Old Froggy's Tavern To Be Razed For New Office Tower

PITTSBURGH, PA - The owner of the Downtown Pittsburgh building that once housed the old Froggy's tavern plans to demolish it and several other structures and build a new office tower on the site.

Michael Troiani has filed demolition documents with the Pittsburgh Planning Commission that detail how the buildings will be razed to make way for the new Boulevard And Market Tower bounded by the Boulevard of the Allies, First Avenue and Market Street.

"The vacant, narrow and separated buildings of varying heights are inefficient and obsolete requiring redundant systems and ineffective ratios of costs to usable square footage," the documents state. "Reusing out-of-date and physically disconnected buildings is not the highest and best use for a larger consolidated site in this prominent location."

For a quarter of a century beginning in 1978, the gravelly voiced Steve "Froggy" Morris held court in his Market Square bar and restaurant where celebrities such as Jack Nicholson flocked when they were in town.

Despite its reputation as one of Downtown's go-to destinations, Morris eventually encountered financial difficulties and Froggy's closed in 2003. Morris died five years later; the bar space currently is vacant.

The office tower that Troiani plans would have lower height and massing along Market and First and higher height along the Boulevard of the Allies. Bricks from the demolished Froggy's and the other buildings would be integrated into the facade of the lower-height portion of the tower.

It's not clear when construction would start on the tower if the planning commission approves the demolition plans.