After months of delay due to financial strain, the University and Beacon/Corcoran Jennison… After months of delay due to financial strain, the University and Beacon/Corcoran Jennison Management is expected to finalize a deal within days regarding a vacant lot currently owned by Pitt.

In 2007, Pitt made an agreement with BCJ, the management of the Oak Hill apartments behind the Petersen Events Center, in regard to developing a plot of 23,000 square feet. The University committed to leasing a commons building with 20,000 square feet for the University’s use and 3,000 square feet for the benefit of residents in a mixed-use facility. As part of the agreement, BCJ would have half a year to build and deliver the structure, but there are no solid plans as of yet for exactly how the plot of land will be used.

Pitt spokesperson John Fedele said in an email that BCJ’s inability to meet pre-arranged time frames for developing the commons building, due to BCJ’s ailing finances and a dwindling budget, has led to delays and an extension of the occupancy deadline, which was originally intended to be Jan. 1, 2012.

After agreeing to an even later deadline on Dec. 1, 2012, Fedele said that BCJ would still be unable to meet the deadline.

“Our partnership with the Oak Hill community remains strong,” Fedele said in the email, “and we envision it growing in strength and size as the community continues to expand and further develop.”

He clarified Pitt’s standing: “the University remains committed to assisting the community with the 3,000 square feet that it would like to occupy in a Town Center Building.”

According to Miles Byrne, the development director for BCJ, the University will sign an agreement to begin developing the currently empty lot any day now.

“We’ve had some good discussions with the University,” he said, indicating that contracts and planning have been taking a great deal of time.

Although in January, the University told Oak Hill management that it would not be upholding the agreement on leasing a commons building. But after discussing the issue with University officials, Pitt decided to again negotiate leasing terms. Fedele said this was an act of good faith to accommodate a later date for BCJ to build the commons building.

“We are so very close to pulling this off,” said Byrne, adding that BCJ has received a lease from Pitt officials and is in the process of finalizing the documents. “It’s an extraordinary thing when a university works with a mixed-income community, and hopefully soon, Pitt will be a shining example of this.”

Maurice Moore, 32, who has been a resident of Oak Hill for three years, sees great potential for a commons building.

“I’d like to see more facilities for kids,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids in the neighborhood.”

Faith Rojas-Taylor, a junior majoring in sociology, has been living in Oak Hill apartments since May. She had her own ideas on what the developed area could do for the neighborhood.

“The community itself is nice,” Rojas-Taylor said. “But there’s a lot of elderly people, so a grocery store would be something nice that benefits local residents.”

Regardless of what the space will eventually get used for, she saw Pitt’s good faith in working with Oak Hill as an important part of the University’s contribution to the community.

“Pitt’s an institution with a lot of power,” she said. “And if they can make a difference in the community, that’s something they definitely should do.”