In 2015, Brian Faherty – owner of Portland-based Schoolhouse Electric – came across the perfect building for his newest retail outpost in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood. Built in 1972 for AAA, the building had iconic mid-century modern elements, which attracted Faherty immediately. But the building, later home to the investigative branch of Pittsburgh’s Police Bureau, had been abandoned for nearly a decade and was in a state of complete disrepair. Having made a name for himself restoring and preserving elements of American design, Faherty could see what no one else had in years: The Detective Building was worth saving.

Owen Gabbert, LLC had worked with Faherty in the past, so it was exciting to partner on this venture, especially given the opportunity to apply the same type of adaptive reuse approach used on 1900s wooden warehouses in Portland to a newer concrete and steel building in the rust belt. Part of the challenge in this project was envisioning how to help return the building to its original luster, while adding modern amenities. The Owen Gabbert, LLC team worked alongside the Schoolhouse design team, the contractor and Pittsburgh’s mossArchitects, to decide what elements could be renovated and maintained, which fixtures and materials could be salvaged and weaved into the design, and what could be replicated or innovated upon based on the history of the building.

As the developer on The Detective Building, work began with lining up financing for the purchase of the building across four different loans and assisting in acquiring the space from the urban renewal agency that owned it at the time of purchase and continued through management of the design and construction. In the end, after three years of collaboration, we are proud to have turned a once dilapidated building into more than just a beautifully renovated new presence for Schoolhouse Electric, but also a co-working space, Beauty Shoppe, and an aptly named coffee shop, The Bureau. Today, The Detective Building shines as an emblem of what The Schoolhouse Electric brand is best known for: “… the preservation of American manufacturing, thoughtful living and purposeful design.”