What was once the largest warehouse between New York and Chicago, with the noise of cargo off-loading from barges and trains, the Terminal Building today quietly ticks along as one of the South Side’s best-kept secrets — except among the 80 businesses and nonprofits that fill it.

When you turn onto Terminal Way off East Carson Street, you see two large buildings on either side of the narrow road, each one four stories high. But it’s really the same building. Terminal Way is an elevated road that cuts between the two sides on the Terminal Building’s third-floor level.

I entered a lobby on the odd-numbered side and was on the third floor. If you get on the elevator and punch 1, the doors will open to yawning darkness.

The first two floors are bounded by South Third and South Fourth streets and McKean Street, with the outer part surrounded by loading docks and home to industrial tenants. By contrast, Terminal Way creates for its tenants a sort of courtyard, with well-lit, elevated sidewalks on each side.

In 2005, it was renamed the River Walk Corporate Centre.

Built in 1904-1907, it was the Pittsburgh Terminal Warehouse and Transfer Co. with a 30,000-square-foot refrigeration unit that had cork-lined floor, ceiling and walls. The whole building is “just shy of a million square feet,” said Mark Bibro, executive director of the Birmingham Foundation, one of the owners and a former building manager.

Even on a blustery winter afternoon, it’s hard to ignore a sign proclaiming Milk Shake Happy Hour.

From 4 to 6 p.m. every Wednesday, the Milk Shake Factory by Edward Marc Chocolatier offers its full menu of 50 milk shakes at half-off prices.

With innovative and intriguing flavors such as Toasted Almond Fudge Java, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle and Cajun Chocolate or seasonal specialties such as Eggnog, these rich, thick 20-ounce milk shakes are alluring when fully priced at $4.50. When discounted, they’re guaranteed to melt the resolve of the most dedicated dieter.

Co-owner Chris Edwards says the South Side shop draws customers year-round and throughout the day. It’s not unusual to find a customer or two soon after the store’s 10 a.m. opening time.

Milk shakes are only one of the lures. The store’s most prominent merchandise is the tiny hand-dipped chocolates ($22.95 or $24.95 per pound) that call to you from the large glass-fronted counter at the front of the store.

They can be purchased in prepackaged boxes. But with dozens to choose from, it’s more fun to play favorites picking and choosing from among the choices that include Vanilla Butter Cream, Tiramisu Truffle, Dark-Chocolate Pecan Terrapin and Peanut Butter Meltaway.

The company has been in business just two years shy of a century.

Edwards’ great-grandparents opened a shop in Lawrenceville shortly after they emigrated from Greece.

During the decades, it has operated under a number of names that include Keystone Candies, Geoffrey Boehm Candies and Sherm Edwards Candies.

Fourth-generation co-owners Chris Edwards, brother Mark and sister Dana Edwards Manatos keep alive many of the recipes that their founding great-grandparents used.

“It’s important for us to keep to the time period of our great-grandparents and the way they made candies after the turn of the century,” Chris Edwards says.

What makes their Peanut Butter and Jelly Milk Shake so popular is the family recipe for strawberry syrup. “It really tastes like jelly,” Chris Edwards says.

Sundaes ($4.95-$2.60) are a big draw. Vanilla salt caramel is the most popular sundae choice, Chris Edwards says.

That’s what Tom Cruise’s wife, Katie Holmes, reportedly ordered when she stopped by in October with daughter Suri Cruise, who left with a gigantic vanilla ice-cream cone.

The shop on East Carson Street still has its vintage tin ceiling (though it’s now painted a glossy red) and tiny marble-topped tables with vintage-look chairs.

But the Edwards family moves with the times.

Dana Edwards Manatos developed the Milk Shake Factory concept as a class assignment while she was in college. The company is working to expand it with new store outlets in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, and a separate operation that would place milk-shake carts in sports arenas and zoos.

Edward Marc Chocolatier has two other retail stores where candy can be purchased — 509 Cavitt Ave., Trafford, and 4366 Old William Penn Highway, Monroeville. They also have a retail shop inside the Pentagon in Arlington, Va.

But for now, if it’s a milk shake, sundae or soda you’re craving, they’re only available at the South Side location.

The Tom Cruise movie “One Shot” will be tying up traffic this afternoon and evening on the South Side.

The Pittsburgh Film Office    said that filming will be going on between 11 a.m. Wednesday and 2 a.m. Thursday on East Carson Street between 14th and 17th streets. Parking won’t be allowed between 14th and 18th streets during the filming, and there will be intermittent traffic control, the Film Office said.

