{{Short description|410-foot-tall skyscraper in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}} {{for|the Alcoa Building in San Francisco|One Maritime Plaza}} {{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox building |name = Alcoa Building |image = alcoabuilding.jpg |image_size = 200px |caption = |location = 425 6th Avenue |coordinates = {{coord|40|26|29|N|79|59|49|W|region:US-PA|display=inline,title}} |construction_start_date = 1950 |completion_date = 1953 |opening_date = |building_type = Residential, Office, Retail |antenna_spire = |roof = {{convert|410|ft|m|abbr=on}} |top_floor = {{convert|396|ft|m|abbr=on}} |floor_count = 31 |elevator_count = 16 (7 operating) |cost = |floor_area = |architect = [[Harrison & Abramovitz]] |structural_engineer = |main_contractor = [[George A. Fuller]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=mAYrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M5gFAAAAIBAJ&dq=skyscraper%20pittsburgh&pg=3429%2C494732|title=Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search|access-date=25 March 2016}}</ref> |developer = |owner = PMC Property Group |operator = PMC Property Group |embedded = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=PHLF|designation1_date=2004<ref>{{cite book | url= http://www.phlf.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/Historic-Plaques-2010b.pdf |title=Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 |publisher=Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation | location=Pittsburgh, PA | year=2010 | access-date=2010-07-02}}</ref>}} |references = }} The '''Alcoa Building''' (also known as '''the Regional Enterprise Tower''') is a {{convert|410|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} skyscraper in [[downtown Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]]. It was completed in 1953 and has 31 floors. It is the 15th-tallest building in the city and is adjacent to [[Mellon Square]]. In 2016, the top half of the building (floors 14-31) was converted to apartments known as '''The Residences at the Historic Alcoa Building'''.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pmcpropertygroup.com/corporate/case-study/residences-historic-alcoa-building | title=The Residences at the Historic Alcoa Building | PMC Property Group Apartments }}</ref> [[File:Photo The Alcoa Building 1957 - Touring Club Italiano 2 7017.jpg|alt=The Regional Enterprise Tower|thumb|The Regional Enterprise Tower in 1957]]
==History== ===Nixon Theater=== From December 7, 1903, until April 29, 1950, the site was home to the Nixon Theater, built by [[Samuel F. Nixon-Nirdlinger]] and Senator [[George T. Oliver]]. On opening night it was described as the "world's most perfect playhouse". An ornate [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]] structure, crowned by a large dome it was arguably the most opulent theater in city history. [[S. Trevor Hadly]] in ''[[Only in Pittsburgh]]'' describes that the interior "was in the [[Neoclassical architecture|Louis XVth style]]. Inside were massive imitation [[Pavonazzo marble|Parawazza marble]] columns capped with solid gold. ... The side walls were paneled to look like [[Damask|damask silk]] ... framed in a molding and styling of green, gold, and red. [[Velvet]] and [[silk]] draperies added profusely to the décor." Productions such as the 1905 staging of ''[[Ben-Hur (play)|Ben Hur]]'' used four horse-drawn chariots while ''Garden of Allah'' "called for a herd of camels, horses, and goats and 50 camel drivers." The sale of the site to Alcoa in 1950 was met with protests, with actress [[Katharine Hepburn]] writing to the city before demolition: "I'm infuriated, The new skyscraper will be just another building -- maybe fascinating, but not glamorous."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pghcitypaper.com/columns/i-have-a-picture-showing-downtown-the-early-20th-century-the-picture-had-a-building-with-a-sign-that-i-recognized-from-my-youth-the-nixon-1337594/|title=I have a picture showing Downtown the early 20th century. The picture had a building with a sign that I recognized from my youth — the Nixon Theatre. However the location seemed different than I remember. What's going on here?|last=Potter|first=Chris|date=3 November 2005|website=[[Pittsburgh City Paper]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250120183508/https://www.pghcitypaper.com/columns/i-have-a-picture-showing-downtown-the-early-20th-century-the-picture-had-a-building-with-a-sign-that-i-recognized-from-my-youth-the-nixon-1337594/|archive-date=20 January 2025|url-status=live|access-date=9 May 2011}}</ref> <ref>{{Citation | last = Barcousky | first = Len | title = Eyewitness: 1950 -- The first Nixon closes; long live the Nixon | newspaper =Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date = 2 May 2010 | url = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10122/1054577-426.stm | access-date = 10 October 2011}}</ref>
