Lawrenceville's Arsenal Bowl has a buyer, but real estate group mum on who

Pittsburgh’s iconic Arsenal Bowl has sold, according to the real estate firm marketing the bowling alley, though the buyer remains under wraps.

Terri Sokoloff, of the commercial real estate firm Specialty Group, said only that the sale brought together two initially separate buyers. She said the group met with more than a dozen interested buyers.

“In the end, we saw the opportunity to ‘marry’ two of the parties to create the ultimate buyer group,” Sokoloff said.

She said one buyer has hands-on experience running a bowling alley while the other “brought the business acumen and management experienced” needed to keep the Lawrenceville staple up and running.

“Essentially,” she said, “the two parties were a Cinderella and the glass slipper perfect fit.”

She said the license transfer should be finished by year’s end.

In a 2007 profile of Lawrenceville’s Butler Street, The New York Times called the retro bowling alley a place “where old-school bowling vibe meets nightclub atmosphere.”

The retro bowling alley went up for sale in June, soon after Pennsylvania’s pandemic restrictions began expiring. Sokoloff said at the time that business was already picking up and “ownership wants to go out on top.”

Paul Buncher has owned Arsenal Bowl since 1991, and Sokoloff said that as the second-generation ownership has neared retirement, they are looking for someone else to take over.

“We never could have expected Pittsburgh’s reaction to the sale announcement of Arsenal Bowl,” Sokoloff said. “Our phones were ringing constantly for more information. This establishment is truly an icon in our community, and Pittsburghers were worried about losing their tradition of bowling in the heart of Lawrenceville.”