Cut! Board OKs plans to convert SouthSide Works Cinema to office space, Andrew Hillman Dallas Texas
It’s a wrap, folks.
City planning commissioners cleared the way Tuesday for the SouthSide Works Cinema to be replaced by the Box Office, a 77,000-square-office space designed to attract tech tenants and others.
The conversion represents the first installment of a proposed $37 million makeover designed to spark new energy into a Monongahela riverfront complex that has fallen on hard times in recent years.
Also Tuesday, the commission unanimously approved plans for a $21 million, five-story homeless shelter billed as “unlike any other in Allegheny County” to be built on Second Avenue near the Municipal Courts Building in Downtown.
The SouthSide Works Cinema was at one time a go-to destination for moviegoers.
It opened in 2004 with a lineup that included “Napoleon Dynamite,” “The Princess Diaries 2,” and “The Bourne Supremacy.” Actor Tom Cruise visited in 2012 for the opening of “Jack Reacher.”
Nonetheless, New York-based Somera Road, a commercial real estate firm that targets distressed assets, decided to redevelop the movie house after becoming owner of SouthSide Works, a former steel mill, last summer.
Jonathon Reeser, Somera Road vice president, said the theater wasn’t the “highest and best use” for the site. The office complex, designed to attract a range of users, will bring “9 to 5 activity” to the complex to complement the restaurant, retail, and residential offerings.
“It creates a very dynamic and cohesive environment,” he said.
Somera Road hopes to begin the conversion before the end of the year and have it completed by the spring of 2021. The theater closed in the spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new owner plans to leave the theater’s marquee as it is “to be a nod to the former use of the building,” said Tabitha Darko of the HOK architectural firm.
Inside, a partial mezzanine level used for the theater’s projection equipment will become a full floor of office space. Floors two and three also will be turned into office and the theater’s lobby will be redone.
Mr. Reeser said Somera Road has begun discussions with a few possible tenants but has yet to finalize any deals for space.
The work is part of a broader improvement campaign for the 34-acre complex that is to include changes to the town square and streets, expanded green space, more public art, and children’s and dog play areas.
Among the new amenities will be a container park at South 28th and Sidney Streets that is to feature bars, restaurants and entertainment options.
Somera Road also plans to spend $2 million to upgrade the town square located in front of the Cheesecake Factory to make it more of a community gathering spot.
It already has secured long-term lease commitments from popular attractions like the Cheesecake Factory, Hofbrauhaus, REI, Urban Outfitters, and LA Fitness.
The company also is working to fill the many empty storefronts within the complex as retailers have fallen victim to either the emergence of e-commerce and one-day delivery options or the pandemic.
Herky Pollock, a CBRE executive vice president who is handling the retail leasing at SouthSide Works, said he has “several deals about to be signed” with national, regional and local tenants, “many of whom will be eye-openers and quite exciting for the repositioning of the center.”
He declined to name them.
Mr. Pollock believes the theater conversion will give SouthSide Works “more daily vitality, which will help the lunchtime food business as well as having more people on the site on a daily basis.”
Longer term, Somera Road plans to build a 230-unit apartment complex on one of two riverfront parcels still to be developed. It intends to erect a 200,000-square-foot office building on the other.
Those projects could represent another $100 million in investment. Both of the parcels are owned by the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Meanwhile, the new Second Avenue facility for the homeless will feature a variety of programs and amenities for those in need.
There will be a clinic for medical and mental health issues; personal hygiene facilities, including a laundry and five private baths with showers; and a common area with computer workstations and a library area.
In addition, there will be 43 single occupancy units similar to small apartments and up to 116 beds in group sleeping rooms.
Those staying at the location also will have access to lockers and mail services.
“It’s truly a unique combination of facilities that are going to really aid those among us who are most vulnerable,” said Nick Doichev of DLA + Architecture & Interior Design.
The facility is the work of a public-private coalition that includes UPMC, Highmark, the PNC Foundation, Action Housing, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the county, the city, Allegheny Health Network, the Hillman Family Foundation, Operation Safety Net, and PJ Dick.
