Sources: Pittsburgh Business Times, Site Selection Magazine

Site Selection magazine’s roster of the nation’s top metro areas for new or expanded corporate facilities shows Pittsburgh climbing the ranks, from eighth the previous year, to third place in 2011.

The magazine’s ranking counted 141 new corporate facilities in the region in 2011. The activity was enough to place Pittsburgh as No. 1 among large metro markets in the Northeast.

In response to the ranking, the Pittsburgh Business Times reports that Dewitt Peart, president of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, said “the strength of the Pittsburgh region’s real estate market has led to increased investment and there are opportunities for more.”

To build its rankings, the magazine counted real estate projects costing at least $1 million, or involving at least 50 new jobs or at least 20,000 square feet of new space.

“This report further indicates to the rest of the country what most of us already know locally, Western Pennsylvania’s commercial real estate market continues to thrive,” said Edward Lawrence MBA, associate at Colliers International | Pittsburgh. “The combination of growing banking, healthcare, energy and education sectors are driving this positive growth.”

“The amount of inbound calls that we are receiving has increased tremendously in the past twelve months,” said Gregg Broujos, managing director and founding principal at Colliers International | Pittsburgh. “The Pittsburgh region continues to thrive and Colliers International is fully prepared to serve our new and existing clients appropriately.”