Pitt Trustees Approve $110.5 Million in Construction and Renovation Projects

Artist's rendering of the proposed addition to Salk Hall

The Property and Facilities Committee of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees approved four construction and renovation projects totaling $110.5 million, highlighted by a $50 million renovation plan to construct an addition to Salk Hall. The committee also approved two lease extensions. The construction and renovation projects are expected to generate 778 construction and support jobs and $87,990 in fees and taxes.

The Salk Hall project will add laboratory and administrative space for the School of Dental Medicine’s Center for Craniofacial Regeneration and the School of Pharmacy’s Center for Pharmacogenetics and Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences; it also allows for future renovation of Salk Hall. The project is registered to achieve LEED Silver Certification and includes aesthetic and pedestrian safety improvements to Sutherland Drive.

Other projects approved at the meeting were:

• A $13.99 million renovation to the 12th floor of the Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower to accommodate the Vascular Medicine Institute and the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine in the School of Medicine;

• A $39.9 million project to begin Phase IIA of Benedum Hall renovations. This involves a total renovation of floors 3, 6, 7, and 8, as well as the creation of a mezzanine level and extensive work in the subbasement. The renovated areas will include laboratories, support facilities, small conference rooms, and departmental space for the Swanson School of Engineering. The mezzanine level will add approximately 8,000 square feet of new space; and

•  A $6 million project to renovate 4,400 square feet of laboratory space in Langley and Crawford Halls to create a Biosafety Level 2 and 3 Laboratory Suite for the Department of Biological Sciences. The new secure facilities will meet or exceed the requirements of the National Institutes of Health and the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories Guide (5th ed.), allowing bacteriologists and virologists to elevate their research projects to a new level of sophistication.

The two lease extensions approved by the committee were:

• A five-year lease with Cityview Properties, LLC, for 11,294 square feet of research, teaching, and office space in the Parkvale Building, 200 Meyran Ave., to house the Department of Biomedical Informatics. The lease extension begins in March 2011 and continues through February 2016 at a fixed annual cost of $304,938; it contains an option for an additional five-year extension; and

• A five-year lease with Cityview Properties, LLC, for 4,575 square feet of laboratory, classroom, and administrative space at the Parkvale Annex Building, 3520 Forbes Ave. The lease is from February 2011 through January 2016 at a fixed annual cost of $123,525; it also provides an option for an additional five-year extension.