Mellon cutting ties with historic building

By Patricia Sabatini,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Thursday, March 03, 2005

Mellon Financial Corp. has decided not to renew its lease at Two Mellon Center, Downtown, ending its ties with a building that harks back to Mellon’s roots as financier to the nation’s corporate chieftains.

Mellon, which declined to say how much space it occupies or how many employees work at the ornate, Gothic-style structure also known as the Union Trust Building, said the move was an effort to cut costs.

Employees will be relocated in phases to the company’s three other Downtown buildings before the lease expires in May 2006, Mellon spokesman Ken Herz said.

Those buildings include Mellon’s headquarters on Grant, known as One Mellon Center; the adjacent Client Services Center; and 525 William Penn Place, also known as Three Mellon Center. Mellon has about 6,300 employees Downtown, Herz said.

In January, Mellon extended the lease at its headquarters building through 2028. The company owns the client services building and 525 William Penn Place, where it in turn leases space to Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania for its local headquarters. Citizens purchased Mellon’s banking operations in 2001.

The Union Trust Building, owned by the DeBartolo family since 1984, opened in 1923 as the headquarters for the Union Trust Co., founded by the Mellon and Frick families. The Mellon family’s banking operations merged with the Union Trust Co. in 1946 to form Mellon National Bank and Trust Co.

Herz said Mellon still planned to hold its annual meeting in the auditorium at Two Mellon this May.

(Patricia Sabatini can be reached at psabatini@post-gazette.com or 412-263-3066.)

This article appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. © Pittsburgh Post Gazette