Masked vandal targets site of future Whole Foods location
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Police are looking for a man seen on surveillance video defacing a newly constructed office tower in one of Pittsburgh's neighborhoods.
The graffiti starts at one end of the building in East Liberty to the other.
"It's disappointing," said Kelle Gressem, of RE/Max Realty in East Liberty.
Around 12:30 a.m. Monday, cameras at the office tower caught a man, dressed in black with a mask covering his face, spray painting a squiggly line across the South St. Clair Street side of the building.
On the other side of the building on Penn Avenue, the vandal sprayed the words, "The ghost of Penn Plaza says (expletive) Bezos."
Jeff Bezos is the owner of Amazon, which owns Whole Foods, which is opening a new store at this location.
"There has been a lot of changes in the community over the past few years," Gressem said. "I know some people have been resistant to the change; however, change is inevitable."
Gressem has been a realtor in the area for the past several years.
She said when the Penn Plaza Apartments were torn down in 2017 to make way for this new office tower, former tenants and some locals were upset.
She said she believes that could be the reason for the defacement.
"I think that was targeted based on what was there prior and there still being hurt feelings for people who were displaced," Gressem said. "They weren't, unfortunately, treated as fairly as they should have been treated, and there are still some people who harbor bitterness as a result."
Gressem added that to see something negative happen like this takes away from all the positive that has taken place in the community in recent years.
She cited the new developments at Bakery Square, Google's expansion and now Duoling's new headquarters moving into the space.
"I think far too often people tend to focus on the negative instead of looking at the positive," Gressem said. "It's bringing more jobs to the community. At some point we have to move forward instead of keep using the rear-view mirror to look behind us."
Pittsburgh police are asking anyone with information to call them.