Financing arranged for One Oxford Centre in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, Apr. 8, 2025 –  JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has arranged a note-on-note financing for One Oxford Centre, a trophy Class A office tower totaling 1.03 million square feet in the heart of Pittsburgh’s central business district.

Working on behalf of the borrower, led by Aaron Stauber, President of Rugby Realty, and a group of local investors, JLL placed the three-year acquisition loan with Dollar Bank.

One Oxford Centre is located at 301 Grant St. and occupies two city blocks between Grant and Smithfield Streets. The 45-story office tower is currently 65% leased to a mix of office and ground-floor retail tenants, including PWC, Clark Hill and Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti law firms. Amenities at the tower include The Rivers Club, a full-service health/business club and a multi-level, 850 space parking garage.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team representing the borrower was led by Executive Managing Director John Pelusi, Senior Managing Director Claudia Steeb, Senior Managing Director Nick Unkovic and Zach Barone.

“Our team has been involved with One Oxford Centre since 1982, having arranged the debt and equity financing for its construction, refinancing it several times over the years, and then selling it to Shorenstein in 2016 and arranging the financing on their behalf,” said Pelusi.

“We were pleased to secure this transaction on behalf of a buyer team that truly has a demonstrated commitment to the City of Pittsburgh. The Rugby team has an impressive portfolio of local CBD office properties along Grant Street and its suburban office properties, including Foster Plaza and Cherrington, along the Parkway West Corridor,” added Pelusi. “One Oxford Centre is an iconic Class A, trophy asset. Since the pandemic, the building has been challenged in terms of occupancy levels. This new team’s commitment and financial wherewithal to the asset will undoubtedly drive One Oxford Centre’s occupancy levels back to the 90% range. In fact, once it became public that Aaron Stauber was leading the team that was acquiring the asset, several existing tenants have already exercised lease renewals.”

In addition to One Oxford Centre, JLL’s Pittsburgh Capital Markets group has sold and financed Fifth Avenue Place, PPG Place, EQT Tower and Liberty Center, all CBD Class A trophy office buildings, as well as the majority of the CBD’s Class A and B office buildings, including but not limited to the Frick Building, Penn Avenue Place, the Grant Building, Peoples Center, One North Shore Center, SAP Building and the Gateway Complex.

JLL’s Capital Markets group is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The group’s in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The group has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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For over 30 years, Rugby and RexxHall Realty has been a leading real estate company in the heart of Pittsburgh. Specializing in the operation and leasing of landmark office buildings, Rugby and RexxHall Realty encompass strong, ethical management and always put the tenant first for the best experiences possible.