Thursday, December 11, 2008

Now That's Inflation

After 20 years, in the middle of a recession, E&O Partners has decided to raise the rent at the Penn Brewery location by 360%.

Potential reasons?

a) The rent was ridiculously low here.
b) There's some ridiculous feud going on between the owner and brewer.
c) E&O has someone lined up to move in and pay this new price.
d) E&O is stupid.

Real estate hasn't really declined in Pittsburgh versus the rest of the nation, and we're a good place to ride out a recession, but filling a niche market location at a new much-higher rate isn't easy.

End Result?

A cool building will be vacant for at least a year or some, but there's a chance Penn Brewery will eventually move to the South Side and I'll be able to walk there. I recommend the as-yet untouched South Side High School location. A brewery/condo partnership in a former school would be a perfect fit for this well-educated city of drunks.

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