http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07059/765623-100.stm

Hotel operator picked for new Downtown PNC building
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has been selected as the operator of a flagship hotel planned for the top 10 floors of the 23-story Three PNC Plaza, a 780,000-square-foot complex now under construction Downtown, along Fifth Avenue.

The 185-room Fairmont Pittsburgh is expected to open in summer of 2009 with 12,000 square feet of meeting space, a 6,000-square-foot ballroom, a restaurant, spa, fitness center and bar.

The entrance, restaurant and meeting space will be located on the ground and second floors of Three PNC, while the hotel rooms will fill the top 10 floors. The hotel will sit at Fifth and Market Street, next to the Cultural District.

Headquarted in Toronto, Fairmont bills itself as the largest luxury hotel management firm in North America. It manages properties in 10 countries, including hotels in Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Vancouver and South Africa.



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http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2007/02/26/daily26.html?surround=lfn

Fairmont to operate hotel at new PNC tower
Pittsburgh Business Times - 11:29 AM EST Wednesday, February 28, 2007by Tim Schooley
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has chosen Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to operate a hotel at its planned 780,000-square-foot office tower in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Scheduled to open in 2009, the Fairmont Pittsburgh will serve as the entrance to the new Three PNC Plaza, with the hotel's conference space, ballroom, lobby and bar comprising the building's first two floors and its 185 rooms situated on the top 10 floors of the 23-story building.

The tower, under construction, will be located at Fifth Avenue and Market Street.

"We are delighted to place the Fairmont name on this hotel," said William Fatt, CEO of Toronto-based Fairmont. "The new location further extends Fairmont's presence in the highly desirable northeastern portion of United States."

While carrying the company's brand, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts will also manage the new property, which will include 326,000-square-feet of office space, where law firm Reed Smith LLP will establish its headquarters.

PNC (NYSE:PNC) is based in Pittsburgh.

tschooley@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3826

http://www.popcitymedia.com/galleries/Default/Dev%20News/Issue%2020/PNC.jpg

How Canadian trendy!

I thought you'd like it ;)

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07060/765840-53.stm

Luxury Fairmont hotel to perch atop new PNC complex
Thursday, March 01, 2007

By Dan Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



It's not a Ritz-Carlton.

And it's not a Four Seasons.

But PNC's choice of Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to manage its new 185-room Downtown hotel brings to Pittsburgh a well-known operator of luxury hospitality flags around the world, from The Savoy in London to The Plaza in New York to the landmark Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

The Fairmont Pittsburgh is expected to open in summer 2009 atop the 23-story Three PNC Plaza, a 780,000-square-foot, office-residential-parking complex currently under construction along Fifth Avenue. The hotel rooms will fill portions of the top 10 floors, providing unobstructed views of PNC Park, while the lobby and entrance will sit on the first floor, near Liberty Avenue and Fifth.

Twenty eight condos -- called The Residences at The Fairmont -- also will take portions of the upper floors, separated from the hotel by different elevator lobbies. A 6,000-square-foot hotel ballroom will overlook Fifth, on the second floor, its glass windows visible to the street below.

The $178 million project, up $8 million in price from last summer's groundbreaking due to slight design changes, is the cornerstone of a Downtown revival plan that includes an array of new residential towers throughout the Golden Triangle. Just yesterday, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Trek Development announced plans for a 61-unit loft and studio conversion of the 12-story Century Building, along Seventh Avenue, only blocks from PNC's construction site.

"It is PNC's aspiration to deliver the best project we could for the city of Pittsburgh," said PNC Financial Services Group Senior Vice President Gary Saulson, the company's director of realty services. "We think getting a Fairmont Hotel is certainly a tremendous step in the right direction."

The Fairmont, Mr. Saulson argued, will enhance Pittsburgh's ability to attract top-flight conventions and thus "significantly change the face of Pittsburgh's convention business," addressing a shortage of hotel rooms at the higher end of the market. Downtown, the 300-room Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel on Sixth Avenue is the most expensive on average, with a daily room rate around $150 a night. Its corporate rate is $239 per night, and it charges between $299 and $400 for most suites, depending on the night.

Despite its price, Renaissance fills about 75 percent of its rooms, on average, among the highest occupancy rates in the city. Its performance is an indication to Mr. Saulson that demand exists for a higher-priced, more upscale hotel experience. The Fairmont will be a "step above" the Renaissance in price, Mr. Saulson said.

Renaissance sales and marketing director Tom Hemer agrees there is more room at the high end of the hotel market Downtown for a competitor such as Fairmont, but, "I haven't had the opportunity to prove that," he said. "There hasn't been another hotel out there."

