Pittsburg Steel Plant Bought by U.S. Steel Real Estate Arm

United States Steel Corporation’s real estate arm purchased a former steel mill site in Pittsburg, California, for nine figures.

U.S. Steel Property Holdings bought the plant site, which operated as a steel mill for decades until it closed two years ago, for $275 million, the Mercury News reported. The mill was formerly a 50-50 venture between U.S. Steel Corporation and South Korea-based steel company Posco. In 2020, U.S. Steel Corporation bought Posco’s 50 percent share, placing ownership under U.S. Steel itself. The $275 million internal transfer moves ownership from U.S. Steel Corporation to U.S. Steel Property Holdings.

The property spans 11 parcels at addresses on Loveridge Road, East Third Street, Columbia Street, and Antioch-Pittsburg Highway in Pittsburg. U.S. Steel Property Holdings acquired the site through a quitclaim deed, which transfers property ownership from a grantor to a grantee without any warranties or guarantees.

In December 2023, U.S. Steel indefinitely paused production at the plant in Pittsburg, halting all manufacturing of cold-rolled sheets, galvanized sheets, tinplate and tin-free steel. The shutdown coincided with the announcement that Japan-based Nippon Steel would be acquiring the company; in total, 474 workers at the plant lost their jobs. At the time operations were suspended, the factory was the West Coast’s only producer of tin plates for the canning industry, as well as other products. Nippon Steel’s purchase was completed last June.

Nippon Steel’s purchase has appeared to revitalize some of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based firm’s growth efforts. Since Nippon Steel officially took ownership, U.S. Steel has announced plans for a large renovation at an Alabama plant, restarting a blast furnace at an Illinois plant and a revamp of a blast furnace at an Indiana plant.

U.S. Steel’s plans for the Pittsburg, California, plant are not immediately clear.

The East Bay in particular has become the manufacturing and industrial hub of the Bay Area, attracting investors from near and far.

In July BKM Capital Partners and Kayne Anderson Real Estate, through their industrial-focused joint venture, purchased a 16-building industrial portfolio in Concord and Hayward from a Blackstone affiliate for more than $120 million. In November, BKM and Kayne Anderson also bought a four-building, 105,101-square-foot industrial campus in Pleasant Hill for $25 million. Companies like Zoox, Amazon’s robotaxi company, are picking up manufacturing operations in cities like Hayward.

— Chris Malone Méndez