Macy's closing downtown Pittsburgh store, selling landmark for hotel, residential development

Macy's is closing its downtown Pittsburgh location and selling the landmark building where the now-defunct Kaufmann's chain ran its flagship store for more than a century.

Macy's said Monday it's selling the 13-story building to Philadelphia developer Core Realty, which is planning a hotel and residential project.

A clearance sale will run into early September.

The Fifth Avenue building opened as Kaufmann's in 1887. Cincinnati, Ohio-based Macy's acquired Kaufmann's parent company in 2005.

Macy's says it decided to sell to because it was only using one-third of the building's 1.2 million square feet of space, leaving upper floors idle.

The company says laid off employees will be offered severance package. Some may be offered positions in nearby stores.

About 30 district office employees will move to another Pittsburgh-area Macy's.