The Salvation Army is preparing for the move of its Western Division headquarters from Downtown to a 36,500-square-foot office building along the Parkway West this month.
At the same time, a local developer is said to be eyeing a deal to buy the nonprofit, Christian-based organization's nine-story headquarters building on the Boulevard of the Allies, and convert the site into student housing or some other educational use.
If that is the case, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh says it will be interested in a development that would serve its expanding student population.
About 75 administrative employees and other staff based Downtown will be moving on Dec. 22 to the two-story Building 4 at the Carnegie Office Park, said Salvation Army spokeswoman Ginny Knor.
The organization in January paid $3.3 million to acquire the building on a two-acre site at the Parkway and the Rosslyn Farms interchange. The structure has been renovated to prepare for the move.
"They liked the site because it a high-profile location with easy access to both Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown," said Edward P. Doran, executive vice president of GVA Oxford, who helped broker the sale. "It also has ample parking."
The move is one of a series of changes the Salvation Army will make over the next several years to better serve communities in its 28-county territory.
Plans are to keep most of the social services offered at the Downtown headquarters building in place for the time being, although a family caring center will be moving to East Liberty, Knor said.
As the organization prepares for its move, a local developer recently contacted the Art Institute of Pittsburgh about housing some of its students at the 85,000-square-foot headquarters complex, said George Pry, the institute's president.
The institute houses students in three Downtown buildings, but those facilities are full, said Pry.
"It is a vintage building but more importantly, it is across the Boulevard of the Allies from the Art Institute and would centralize our housing," Pry said.
Pry declined to identify the developer, and Knor declined to comment.
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