Peppi's diner building set for demolition in Point Breeze

Peppi’s Old Tyme Sandwich Shop in Point Breeze is set to be demolished next month following its closure in June.

Owner Lou Bosser said an offer was made for the property that was “too good to be true.” The Strip District and North Side shops remain open.

“(The) offer had nothing to do with the business,” he said of the Penn Avenue property. “The business was very, very good.”

A local investor bought the property and hired Keystone Real Estate to rent the new building that will be constructed, according to David Glickman, president of Keystone Real Estate.

“In about a few weeks, it’s being demolished, and we’re building a new building there,” he said.

The new structure will be 4,500 square feet, and it will be either retail or professional space, according to Glickman. He said the building is being preleased for one or two separate spaces, and it will be completed around spring or summer of next year.

“We’re very excited to be marketing it; it’s a very good location,” Glickman said. “The new building is going to be very nice — a lot of glass — we’re excited to find a new tenant.”

He said he’s sad to see Peppi’s go, as it was on the market for sale.

“They listed the property for sale,” Glickman said. “It was listed on the open market.”

The Point Breeze location was open for 20 years, Bosser said. Before that, the building housed Scotty’s Diner.

Bosser said he’s considering retirement options.

“When someone makes a good offer you can’t refuse, that’s what happens,” he said. “Sometimes you can’t pass stuff up like that.”

Locals said they were upset to see the diner close and hear that it will be demolished.

Brian Butko, co-author of the book “Diners of Pennsylvania,” said he’s been going to Peppi’s for years.

“We’d be hungry at midnight, and we’d head on over,” he said.

Butko, 60, of West Mifflin, said the general consensus is that people are sorry to see the diner go.

“It’s hard to see that it’s just going to be bulldozed,” he said. “Pittsburgh had so many diners from that era — that’s one of the only ones left.”

Butko said he understands that from a business standpoint, keeping the diner isn’t viable. However, he had posted on Facebook alerting others to Peppi’s imminent demolition, as diners play a “huge role in history.”

Some attempted to see whether the diner itself could be moved off the property.

“It happens so often with diners that there’s the excitement, but then the reality of what it takes to lift and move … they move perfectly well, but then the challenge is where you take it,” Butko said.

Glickman said Keystone Real Estate allowed anyone who was interested in salvaging the diner to come take a look before it was sold, and several groups showed up. But, he said, it was determined that it couldn’t be moved or disassembled.

“It’s such a rare and beautiful diner — it’s heartbreaking that it can’t be saved,” Butko said.