The biggest storefront at Murray and Forbes has been dark since Rite Aid left. Its prescriptions moved up the street to the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle Pharmacy at 1901 Murray Avenue on June 26, 2025, CBS Pittsburgh reported. From the sidewalk, the corner still looks much as it has for more than a year.
The building above it has changed much faster. Since the property changed hands in December 2025, its new owner has leased the entire second floor and signed a grocery tenant for the old pharmacy space. 1700 Murray is coming back in the reverse of the order a passerby sees it. The office space that can't be seen from the street filled first. The corner storefront, the one piece of the building that shapes the intersection, comes last.
A year at 1700 Murray, floor by floor
| Space | Size | Status as announced |
|---|---|---|
| Ground floor, former Rite Aid | 12,000 sq ft | Leased to Murray Avenue Market; opening targeted around March 2027 |
| Second floor | More than 12,000 sq ft across the first three leases | Fully leased to four tenants; move-ins expected in 2026 |
| Third floor | 17,000 sq ft | Proposals under review by prospective tenants as of April 2026 |
| Lobby | Building-wide | Complete remodel, upgraded access control and new tenant signage planned |
The Pittsburgh Business Times reported that 29 Katz Crew LP bought the 52,000-square-foot building for $5.1 million. Brandywine Communities, a Pittsburgh owner and developer, describes the building as its December 2025 acquisition and now markets the property as "The Brandywine." The building has a long office history. IBM was the original occupant, and later M*Modal, which 3M acquired in 2019. Brandywine calls it the only Class A office address in Squirrel Hill.
Three office leases in about 100 days
Brandywine's April 27 leasing announcement said three leases totaling more than 12,000 square feet were signed within 100 days of the purchase. Two of the three tenants aren't new to the neighborhood:
- Techstra Solutions, a management consulting firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, is moving from elsewhere in Squirrel Hill into the upgraded space. Founder and CEO Jennifer Honig said the move keeps the company near Carnegie Mellon University.
- Generation Dental, also previously nearby, is building out a new dental care facility on the floor.
- Pittsburgh City Paper is relaunching at the address, with the business district's shops and restaurants right outside the door.
In August, Brandywine said an affiliate of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation had also signed, which left the second floor fully leased. All four tenants were expected to move into remodeled offices in 2026.
For the business district, this matters because of who walks through the building's doors on weekdays. A dental practice brings in patients on appointment schedules. A consulting firm and a newsroom bring staff who need lunch, coffee and errands within a few blocks of Forbes and Murray. That weekday foot traffic is starting at the building before its corner storefront reopens.
City Paper is part of the same comeback
City Paper's move here is its own neighborhood story. The Post-Gazette reported that its previous publisher, Block Communications, closed the paper at the end of 2025 after 34 years. A new nonprofit, LocalMatters, is leading the revival, and Ali Trachta is staying on as executive editor. The paper's own March 19 announcement said it would come back online and with a monthly print edition.
For its relaunch, Pittsburgh's alternative weekly picked an address in the Squirrel Hill business district. Brandywine's April announcement described the move as a relaunch at a walkable urban location with immediate access to the district's dining and retail.
The corner is last in line
The space everyone sees is also the part with the most steps left. In August, Brandywine announced that the former Rite Aid had been fully leased to Murray Avenue Market, a 12,000-square-foot neighborhood grocery. The announcement listed produce, meats, baked goods, prepared foods, kosher offerings and household essentials. The owner, Yitzchok "Itchy" Glassner, described the store in that announcement as a kosher market that is "also a true community grocery store, open to everyone."
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's August 23 report on the store, which Glassner calls Murray's, gives the most detail on how it will work:
- A commercial kitchen will prepare take-away food, with 8 to 10 seats for eating in.
- Planned hours are Sunday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m. until two hours before sundown.
- Online ordering and delivery will start through third-party apps.
- A new ADA ramp at the back of the store will give shopping carts access to the 23-space parking lot.
According to the same report, the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the grocery in July, and the landlord and tenant have since settled their earlier disagreements. Remodeling was set to begin once engineering plans are final, and Glassner is targeting an opening around March 2027. Brandywine's release said construction on the market would start "in the coming months" and that opening details would come later.
"Murray's Market represents exactly the type of tenant we hoped to attract," Brandywine spokesperson Jamison Combs said in the August announcement, describing it as "an everyday service that strengthens the neighborhood and serves residents from every background."
Those details show why the corner is taking longer than the offices upstairs. Reopening the old pharmacy as a grocery has required a zoning approval, and it still calls for a commercial kitchen and a new cart route to the parking lot. Each of those steps has to happen before the storefront can open.
Two grocery anchors on one avenue
Once Murray Avenue Market opens, Murray Avenue will have a grocery at each end of a short walk, with the new market at 1700 and Giant Eagle at 1901. Ownership is changing at the other end too. On July 1, 2026, Kroger announced an agreement to acquire Giant Eagle for $1.65 billion. That figure includes $1.25 billion in cash and about $400 million in assumed liabilities, and the deal is expected to close in 2027 pending regulatory clearance. Kroger's announcement anticipated limited store divestitures without naming any locations.
If both timelines hold, Squirrel Hill's two grocery anchors could open and change hands in the same year. The independent market at Forbes and Murray is the newer of the two.
Between now and spring
The corner may stay quiet through the winter, but the business district around it has plenty planned:
- Squirrel Hill Farmers' Market, Beacon Bartlett Parking Lot, 5737 Beacon Street, runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through December 20, with no market on November 29. Details are on the City of Pittsburgh's market page.
- Small Business Saturday is November 28 across the Squirrel Hill business district along Forbes and Murray.
- Holiday Wine Walk is Saturday, December 12, from 4 to 7 p.m., with check-in at Penn Fixture & Supply, 5850 Forward Avenue. It's a self-paced walk through participating merchants for 21-and-over guests with photo ID. Tickets are $30 through November 28 and $35 starting November 29.
The Wine Walk route will pass a corner that's still waiting on its grocery. The offices upstairs, though, have already been leased.
At New City Pittsburgh, we follow building-by-building changes like the one at 1700 Murray as part of our project work. If you want to talk through what changes at Forbes and Murray could mean for a home on the nearby blocks, schedule a free consultation.
