks at the former Lord and Taylor Department Store (which was the former Mellon Bank building).
PNC Financial Services purchased the building earlier this year for $3.8 million.
Lord and Taylor was originally supposed to be part of the city's Fifth and Forbes retail corridor to help spur economic growth in the downtown corridor. At the time it was one of several large downtown stores that included Kaufmann's Department Store (now Macy's), Lazarus and Sak's Fifth Avenue.
Lord and Taylor closed in the summer of 2003 after just three years and after the city spent about $11 million to change the building's interior to be suitable for retail. Lazarus closed the following January and Sak's Fifth Avenue pulled out earlier this year.
PNC plans to house 800 employees at the building and has said it will seek the environmentally-friendly Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. he building is expected to open sometime in the next 19 months or so.
Tags: PNC , Pittsburgh , Downtown , Fifth and Forbes , Lord and Taylor , Kaufmann's , Macy's , Lazarus , Image