Tim Schooley – Reporter- Pittsburgh Business Times

A potential builder and anchor office tenant has emerged for Oxford Development Co.’s planned Three Crossings project in the Strip District.

John Sabatos, president of Rycon Construction Inc., told the Pittsburgh Business Times his company is in the early stages of working with Oxford to build the project and lease a new office there for itself, taking in the range of 25,000 square feet.

It’s a natural move for Rycon, which has often worked with Oxford in the past and already maintains its office in the Strip District, where it has begun to outgrow its 17,000 square feet of space.

“We just need more space,” he said, noting that Rycon owns its current office. “We like the Strip District and we like to partner with Oxford.”

Rycon has yet to establish a formalized agreement to build the project or lease office space at the development, Sabatos added.

Originally proposed as a 299-unit apartment complex on 11 acres between 25th and 27th streets along Railroad and Smallman Streets, Oxford has revised the plan into a much larger $122 million project expected to include 250,000 square feet of “urban flex office space.” The proposal first became public earlier this month at the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s board meeting.

Among the region’s largest construction firms, Rycon has been experiencing double-digit growth in recent years, landing among the Pittsburgh 100, the annual survey of the region’s fastest growing companies as compiled by the Business Times.

Sabatos was at the groundbreaking of one of his company’s latest projects, the $35 million Morrow Park City Apartments developed by suburban Detroit-based Village Green. As discussed at the May 8 URA board meeting, Oxford is pursuing state grants in order to build a parking facility to support the project.

• Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, construction, hospitality, arts and entertainment, and government. Contact him at tschooley@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3826.