West Virginia University Health System has given a big shot in the arm to a Pittsburgh area business park and one of its buildings.
WVU Medicine, as it is commonly known, is expanding into the region, now serving not only its home state but southwestern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. To better accommodate that growth, the healthcare provider last year signed a full-building lease with NAI Burns Scalo to take all 90,250 square feet of space at the four-story Fountainhead office building at 555 Southpointe Blvd., located at the entrance to the Southpointe business park in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
The lease was a big win for the Pittsburgh office market, and local observers hope WVU Medicine's arrival serves as a catalyst for revitalizing Southpointe's office sector, which took a hit from the pandemic. The lease also introduces a new tenant sector — healthcare — into the suburban area, diversifying Southpointe's tenant base and positioning it as a multifaceted business hub.
For its potential to rejuvenate the suburban Pittsburgh office market, the WVU Medicine lease has been selected by a panel of local industry professionals as the winner of the 2025 CoStar Impact Awards lease of the year for Pittsburgh.
NAI Burns Scalo, the Fountainhead's owner and negotiator of the WVU Medicine deal, described the transaction as “one of the largest lease agreements in the Pittsburgh metropolitan region this year, taking a notable space off the market, and marking a significant net gain for Southpointe as a whole.”
About the project: NAI Burns Scalo built the Fountainhead building 15 years ago but sold it in 2003, soon after completing construction. However, the company retained the building's facility management and leasing. In 2018, the firm bought the building back for about $18 million. At the time, the property—which the landlord has described as "Colorado blue"—was fully occupied. The building had emptied out during the pandemic and was completely vacant before securing WVU Medicine.
The Fountainhead is an energy-efficient building with reflective Low-E glass. Its prominent location at the entrance of Southpointe makes it highly visible from Interstate 79, and that was a selling point for WVU Medicine: It wanted the ability to post prominent signage and build awareness of its new presence in the area.
WVU Medicine's lease, which runs until July 2040, demonstrates renewed confidence in the Southpointe area as more employees return to the office.
What the judges said: "The Pittsburgh area's office market has experienced limited influxes of substantial new tenants over the past five years," Gerry McLaughlin, Newmark executive managing director, said. "Notably, the Southpointe market has faced a significant decline in occupancy during this period. This transaction represents a promising potential turnaround for the Southpointe office market, signaling a positive shift in tenant engagement and occupancy levels."
They made it happen: NAI Burns Scalo Executive Vice President Scott DiGuglielmo, First Vice President Kelley Hoover Heckathorne, Vice President Trenton McPherson and Chief Investment Officer Christie Reiber are credited with securing the deal with WVU Medicine, which is led by President and CEO Albert Wright.
CoStar Market Manager Akeem Holmes contributed to this report.