Another (Dubuque, IA was first) physical site closed-down. Undoubtedly expect to hear about more sites suffering the same fate soon enough.
https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2020/08/07/ibm-closes-squirrel-hill-office.html
By: Tim Schooley – Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times
Aug 7, 2020, 1:19pm EDT
Eight years after the tech giant bought what was then the high-flying search-and-data startup Vivisimo, IBM (NYSE: IBM) has closed the office out of which the business unit worked in Squirrel Hill.
The international conglomerate gave only a vague statement in response to inquiries about the office closure.
In an email, IBM spokesman Doug Shelton said, "as part of our regular business process, IBM continually evaluates its real estate and other requirements in light of client and market needs. IBM retains a presence in Pennsylvania," not making any specific reference of a presence for the company in the Pittsburgh area.
Ahron Freilich, who joined with an investment partner to buy the building IBM has long been based in at 1700 Murray Ave. in June 2019, confirmed IBM has closed its office there in a move motivated by the pandemic, as remote-working staff were working from home as the lease expired.
Freilich put the office closing in perspective given the economy-altering changes of the pandemic.
"People's health is more important so it's totally understandable," he said. "Commercial real estate is going to be challenged in the short term. The human nature of social interaction will prevail in the long run."
The closing adds to an office void to come at the property at 1700 Murray, which totals 52,000 square feet that is anchored by a Rite-Aid store at the corner of Forbes and Murray, one of the city's busiest intersections.
IBM's closing will soon be followed by that of another one-time local startup, M*Modal, which was bought by 3M Co. in January 2019, which has inked a deal to leave its 20,000-square-foot office in Squirrel Hill for a new 53,000-square-foot office now under construction in North Point Breeze expected to be completed in December.
It remains to be determined whether IBM expects to permanently close the office or if the company is opting to keep any Pittsburgh-area staff working from home on an interim basis during the pandemic emergency.
For now, the closure brings to an end the corporate presence of what was one of Pittsburgh's more celebrated tech startups in Vivisimo, which was launched out of Carnegie Mellon and became one of the region's fastest-growing companies, generating major government contracts and establishing international offices.
Freilich said he is exploring the prospects for reusing the office space at 1700 Murray and expects to have it back on the market soon, represented by Linda Heininger of Piatt Sotheby's International Realty.