He described Fairmont as a "very, very good" operator but not as well known as certain worldwide rivals.

"Everyone knows Ritz-Carlton," said Mr. Hemer. "Everyone knows Four Seasons. Does everybody know Fairmont? That is the question."

Mr. Saulson of PNC conceded that the bank spoke to a "a number" of hotel management companies but that having a flag of Fairmont's caliber was always "our aspiration."

The company, billing itself as the largest luxury hotel manager in North America, oversees 50 hotels in 10 countries. Many are legendary properties in their respective cities.

The original Fairmont was in San Francisco, a property that survived a major 1906 earthquake to open in 1907. Other landmark properties include The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, The Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., and The Fairmont Chicago.

Canadian Pacific Hotels purchased Fairmont Hotels in 1999.

PNC liked Fairmont's corporate culture, as well.

"They strive to relate to the communities they do business in -- they like to buy a lot of locally grown produce and use a lot of locally provided food products in the hotel," Mr. Saulson said.

However, writing Fairmont into the larger plan for Three PNC Plaza has raised the construction costs from $170 million to $178 million due to the company's design requirements and the complicated task of mixing office, hotel and residential space. In addition to a hotel and condos, Three PNC will have 326,000 square feet of office space -- half taken by PNC and half leased by law firm Reed Smith.

PNC will own the entire complex and will pick up the extra costs, Mr. Saulson said.

The site already has a $48 million in public support -- $30 million from the state and $18 million in tax-increment financing, a tool that diverts future property tax revenue created by a project to pay off bonds issued to finance a project.


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(Dan Fitzpatrick can be reached at dfitzpatrick@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1752. )

http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20070301ho_Gensler_PNC_450.jpg
The new Fairmont Pittsburgh will open in the summer of 2009 in the 23-story Three PNC Plaza. The entrance will be at bottom left, near the intersection of Fifth and Liberty avenues. The hotel rooms will be in the upper right, filling parts of the top 10 floors. The hotel ballroom will sit on the second floor, overlooking Fifth, at bottom right.

more THREE PNC PLAZA information

Liberty Ave.
http://www.pnc.com/webapp/unsec/Requester?resource=/wcm/resources/file/ebfb49004199050/3PNC_12907_LibertyAve.jpg

Fifth Ave.
http://www.pnc.com/webapp/unsec/Requester?resource=/wcm/resources/file/ebfb48004193cae/3PNC_21407_FifthAve.jpg


http://www.marshallelevator.com/

February 2007 - Marshall Elevator has been awarded a contract to install 17 elevators for Three PNC Plaza located in downtown Pittsburgh. The 26 story mixed-use development includes 2 hydraulic and 15 traction elevators.

I assume this means there will be 3 underground levels, since we've been told the tower will be 23 stories tall. The underground levels are for the parking garage. There are supposed to be 300 parking spaces in the project.

http://www.trumbullcorp.com/tpjwebsite.nsf/webItem/73EDD09E58218BC585257249006ADC81?opendocument&Navigator=P.+J.+Dick+Incorporated

3 PNC Plaza Work is Progressing

12/19/2006

P. J. Dick is currently overseeing the excavation and shoring operations for the new 3 PNC Plaza office, hotel and condominium building in downtown Pittsburgh. The underground garage and structural steel packages will commence in the coming months. The 23-story tower is expected to be completed in the late Fall of 2008.


I know... it's a couple months old... but thought you might be interested.

The announcement from Fairmount Hotels:
http://www.pnc.com/webapp/unsec/Requester?resource=/wcm/resources/file/ebfbdc00507fec8/A_3PNC_Fairmont.pdf

Updated Three PNC Plaza Fact Sheet:
http://www.pnc.com/webapp/unsec/Requester?resource=/wcm/resources/file/ebfbe900517fd74/3PNC_FactSheet.pdf



...



a couple other things....


An interview with Pittsburgh Cultural Trust President Kevin McMahon from an issue of the local Metropolitan Magazine from a few months ago... offers a few more details on the massive Riverparc project downtown.
http://pittsburghmetropolitan.com/pdf/2006_11/trust.pdf

Also, check out the Grubb & Ellis 2007 forecasts for the Pittsburgh real estate markets. Very positive trends all around.
http://www.grubb-ellis.com/

Buffalo's Fairmont is better.

But nothing will top any hotel in Birmingham

I like the one in Rochester...in that tower thats like 600 ft.

no need to bring the Rochester-Buffalo smackdown in here lol

I like the density of buildings there.

now, that's a fabulous-lookin' glass tower. i;ve always had a thing for towers like this one.