Jack Buncher

Buncher was born to a Russian Jewish immigrant family.^[1][2][3] In 1917, Harry, his father opened a scrap yard, the Liberty Scrap Co. at 3131 Liberty Avenue.^[1] Although he studied medicine and law at Duquesne University, he returned to the family business in 1931 due to the advent of the Great Depression.^[1] In 1935, at the age of 24, he took over his father's scrap yard business then stretching four blocks in the Strip District.^[1] During World War II, the business grew due to the demands of the war effort.^[1] After the war, he founded the Buncher Company and expanded his operations by opening another scrap yard on the North Side with a focus on scrap steel^[1] as well establishing operations in Philadelphia and Mobile, Alabama where he scrapped Liberty ships and other military equipment.^[2] Using the windfall proceeds from his previous business venture, Buncher began to acquire old railroads and rail lines as means to the hold the properties and rail lines for a period of time so as to scrap the rails and the ties to resell them later for a profit.^[2] This also led him to delve into general real estate investments when he began to purchase property throughout the city and region including the West End, the South Side, the North Side, and Westmoreland County and Beaver County,^[1] becoming one of the city's largest real estate investors and property owners.^[1][4] In the 1950s, he developed the region's first industrial park in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania.^[1] In 1960s, he sold his scrap yard on the North Side to the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority for the construction of Three Rivers Stadium.^[1] In the 1980s, he a sold the right of way to establish the West Busway.^[1] In the 1990s, he sold the land for Washington's Landing.^[2] Upon his death, Buncher left behind one of the largest real estate portfolios seen in Pittsburgh.^[1]