By SUSAN JONES

The major building projects in Oakland aren’t much different this summer than last, but the structures that started going up last year are much further along. Pitt, UPMC and Carnegie Mellon University are certainly doing their part to keep the construction industry in business, and Oakland may soon adopt the crane (the construction kind) as the neighborhood bird.

Pitt projects

Campus Recreation and Wellness Center: The exterior of the O’Hara Street building is now almost completely covered in glass. Work began in September 2022 and a topping off ceremony was held in November 2023. The nine-story, 270,000-square-foot recreation center has a projected construction budget of $250 million, and the building is expected to open in March 2025. Follow the building’s progress on this live webcam.

Hillman Library: Seven years after work first started on the reinvention of Hillman Library, the end of the project is in sight. The fourth and final phase is well underway, with the new atrium entrance significantly altering the corner of the building closest to the Cathedral of Learning. When finished, the entrance is designed to resemble a stack of books. Walls are up on the reconfigured ground floor, creating spaces for media production, a computer lab and tech help desk, and digital scholarship lab. The information desk will now face the ground floor entrance, and there will be several new open and enclosed study rooms. The project is expected to wrap up in January 2025. The total spending approved for the library project is $130 million, covering all four phases. Phases I to III were completed under budget, with savings used to offset some of the Phase IV cost, a spokesperson for Business & Operations said last year.

Fifth & Halket building: The Board of Trustees in April approved $75 million to fit out floors three through eight of the new building as headquarters for the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Work on the core and shell of the building was previously completed for $154 million. The work on the SHRS floors is expected to be completed by spring 2025.

Arena and Sports Performance Center: Work is continuing on the project next to the Petersen Events Center. Extra safety measures, like concrete barriers on the downhill side of the site, have been taken since a steel cylinder rolled onto Terrace Street on May 3, killing a UPMC employee. The $240 million facility will support 16 of Pitt’s intercollegiate athletics programs and include a 2,500-seat arena with the ability to expand to 3,000 seats. Pitt plans to have a topping off of the structure in August and is targeting spring 2026 for completion.

The Eatery renovation: The three-phase, $27.5 million construction project is set to wrap up in time for classes to start this fall. A new entrance will lead straight off of Forbes Avenue. Pitt’s largest student dining location in the basement of Litchfield Towers will offer a variety of concepts.

BioForge: Though no formal groundbreaking has taken place yet at the Hazelwood site, work is continuing on the new life sciences hub. The core and shell are set to be done by July 2025, with the fit-out for primary tenant ElevateBio targeted for July 2026 completion. The Board of Trustees approved $120 million last year for the core and shell phase of the project.

Crawford Hall: The $75 million project will provide a state-of-the-art, flexible and energy efficient research laboratory building to meet current and future research and teaching needs.

Chevron Science Center: The final phase of floor-by-floor renovations — $17 million for 11th and 12th floors — should be done by summer 2025.

Alumni Hall auditorium: Work continues on an $8 million project to upgrade the 7th and 8th floor auditorium and lobby, which is set to be completed by this fall.

Other continuing projects: Heinz Chapel fleche restoration; Posvar Chiller Plant upgrades and stormwater retention; Thaw Hall roof replacement; and Pitt-Titusville McKinney Student Union renovation for the Manufacturing Assistance Center

Non-Pitt projects

UPMC bed tower: Nearly two years after ground was broken for the new 900,000-square-feet facility in front of Presbyterian Hospital, the steel structure is rising above Fifth Avenue, but has yet to reach its planned 17-story height. The $1.5 billion project, which will have 636 private rooms, is slated to finish in fall 2026.

CMU Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences: The new building planned for the corner of Forbes Avenue and South Craig Street, next to the Carnegie Museums parking garage entrance, is further pushing CMU’s footprint into central Oakland. The $252 million project will “extend CMU's campus westward toward other Oakland universities and medical complexes and will create an iconic campus gateway at the corner of Forbes Avenue and South Craig Street,” the university’s website says. The land is being cleared now and the building that once house CMU’s Integrated Innovation Institute has been torn down. The building will house the Mellon College of Science and School of Computer Science, and also will have a restaurant space, an art museum, a seven-story tower with offices and labs, and a nearly 17,000-square-foot public plaza along Forbes Avenue. It is slated for completion in 2027. CMU also is working with the Pittsburgh Innovation District and the Oakland Transportation Management Association to study potential mobility improvements to the Forbes Avenue Bridge just east of Craig Street.

LGBTQ elderly housing: Officials broke ground on May 23 on the Mosaic Apartments, a 48-unit affordable housing complex near the corner of Forbes and Craft avenues tailored for LGBTQ+ seniors. According to Pittwire, Pitt’s Office of Real Estate help facilitate crucial land donations, from UPMC, Pitt and Dialysis Clinic Inc. to make the project possible. The building, which is being developed by Presbyterian SeniorCare Network and Affirmative Investments, is scheduled to open in fall 2025.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

Have a story idea or news to share? Share it with the University Times.

Follow the University Times on Twitter and Facebook.