Even before the filming began, there were plenty of trucks, trailers and other activity on the South Side during rush hour Wednesday morning.

The movie, which has been taking advantage of film tax credits, began filming in Pittsburgh in the fall. And while there have been traffic closures and even a helicopter flying around Pittsburgh related to the movie production, “One Shot” hasn’t been as widely covered (or had as many prominent closures and activity) as “The Dark Knight Rises” when the Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman movie filmed in the city last summer.

Paul J. Gough is the web producer at the Pittsburgh Business Times. Contact him at pgough@bizjournals.com or (412) 208-3827. You can also follow him on Twitter.

Holding a cane, Virginia Carik stood in line on Tuesday at the Allegheny County property assessment office to appeal the 228 percent increase in the assessed value of her South Side home where she’s lived for more than 60 years.

“The word is ‘unbelievable,’ ” said Carik, 86, whose home’s assessed value went from $43,700 to $143,500. “I live in an alley. It’s a frame house with siding that we put on in 1972. I wouldn’t buy it for that (price).”

She joined more than 400 fellow property owners at the County Office Building, Downtown, for the first day of informal appeals of property reassessments that have angered and confused homeowners across Pittsburgh. New County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, who took office in Oakland yesterday, pledged during his campaign to block the reassessment.

“This is everything that’s wrong with government,” said Steve Alber, 67, of Squirrel Hill, whose home value increased 30 percent — from $232,000 to $301,000. His Shadyside rental property increased from $114,000 to $371,000, or 225 percent.

“I laughed. I thought it was (delivered to the wrong address),” Alber said. “It’s almost beyond belief that officials could let this happen. If their objective is to depopulate this city, they’re heading in the right direction.”

Yesterday was the first step in the appeal process. Property owners can file with the Board of Appeals, the second appellate step, and then cancel that second appeal if they are satisfied with the results of the first appeal, said Tim Johnson, director of county Administrative Services. Ten years ago, about 100,000 people countywide appealed their reassessments.

Those who scheduled informal reviews — which continue until at least next week — met with county employees and contracted reviewers in one of 23 offices and cubicles on the building’s third floor. They were scheduled in 15-minute increments and then stood in a line to scan in their evidence, which included pictures and documents of comparable property sales. Homeowners will learn later whether the county would lower their assessment.

“The reviewers are there to listen and collect evidence and make a general recommendation to a final review team,” Johnson said. “The timeline is hard to say. The judge is controlling the process.”

Common Pleas Senior Judge R. Stanton Wettick ordered the countywide reassessment after ruling that continuing to use 2002 values was unconstitutional. He ordered county officials to mail the reassessment notices to Pittsburgh and Mt. Oliver residents last week. Suburban homeowners will receive updated assessments later.

Officials said higher assessments won’t necessarily mean higher taxes. Pittsburgh Public Schools and city officials will set new tax rates this month to follow state law that limits how much more money a government can collect through reassessments.

Property owners yesterday complained about the process, the judge, how leaders have handled the notifications and, in some cases, having to miss work to go Downtown.

“I feel that the people that did the reassessments didn’t have enough time to study the neighborhoods,” said Sandra Fundy of Mt. Washington, who was appealing assessments on eight properties. A property that she bought two years ago for $60,000 was assessed at $122,000, she said.

Ed Donnelly, 55, of Whitehall is appealing the assessment of a South Side house he bought 16 months ago for $49,900. The value had been set at $20,000 and increased to $107,000. His two sons live in the house.

“I knew it was low, but it went five times higher. I’ll pay the taxes on the $49,900,” Donnelly said. “If you bought a home recently, the assessment should be the market value.”

The assessment for John Hanna’s Knoxville home went from $40,000 to $89,000, an increase of nearly 123 percent.

“If they want to give me $89,000 for the house, I’ll take it. I’ll even knock 20 percent off of that,” Hanna said. “When I got the notice, I said, ‘Where do I file the appeal?’ and I got on the phone immediately.”

Fitzgerald announced that he was increasing staffing at the Office of Property Assessments to handle the requests for appeal reviews. He said he wants to double the number of phone lines from 40 to 80.

City homeowners who want to schedule a review must call 412-350-4600 or register online at apps.alleghenycounty.us/InformalReviews/ by Jan. 13. Fitzgerald said he added 30 staffers to handle the calls and e-mails.