The sale of land in East Liberty that a developer needs to attract a Target store proved to be a financial windfall for a Murrysville couple.
Downtown developer Mosites Co. paid $1.49 million to Joseph J. and Gabriella P. Germinaro after they purchased the property for $85,992.75 from the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority, public records show.
Both deeds were recorded Tuesday in Allegheny County.
Mosites is developing a 5-acre site at Penn Avenue and Penn Circle South, where it hopes Target will open a 156,000-square-foot, two-story store in 2010.
Since 2003, Joseph Germinaro has held an option to buy a 0.8-acre piece of property at 6260 Broad St. from the URA.
Mosites is assembling property in the area that includes the parcel, said Mark Minnerly, the firm's director of real estate development.
Minnerly said a building on the property is occupied by a state parole office, which will be relocated if Mosites successfully signs a deal with Target.
Contacted Wednesday, Germinaro said he purchased the building five years ago. At the same time, he became the successor holder of a lease agreement, dating back to 1968, that included an option to purchase the land at the $85,992.75 price.
"When I purchased the building ... I knew that the sales price for the property had been established about 40 years ago," Germinaro said.
The original lease dates back to Aug. 15, 1968, according to the deed.
A former tenant in the building, Plumbers Equipment Co., had originated the lease agreement when the sales price was established and locked in.
The URA purchased the property, but not the lease, in 1983, records show.
"We were bound to sell the property for the $85,992.75 that was a part of the lease arrangement," said Kyra Straussman, URA's director of real estate.
The lease expired in August but was extended by URA until the sale as a courtesy, Straussman said.
Prior to the latest sale, title to the lease had passed down through several owners, public records show.
Germinaro said he believes the amount he received for the property also reflects the value of the building, which is fully leased and generating income. He said he has made major improvements to the structure.
"I am excited to see the redevelopment under way in East Liberty and the prospect of a Target store coming in to benefit the city and the residents of Pittsburgh," he said.
Although Mosites hopes Target will locate on the site, no deal has been completed, Minnerly said.
Target officials have said only that they are interested in East Liberty but have not committed to locate a store there.
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