Great news for Pittsburgh! Energy firms such as Chevron, Shell and Exxon are looking for office space downtown.
While most oil and gas interests have settled in the suburbs, some may now be casting an eye to the Golden Triangle as space in places like Cranberry and Southpointe gets tighter and tighter.
One major corporation, Chevron, is said to be considering Downtown in its search for more than 140,000 square feet of space to consolidate and expand its operations in the region.
Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said he has heard that Chevron and two other major energy companies, Shell Oil Co. and Exxon, are interested in space Downtown as well as in the suburbs.
"I think that bodes well for this region that there is competition for these sites. That's something we didn't have a few years ago, and that's a good problem to have," he said.
Likewise, Mark Popovich, senior managing director of the Pittsburgh office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, a commercial real estate brokerage, said he has heard talk Chevron and Shell could be looking for space Downtown.
"I don't know if we're hearing wishful thinking or speculative thinking, or if there's something real behind it," he said.
California-based Chevron established operations in the region in February 2011 after paying $4.3 billion to acquire Moon natural gas producer Atlas Energy, which was active in tapping Marcellus Shale deposits. The company currently occupies about 140,000 square feet in Moon, including 60,000 at the Cherrington office park.
Shell now occupies 77,000 square feet of space in Waterfront Corporate Park in Franklin Park. It also has another 30,000 square feet in Warrendale as part of its $4.7 billion purchase of East Resources Inc. in 2010.
But with Shell's decision to build an ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, the company may want to raise its profile in the region and that could lead it Downtown, Mr. Popovich said.
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