CMBS Loan Backed by Pittsburgh’s Gateway Center Sent to Special Servicing

A $94 million commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan secured by Gateway Center, an iconic office complex in Downtown Pittsburgh, has been sent to special servicing due to an imminent maturity default, according to an alert from Morningstar Credit. 

The $94 million loan — which makes up 64 percent of the JPMCC 2013-C10 conduit deal —  is expected to default ahead of its January 2025 maturity. Gateway Center’s four office buildings reported occupancy as low as 55 percent in March 2024, with the complex’s leasing performance failing to stabilize after the sponsors received maturity extension in 2023, according to Morningstar Credit. 

Gateway Center has formed an indelible piece of the Pittsburgh skyline since the early 1950s, when the buildings opened. Spanning 1.5 million square feet of office space across One Gateway Center, Two Gateway Center, Three Gateway Center and Four Gateway Center, the stainless steel and glass development opened in stages between 1952 and 1960. 

The office complex was purchased by Hertz Investment Group in 2004 for $55 million. 

The development was part of the “Pittsburgh Renaissance” that occurred between 1946 and 1974. At the time, the 23-acre Gateway Center commercial district was known as “the nation’s first comprehensive downtown redevelopment accomplished without federal aid,” according to the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. 

When the National Park Service designated the Downtown Pittsburgh neighborhood near the Allegheny River waterfront as “the “Pittsburgh Renaissance Historic District” in 2013, the four Gateway Center buildings were named as “major contributing properties” to the distinction. 

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com