EQT Plaza, formerly known as the CNG Tower and later the Dominion Tower, is a major and distinctive skyscraper in Downtown

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The structure was built for Consolidated Natural Gas, a regional energy company. In 1999, CNG was purchased by Dominion Energy, which moved out of the building in 2007. During the summer of 2009, EQT Corporation moved its corporate headquarters and several business units from the 6-story building EQT had built and moved into in 2005, just across the

Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ) is a long headwater stream of the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York. The Allegheny River runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border northwesterly into ...

in the North Shore neighborhood of the city.

History

The skyscraper was originally designed to be the global headquarters of Allegheny International-better known by its retail branding name of

Sunbeam A sunbeam, in meteorological optics, is a beam of sunlight that appears to radiate from the position of the Sun. Shining through openings in clouds or between other objects such as mountains and buildings, these beams of particle-scattered sunl ...

. At the time of construction Sunbeam was the world's largest maker of small appliances. Allegheny International's Realty Development Corporation (AIRDC) secured a low-interest Urban Development Action loan from the URA for $8.5 million which the Cultural Trust collected payments on. The Public Auditorium Authority leased the land for the Benedum to AIRDC which then assigned the rights to the Cultural Trust while the Penn-Lincoln holding company retained ownership of the land but leased the property to AIRDC for 82 years and transferred lease payments to the Cultural Trust. The 32 floor skyscraper was completed in 1987 at a cost of $100 million. It rises 430 feet (131 meters) above Downtown Pittsburgh. It was influenced heavily by the Art Deco architecture found in other Pittsburgh skyscrapers, like the

Gulf Tower The Gulf Tower is a 44-story, Art Deco skyscraper in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The tower is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of the city and is named for the Gulf Oil Corporation, one of the leading multinational ...

Koppers Tower Koppers Building is a historical building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, commissioned by Andrew W. Mellon and completed in 1929. The building is named after the Koppers Chemical Corporation and is one of the major features of Downtown Pittsburgh. ...

and Grant Building. The building was owned between 2005 and 2010 by the

Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...

, a real estate firm well known for their management of high risk assets. After buying the structure following the bankruptcy of former owners, they successfully increased the building's occupancy rate from 66% to 97%. In 2010, Blackstone sold the building to Pearson Realty Services. In December 2012, the property was acquired by Highwoods Properties of

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

, who also owns the nearby landmark skyscraper PPG Place.

References

* * Updates based on several articles in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette daily newspaper, discussing EQT Corporation's tenancy and renaming of the building (2007-2008). {{Pittsburgh Skyscraper office buildings in Pittsburgh Kohn Pedersen Fox buildings Art Deco architecture in Pennsylvania