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Colliers International | Pittsburgh names Edward Lawrence and David Thor as Principals
Colliers International | Pittsburgh, a commercial real estate leader in Western Pennsylvania, is proud to announce the promotion of two of its leading professionals.
Effective immediately, Edward Lawrence’s title is Principal | Office Brokerage and he is responsible for landlord representation and office brokerage activities. In the past year, Mr. Lawrence completed 60 transactions and is currently representing 3,500,000 +/- SF of office space. In 2012, Mr. Lawrence was recognized by SIOR for the Most Creative Deal of the Year and the CBD Office Lease of the Year and again in 2013 for the CBD Office Lease of the Year.
Also effective immediately, David Thor’s title is Principal | Occupier Services. David assists clients with strategy, site selection, proposals, financial analyses and lease negotiations and acquisition/disposition strategies. He develops and maintains client relationships and delivers professional services in office, industrial, retail, and land transactions. David’s transaction volume exceeds $63,000,000 spanning more than 750,000 +/- SF.
“Eddie and David have shown in a relatively short amount of time that they are tremendous brokers, industry leaders, and valuable members of the Community. We respect not only their brokerage abilities and leadership, but also the work that they do outside of the office. Both are actively involved with several of their favorite charities and non-profits” said Gregg Broujos, Managing Director and Founding Principal.
Lawrence joined the firm in 2007 and earned a BA from Denison University and a MBA from Waynesburg University.
Thor joined the firm in 2010 and earned a BS from Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business, is a LEED Accredited Professional, and the current President of CoreNet Global’s Pittsburgh Chapter.
Colliers International | Pittsburgh Announces Elmhurst Group’s Breaking Ground on Schenley Place
Elmhurst Group broke ground December 6, 2013 on Schenley Place, a 105,000 square foot “Class A” office building with seven stories and three levels of underground parking. Schenley Place is located on Bayard Street and Ruskin Avenue in Oakland. Elmhurst Group signed a long-term land lease with First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh for this project, which is estimated to be completed by March of 2015.
The First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh in 2004 hired Paul Horan, Founding Principal, and Ralph Egerman, Principal, of Colliers International | Pittsburgh for assistance in increasing its cash flow and providing funds to improve the 100 year old church building.
Mr. Horan and Mr. Egerman suggested to the Board of Trustees that their parking lot had significant value as a development site, and they were retained exclusively by the Board to develop a Request For Proposal and conduct interviews with carefully chosen developers. The Board of Trustees selected the Elmhurst Group to be the developer for the project and a long term ground lease was executed to improve the Church’s finances.
“Paul and I feel very privileged to have had an opportunity to work with the Church and Elmhurst, on this exciting project. Colliers International | Pittsburgh is proud of our work on behalf of non-profits and our role in the growth of our city,” said Ralph Egerman, Principal at Colliers International | Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh possesses beauty, brains and a new economy
Sources: Pittsburgh Business Times, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Chicago Tribune travel writer Josh Noel described Pittsburgh as “one of our nation’s most underrated cities, with a beauty as breathtaking as it is obvious” in his January 4th article titled “New meets old in Pittsburgh.” While this is true to anyone who has seen the city skyline, Pittsburgh has much more to offer than just beauty.
With the steel-city persona and days of heavy industry over, the city experiences a “new Pittsburgh economy” more focused on growth rather than manufacturing. In 2012, the Pittsburgh metropolitan market recorded 2.91 knowledge jobs per manufacturing job, compared with a 2.38 ratio for the country overall. Perhaps this transition is due to the growth of area universities, including Carnegie Mellon University who is ranked 23rd in the U.S. News and World Report’s most recent ranking of national universities. In fact, Movoto deemed Pittsburgh “America’s Smartest City” in their 2013 ranking of the 100 most populous U.S. cities.
Between 2007 and 2012, the gross domestic product for the Pittsburgh area increased 4.6 percent, and in 2012, average employment was above 750,000. Not only are these individuals employed, they are happy in their workplace. In January 2013, the site Career Bliss ranked Pittsburgh in the top five cities with the happiest workers, based on more than 36,000 reviews.
colliersinternationalpittsburgh.com 