By SUSAN JONES
Pitt’s Board of Trustees has approved the purchase of the former Pittsburgh Athletic Association (PAA) Building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard and the adjacent property where the Oaklander Hotel sits for $34 million.
The PAA building, completed in 1911 and modeled after a Venetian Renaissance palace, once had a pool on the third floor, full basketball and squash courts, a 16-lane bowling alley, and a room dedicated to former Pitt football coach Johnny Majors. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits in the heart of the Oakland campus.
Chancellor Joan Gabel said after the April 4 Board of Trustees meeting that trustees have referred to the building as “beachfront property” and at “Main and Main,” for its central location on the Oakland campus. “It's a beautiful building and it is right at the center of everything,” she said, admitting when she first saw it during a campus visit with her son, they both assumed it was a Pitt building.
“When you really start to think creatively, I could probably fill it up several times,” she said. “But that's what we have experts for and master planning for and it's not free to fill it up. And so we need to be circumspect and go through a process that involves faculty, staff and students and some patience. … That is a very precious location, and so I want to make sure we utilize it wisely. But without question, it will be highly desired. A lot of people are going to want to be in that building.”
The Pittsburgh Athletic Association dissolved in 2017, and the building was bought by Walnut Capital and Lionstone, which did extensive renovations to the 130,000-square-foot space between 2018 and 2023. The two properties are now owned by LVA4 Pittsburgh PAA Club Property Owner, LLC, and LVA4 Pittsburgh PAA Hotel Property Owner, LLC.
David DeJong, senior vice chancellor for business and operations, said the building has been completely gutted and stands as a shell. No decisions will be made on how the building will be used until after the Campus Master Plan updates are completed.
In a statement after the meeting, DeJong said, “The University’s acquisition of the former PAA property provides a rare and unique opportunity to own this historic property to support future programming needs.”
Since 2020, several rumors have sprouted on who would move into the building, including one that had Apple taking over all the space. But the building has had no tenants since the PAA left.
The hotel would remain on the adjacent property and generate lease revenue for the University of $260,000 annually, subject to periodic increases. The purchase also includes the use of about 50 parking spaces on the hotel property.
Fifth & Halket building
The School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, which has seen a more than 25 percent increase in enrollment in the past 10 years, will be the primary tenant in the new Pitt building at Fifth Avenue and Halket Street.
The Board of Trustees approved up to $75 million for the fit-out of six of the building’s nine floors for SHRS. The project will be designed to amplify interprofessional connections by alternating “workplace” floors (faculty offices and shared student spaces) with “learner” floors (classrooms, simulation and dry laboratories shared across SHRS programs).
Currently, SHRS programs and labs are housed in seven buildings across the Pittsburgh area. The new Fifth and Halket location will bring together all academic programs currently located in Forbes Tower, as well as the undergraduate Emergency Medicine program from McKee Place, the Department of Physician Assistant Studies’ programs from the Murdoch Building, and the school’s newly announced Doctor of Chiropractic program. The dean’s office also will move to the new building.
“The project will connect the SHRS programs in a central home to provide the school with a greater presence on campus and a stronger bond across programs,” the board’s resolution says.
“This is a watershed moment for SHRS,” Dean Anthony Delitto said in a news release. “This is the school’s first building that will be specifically and strategically designed to meet SHRS’ immediate and future needs with modernized teaching facilities, especially for those programs currently occupying Forbes Tower and McKee Place. Modernization will not just be in classroom technology, but also in the clinical training facilities where students will work with state-of-the-art equipment.”
“Bringing together so many SHRS programs in a single building, within walking distance of our other schools of the health sciences, will foster collaboration and encourage more interdisciplinary learning opportunities,” said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences.
In 2022, the board’s Property and Facilities committee OK’d $154 million for construction of the core and shell. At that time, it was still unclear which Pitt unit would be moving there. The fit-out projects for the remaining three floors of the building, and the units that will occupy them, will be presented for approval at future committee meetings.
Pitt acquired the property in December 2021 for $19.5 million from Walnut Capital, which did the demolition work on a strip of buildings between Fifth Avenue and Euler Way.
Enrollment at SHRS has increased from 1,467 students in fall 2014 to 1,880 in fall 2023 — the fourth largest enrollment on the Oakland campus.
The largest growth — from 200 to 620 — was in the doctorate and professional practice programs. The chiropractic program will start with a cohort of 40 students in fall 2025 and is slated to grow to 60 over the following two years.
In all, most of SHRS' 30-plus programs will be housed at the new building, which is targeted for completion by December 2025. The University’s Planning, Design and Construction team will partner with SHRS and other future occupants to pursue LEED certification for the building, supporting the University’s goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2037.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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