A second smaller and less glamorous incarnation carried the Nixon Theater name at 956 [[Liberty Avenue (Pittsburgh)|Liberty Avenue]] until 1976. That playhouse had opened in 1914 and previously operated under the names "The Victoria", "The Shubert" and "The Senator" but was renamed and refurbished by September 1950. During the 1950s and early 1960s it sponsored family fare but by the 1970s it featured [[adult entertainment]] and closed in 1976.<ref>{{cite web|last=Potter |first=Chris |url=http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/i-have-a-picture-showing-downtown-the-early-20th-century-the-picture-had-a-building-with-a-sign-that-i-recognized-from-my-youth-the-nixon/Content?oid=1337594 |title=I have a picture showing Downtown the early 20th century. The picture had a building with a sign that I recognized from my youth - the Nixon Theatre. However the location seemed different than I remember. What's going on here? | You Had to Ask | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper |publisher=Pghcitypaper.com |access-date=2016-03-25}}</ref>
===Alcoa Building=== Originally the headquarters for the [[Aluminum Company of America]] (ALCOA), the unique aluminum walls of the building are 1/8 inch thick, which gives the building a very light weight and economical design. It was the first skyscraper with an all-aluminum facade. A unique radiant heating and cooling system is contained in the ceiling: since there are no pipes, radiators, or air conditioning units along the exterior walls, an additional {{convert|15000|sqft|m2}} of rentable space was gained. Also, the windows rotate 360 degrees so they can be washed from the inside.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=C9wDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86 "Aluminum Skyscraper"] ''Popular Mechanics'', December 1953, pp. 86-87.</ref>
Upon ALCOA's 2001 relocation to a new headquarters building on Pittsburgh's [[North Shore (Pittsburgh)|North Shore]] near [[PNC Park]], the old ALCOA Building became a home to government entities, regional nonprofits and small start-up companies including the [[RIDC]].<ref>{{Citation| last = Daparma| first = Ron| title = CMU-Pitt official moving to development nonprofit| newspaper = Pittsburgh Tribune-Review| publication-place = Pittsburgh, PA| date = November 27, 2008| url = http://triblive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_600412.html#axzz2jUu0Yoiq}}</ref>
== The Residences at The Historic Alcoa Building == On July 14, 2015, PMC Property Group closed on a $40 million loan to redevelop floors 14-31 of the building as 241 class-A multi-family units, known as The Residences at The Historic Alcoa Building. The lower levels remain in use as {{Convert|133000|sqft}} of office space, while the ground floor has {{Convert|6200|sqft}} of retail, including restaurants. The apartments began renting in March 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=Former Alcoa Building to be redeveloped|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/financial-district/2015/07/former-alcoa-building-to-be-redeveloped.html|access-date=5 May 2016|newspaper=Pittsburgh Business Times}}</ref>
== See also == * [[List of tallest buildings in Pittsburgh]]
== References == <references/>
==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://pgdigs.tumblr.com/post/31395721775/april-29-1950-the-nixon-theater-the-nixon Post-Gazette photo and description of the Old Nixon Theater] * {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070504000256/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=regionalenterprisetower-pittsburgh-pa-usa Emporis]}}
{{S-start}} {{Succession box | before=[[Three PNC Plaza]] | title=[[Pittsburgh Skyscrapers by Height]] | years=410 feet (125 m) <br/>30 floors | after=[[One PNC Plaza]] }} {{Succession box | before=[[Three Gateway Center]] | title=[[Pittsburgh Skyscrapers by Year of Completion]] | years=1953 | after=[[Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown|Wyndham Grand]] }} {{S-end}} {{Pittsburgh}}
[[Category:Skyscraper office buildings in Pittsburgh]] [[Category:Office buildings completed in 1953]] [[Category:Headquarters in the United States]] [[Category:Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmarks]] [[Category:Alcoa]] [[Category:Harrison & Abramovitz buildings]] [[Category:Residential skyscrapers in Pittsburgh]] [[Category:1953 establishments in Pennsylvania]]