Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto said Thursday morning that moving the Penguins “is not an option” even if the team is sold to new ownership.

“The Penguins are in Pittsburgh and that’s a given,” he said.

Peduto said the nearly 30-year lease the Penguins signed in 2007 to build Consol Energy Center binds the team to Pittsburgh and also “guarantees that there are no options to break it.”

But the mayor stressed that he has received no indication that Penguins and owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle are even entertaining such a thought.

He sees the situation as similar to that with the Steelers several years ago when they brought on additional investors to be part of the franchise while the Rooney family retained control.

Peduto was reacting to the news that Lemieux and Burkle had hired the financial services firm Morgan Stanley to “explore their options,” which could include selling all, some or none of their controlling interest in the team.

The mayor said Penguins CEO David Morehouse notified him of the decision on Wednesday.

Peduto said he doesn’t see a potential sale having any negative impact on the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site. The Penguins hold the development rights to the 28 acres of publicly owned land.

If anything he sees it benefiting the development. Additional investors could bring more capital to help get projects moving, he said. U.S. Steel already has reached an agreement with the Penguins to build a headquarters at the site and plans to break ground this fall.

“Pittsburgh is one of the strongest hockey markets in the country right now,” the mayor said. “Any investor that is coming in is going to be looking at that as a potential for return, understanding that the team is strong, the fan base is strong, and you have a potentially profitable economic development option on the table.

“The team is probably at its highest worth right now and it would be, I guess, almost foolish for them not to at least look to see what additional investors would be willing to pay to become part of it.”