We accept:
Southern Union Building
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6 March 2006
About 90 % of the facade is now complete, including the limestone balcony on the 5th floor. The crane has been removed in order to allow the St. Patrick's Day Parade to pass by.
A wider view of the balcony.
A close-up of the balcony.
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22 February 2006
East side of the building nears completion.
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21 February 2006
There has been some progress on the building since my last entry, but not much. Thru traffic remains blocked on that side and the sidewalk remains closed. Come September, It will be three years since I was able to walk down the street on that side!
On the east side, about 90 percent of the stonework is complete. I couldn't find a worker on the job site today.
The entrance to the parking and garage area remains unfinished.
Scaffolding still sits in front of the main entrance
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The energy company that called Scranton its home for a about five
months announced the sale of its local natural gas utility, PG Energy, and the
consolidation of its headquarters operations in Houston.
Though about 20 Southern Union employees will remain in Scranton, the $16
million, still unfinished building on Lackawanna Avenue will no longer be
referred to as the corporate headquarters. Southern Union officials say they are
seeking tenants for the building.
Meanwhile, its last tether to the area, PG Energy, is expected to be sold to
Valley Forge-based UGI Corp. Holding Co. for $580 million in August, pending
regulatory approvals. Southern Union will use the cash to help pay for the
acquisition of another pipeline company.
Former Southern Union CEO Tom Karam, a Scranton native credited with luring the
headquarters to the city, could not be reached for comment.
PG Energy serves 158,000 customers in Lackawanna, Luzerne and surrounding
counties. Unclear is the fate of the utility’s 420 employees, most based in its
PEI Center in Wilkes-Barre. UGI spokesman Joe Swope said the company expects to
review PG
Tuesday August 5th 2003, Southern Union Co., parent company of PG Energy and one of the nation's fastest growing energy distribution companies, announced that it will build a 40,000-square-foot, $10 million headquarters at 415 Lackawanna Ave. In addition to giving the city its only major corporate headquarters, a substantial and handsome new office building, and about 100 high-end jobs, the project could well prove to be an accelerant for more downtown development.
“We are obligated to our ratepayers to operate as efficiently as
possible,” Mr. Swope said. “We have to review the organizational structure at PG
Energy and see how it fits with ours.”
Experienced PG Energy employees would have opportunities elsewhere at UGI, which
will have more than 500,000 customers after the acquisition, Mr. Swope said.
Field operations such as maintenance and meter reading are based in Wilkes-Barre
and at service facilities in Bloomsburg, Archbald and Williamsport.
UGI is no stranger to the region, serving residents of portions of Luzerne and
Wyoming counties with electricity, and the Hazleton area with natural gas. The
company also operates a coal-fired power plant in Hunlock Creek, Luzerne County,
and houses its electric division in Hanover Township.
The acquisition of PG Energy customers increases UGI’s gas division by 50
percent. The company currently serves 300,000 from Carlisle to Easton and the
Hazleton area.
News was anti-climactic
The announcement of the utility sale and headquarters pullout was
anti-climactic. The headquarters never came close to housing the 100-plus
occupants promised when the project was announced amid fanfare in 2003. Then
smiling public officials and business people viewed the headquarters as a
catalyst for reinvestment in the city.
As the building took shape, Southern Union itself began to transform. Once an
operator of natural gas utilities that dabbled in activities such as liquefied
natural gas and natural gas transmission lines, Southern Union grew into a
pipeline company of national and even international prominence.
In November 2004, a bankruptcy court bid led to Southern Union’s $2.45 billion
purchase of CrossCountry Energy, an 18,000-mile pipeline network and the last
profitable piece of the failed Enron Corp.
Soon after, the company began shedding legacy executives and board members —
local people inherited from the old PEI Enterprises Inc. Others were moved to
Texas. Eventually, the company even let go of Mr. Karam, credited as the
architect of Southern Union deals.
Last month, the cash-strapped company announced it would acquire the Sid
Richardson Energy Services Co. Already heavily leveraged, the company took a
route it has taken in the past — selling one company to buy another.
Longtime Southern Union watcher, equities analyst Gordon Howald of Natexis
Bleichroeder, said the move was not a surprise. The company has edged away from
utilities.
“They are moving into pipelines and they’ve indicated they would sell the
utilities if they needed to,” he said. “Utilities have not been their favorite
asset.”
Southern Union apparently got a good price, too. Acquisitions are typically
based on multiples of earnings. Mr. Howald said the sale price is about 11 times
PG Energy’s earnings. Similar utilities have been going for about nine times
earnings.
Mr. Karam foreshadowed the departure of Southern Union as early as last summer.
During a hardhat tour of the would-be headquarters that included a zebrawood
board table, Ultrasuede walls, and custom-made furniture, he remarked: “Long
after Tom Karam is gone and Southern Union is gone, Scranton will still have
this tremendous asset.”
Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com
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1 November 2005
In this view you can see the progress being made on the east side. Work continues on the balcony.
The crane brings finish pieces to the east side scaffold in this shot from out in front of our restaurant.
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27 October 2005
Almost done!
Most of the limestone has been attached and now they are working on the granite. there isn't to much material left and the street should be open soon!
A little closer look at the granite veneer. I will get out front and get a shot of the front doors when the traffic lane is moved in. It's too dangerous to stand out there now.
Compared to photos from a couple months ago, not to much material left to be installed.
This is a detail of the op floor balcony. The limestone has a sun burst pattern of cuts. Neat! Lighting on this building should make it look sweet.
15 September 2005
I would estimate that about 2/3 of the Indiana limestone is in place on the facade. Then workers can move to the east side. I've been told that Lackawanna Avenue will finally be opened by Christmas shopping season, although Christmas Club checks are due out in two weeks.
A lot of Indiana limestone still sits on Lackawanna Avenue.
In this shot you can see that limestone still needs to be applied to the east side of the building.
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11 July 2005
Work continues at a snail's pace. This scene remains virtually the same as it did back on April 11th. Some merchants are becoming aggravated over Lackawanna Avenue being reduced to two lanes for two years now!
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11 May 2005
Work on the exterior is moving on and up.
Close encounter with the Indiana limestone.
A view from across the street.
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4 May 2005
The Indiana limestone has finally arrived and work has begun on the exterior.
The second floor gets its final covering.
The street is used as a staging area for the limestone cutters.
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11 April 2005
Another shot from the Laundry. Some exterior work has bee done, but the limestone still hasn't arrived.
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15 February 2005
This shot from the Laundry building show the progress on the copper clad roof. I was told today that most of the interior of the fifth floor was complete.
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28 December 2004
A crane delivers drywall sheets to the executive suite floor of the SU Building.
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17 December 2004
The facade awaits its stone and brick work. I heard there was an ordering snafu and it has held up delivery of the Indiana limestone and granite. Work should start soon.
The heated sidewalks are complete.
Brickwork on the rear of the building continues. The HVAC building on the near left is now complete.
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26 October 2004
This is a shot of the copper roof.
Another shot of the roof looking towards the Oppenhiem Building.
Almost all the windows are installed and stonework will soon follow.
I will have to get a better angle, but curbing and sidewalks are in place.
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24 August 2004
This shot is from the Laundry Building roof. My camera doesn't have a telephoto lens but take my word for it, the brickwork on the back of the building is almost done.
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17 August 2004
This shot shows a good view of the entrance tunnel to the parking area and ramp to the underground parking level.
This is a shot of the ramp leading to the underground parking level.
Brick work is underway at the rear of the Southern Union Building.
This shot is from atop the five story Laundry Building.
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24 June 2004
Two lanes of Lackawanna Avenue remain closed and are being used as a staging area.
In this shot you can see the Lackawanna Avenue entrance tunnel on the lower left side of the first floor. Barely visible are the beginnings of the HVAC system on the first floor, too.
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4 June 2004
This photo was taken atop the Laundry Building looking towards the Southern Union Building.
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18 May 2004
This shot is from the back of our building on Center Street. It give you an idea how close this project is to us!
Steelworkers have just about finished their job. Concrete is being poured on all decks. the area in the foreground is the two level parking garage. It will provide most of the parking for the building.
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27 April 2004
Four floors are up and decking is down on the first and second.
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2 April 2004
The big crane is on the job and the steel is going up fast!
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31 March 2004
The crane has moved out to Lackawanna Avenue. The street was closed for 24 hours so the white crane could assemble the red crane. The photo below was taken at 5 PM from in front of our restaurant. The crane was finally up and running.
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29 March 2004
The site has been graded with crushed stone and steel girders are going up. this was the last day for the crane inside the site. Tomorrow a larger crane will take its place on Lackawanna Avenue.
A view of the second floor girders.
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16 March 2004
Work on the footers continues.
It's still cold so cement footers must be covered till they set.
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28 January 2004
This shot was taken from the rear of the 400 Lackawanna Avenue looking towards The Mall at Steamtown. It shows water drills and heavy equipment used to set footers for the new building.
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6 November 2003
Most of the demolition is now complete. Small parts of the facades remain to be knocked down, then excavation of the debris will commence.
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8 October 2003
The bulk of the WYOU building is now reduced to rubble. The road that has been built on the right is for the excavator. It will begin tearing down the building on the right next
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1 October 2003
An excavator claws it's way through the old WYOU building. The three story building on the right is next to come down.
Meanwhile two men in the bucket lift hand cut the WYOU building from it's neighbor.
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30 September 2003
Demolition of the former Kresgee/WYOU-22 building begins. It's the easier building being only two stories.