By SUSAN JONES
The Board of Trustees re-elected the current chair and vice chair at its May 8 meeting and approved a lease for a developer to convert the Quality Inn site to apartments.
Quality Inn site
The long-stalled project to convert the 1.83 acre former Quality Inn site on the Boulevard of the Allies into apartments and a grocery store is getting new life with a new developer.
The Board of Trustees agreed to lease the property to Radnor Property Group, which has offices in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and New Hampshire.
Pitt has owned the site at 3401 Boulevard of the Allies since 1963. The previous ground lease ended in 2020, when the Quality Inn shut down. The property still has a Panera Bread on the first floor, parking leased to UPMC and a commercial antenna on the roof.
Radnor was selected after a national search process. The company plans to develop the site into a 240- to 260-unit apartment building with a 15,000- to 30,000-square-foot grocery store on the first floor. In presenting the plan, Pitt officials said it was the most advantageous to the University and to the Oakland neighborhood.
The University said in 2021 it wanted to build non-student housing at the site for faculty, staff and community members.
It was supposed to be the first project of Walnut Capital’s ambitious Oakland Crossings development, which the company announced it was pausing in January 2023 because of high interest rates and construction costs, and labor shortages. At that time, Pitt began to look for new developers.
The deal with Radnor will not cost the University anything and will eventually provide income from a percentage of the rent on the apartments and grocery store.
Anish Kumar, vice chancellor for real estate, told the trustees’ Property and Facilities committee on May 6 that the plan is to have a deal with a grocery store finalized by July 2026 and to begin construction later that year. Kumar also said that Radnor has agreed that 10% of the housing will be affordable.
Board leadership
The trustees voted unanimously to elect John Verbanac and Lisa Golden to their second one-year terms as chair and vice chair, respectively.
The board also approved other items recommended by its Governance and Nominating committee at it April 21 meeting. These included electing term trustees and honorary emeritus trustees, as well as approving revisions to the Statement of Trustee Commitment and Responsibilities, including the adoption of separate statements for non-voting ex-officio trustees and emeritus trustees. The changes are part of ongoing work by the board to improve governing practices.
Chancellor’s report
Chancellor Joan Gabel detailed accomplishments and issues from the spring semester, most of which the University Times has already reported on.
She did note that applications for first-year students for fall 2025 hit another new record of more than 64,000. Pitt is expecting to have its largest incoming class ever this fall.
Gabel also updated the trustees on advocacy and communication efforts, such as April’s town hall webinar with senior leaders at Pitt, around changes in federal funding. “We're in the process of making sure that we have as much information out there and communication as possible, as part of our ongoing commitment to that transparency, and we'll keep that going,” she said.
The chancellor reiterated that she and several members of the senior team “have been engaging relentlessly with our elected officials, with agency heads and different decision makers to advocate for Pitt, to talk about what Pitt does, how we do it, who does it, and our why, so that we can highlight the impact of what we're able to do on behalf of our students, faculty and staff, community and society as a whole.”
Pitt leadership has been working with national associations to advocate for higher education, she said. “The advocacy that we're undertaking with our national associations has led to action, and we've supported that action, and are fully committed to presenting a unified front and amplified front in defending academic freedom and institutional autonomy. …
“All of this work comes back to a renewed focus on our mission,” Gabel said. “And we talk about the mission in terms of research, teaching and service, but really the reality at an institution like ours, the people are our mission and our greatest asset, and these people are really focused on doing good work with value, and we want to make sure that that story is heard and told loud and clear.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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