Pitt Board's Property Committee Approves $37 Million in Construction, Renovation

Architectural rendering of Barco Law Building lounge renovations.

The Property and Facilities Committee of the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees approved seven construction and renovation projects totaling $37.2 million and one lease renewal at its Aug. 6 meeting. The construction and renovation projects are expected to create 202 construction and 81 construction-support jobs. The University will pay building permit taxes of approximately $34,000, as well as $66,402 annually in real estate taxes on the lease.

The University will add 155 beds in 48 apartment-style units through an expansion of its Bouquet Gardens housing complex. In addition to providing extra beds, the project will create a campus police substation, laundry and mail facilities, an indoor bicycle storage area, and a fitness room for Bouquet Gardens residents’ use. The project is budgeted at $17.63 million and is expected to be completed in time for Fall Term 2011 occupancy.

“Current demand for on-campus undergraduate student housing remains strong,” said Jerome Cochran, executive vice chancellor and general counsel at Pitt. “This project increases the capacity of the most popular on-campus housing option among our upper-class students. This addition is critical to meeting our demand for on-campus housing.”

Pitt’s on-campus housing capacity will increase to 7,396 beds upon completion of the project.

The Property and Facilities Committee also approved $5.8 million to upgrade and renovate the Concordia Club to house several academic programs, including a math laboratory, the Freshman Studies Program, and the Writing Center, in addition to providing Student Affairs with more office and meeting space for student organizations. The improvements to the Concordia Club include upgrades to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems as well as the creation of Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant entrances, restrooms, and elevator. The project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2011.

Among the other projects approved are:

• Renovations to the fifth floor of the Chevron Science Center to house wet labs for chemistry research, at $4.85 million;

• Renovations to the Eberly Hall Nanoscience Laboratory to create new synthetic and spectroscopy laboratory suites as well as renovations to the Chemistry Electronics Shop, at $3.4 million;

• Installation of a backup electrical feed for Posvar Hall, at $2.5 million;

• Student Lounge renovations in the Barco Law Building, at $1.84 million; and

• Phase IV of the sprinkler installation project at the Cathedral of Learning, at

$1.2 million.

The committee also approved renewal of a lease between the University and Cityview Properties, LLC, to continue renting space in the Parkview Building to house programs of the Clinical Research Education Institute and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. The lease renewal is for five years beginning Sept. 1, 2010, at a fixed annual cost of $797,472.