The Campus Square building in Midtown Harrisburg
As UPMC Pinnacle has grown and grown, you may have wondered—where could they possibly expand to next?
Here, at least in part, is your answer: Midtown.
On Monday, a handful of Pinnacle employees will spend their first workday in the Campus Square building at the corner of N. 3rd and Reily streets in Harrisburg. Before the month is out, about 40 employees will work in that office, said Phil Guarneschelli, UPMC Pinnacle’s president and CEO.
“We are moving some administrative offices to make more room for patient services at UPMC Pinnacle Harrisburg,” Guarneschelli said. “We are very excited about this growth and the care we can provide to patients as a result.”
After a two-year construction period, GreenWorks Development opened the sprawling, 75,000-square-foot building in 2009. The building once housed HACC’s administrative offices and Commonwealth Charter Academy, a cyber charter school. Both have since moved out, and GreenWorks has been filling the building with new tenants, including lobbying firm Maverick Strategies, which relocated from downtown last year.
The move represents a branching out geographically for UPMC Pinnacle in Harrisburg. Until now, it had clustered its workers around its facilities in downtown/Shipoke and at the Polyclinic campus in Uptown. Technology, though, now allows some employees to work more distantly, Guarneschelli said.
He cited a host of factors for selecting the Campus Square building, including parking availability, competitive rental cost and LEED energy certification, as the building is geothermally heated and cooled and has a 42-kilowatt solar array on the roof.
He described his employees as “excited” to make the move.
“Many have already checked out the restaurants in the area,” he said. “But as with any move, it will take some time to acclimate.”
Samra Alic, owner of Dalicia Bakery and Coffee Shop directly across N. 3rd Street, said that she warmly welcomed her new neighbors. She recalled that Commonwealth Charter Academy students used to stop in for coffee or a pastry.
“I’m very happy about this,” she said. “With more people coming in here, it’s going to be better.”
While this is UPMC Pinnacle’s first foray into Midtown, it may not be their last.
“As we continue to grow and expand the great services of UPMC, we expect there may be times we need to shift locations to accommodate changes,” Guarneschelli said. “At this time, there are no planned moves. There is capacity at this new location if the need arises.”
