One Oxford Centre is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of

Downtown Pittsburgh Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose ...

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, ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The complex is named for

Oxford Development Oxford Development Company is a real estate firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, providing real estate development, property management, brokerage services, investment advisory services, and business operations. In 2021, it was listed as the ...

, the developer and previous owner. Among the commercial tenants of One Oxford Centre are Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, HFF Inc., the

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Pittsburgh Branch The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Pittsburgh Branch Office is one of two Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland branch offices (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Cincinnati Branch, the other is in Cincinnati). The Pittsburgh Office of the Federal Res ...

, and

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is an American multinational law firm with approximately 2,200 legal professionals in 31 offices across North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Mergers with other law firms stimulated global growth and led to ...

History

The proposed tower was announced and submitted for county approval in October 1978 as the "Grant Land project". In April 1983, DeBartolo Company, which constructed the tower, announced plans for "Two Oxford Centre" to the immediate northeast of the main tower and across the street from

Pittsburgh City Hall The Pittsburgh City-County Building is the seat of government for the City of Pittsburgh, and houses both Pittsburgh and Allegheny County offices. It is located in Downtown Pittsburgh at 414 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Built from 191 ...

and the

Frick Building The Frick Building is one of the major distinctive and recognizable features of Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The tower was built by and is named for Henry Clay Frick, an industrialist coke producer who created a portfolio of ...

. Two Oxford Centre was to be noticeably taller than One Oxford, however the plans and development were dependent on securing a majority tenant which never materialized.

Design

Completed in 1983, One Oxford Centre has 46 floors in its main tower and rises 615 feet (187 m) above Downtown Pittsburgh. Although its address is simply One Oxford Centre, the building is located on the 300 block of

Grant Street Grant Street is the main government and business corridor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is home to the global headquarters of U.S. Steel, Koppers Chemicals, and Oxford Development. It also is home to the seat of Allegheny County, City of Pitts ...

. The tower has nearly of office and high-end retail space. Since the towers opening it has been home to a full-service health/business club, The Rivers Club. The complex also contains a multi-level parking garage and some street level retail and office space one block west of Grant Street. At night, forty-three 1,500-watt spotlights illuminate the centre with a total of 54,500 watts that create a glowing effect that is said to be greater than any other highrise in the

. One Oxford Centre was developed by

Oxford Development Company Oxford Development Company is a real estate firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, providing real estate development, property management, brokerage services, investment advisory services, and business operations. In 2021, it was listed as the l ...

and designed by architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum.

In popular culture

A composite image of the main tower of PPG Place and Oxford Centre is used as the Fiddler's Green luxury high-rise in the movie ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the Li ...

''. Another interesting fact is that a street (Cherry Way) passes through the tower on its lower levels. The building is featured in Episode 1656 of the television program ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...

'' on "Up and Down." Mr. Rogers and the "Speed Delivery"-man Mr. McFeely ride the building's escalators and elevators up and down. The tower is used for exterior shots of the Newman tower on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

daytime soap opera, ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...

''.

Building Ownership

Since developing the Property in 1983, Oxford Development had been the sole owner and operator. In January 2016 San Francisco-based

Shorenstein Properties Shorenstein is a real estate investment company based in San Francisco that owns interests in of office space throughout the United States. The company has sponsored twelve closed-end real estate funds, with total equity commitments of $8.8 bill ...

acquired One Oxford Centre under its Shorenstein Realty Investors Eleven LP, a $1.2 billion fund.

CBRE Group CBRE Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate services and investment firm. The abbreviation CBRE stands for Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis. It is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 reven ...

was appointed as the leasing agent to fill up the remaining vacant space in the building. Shorenstein implemented an intensive capital improvement program that included repairing deferred maintenance throughout the property as well as aesthetic upgrades to the lobby and common areas.

References

External links