Pitt, developer want same land

Pitt and a developer both want to own the same parcel of land in the Hill District in an… Pitt and a developer both want to own the same parcel of land in the Hill District in an ongoing process that pits the University’s expansion plans against a private company that wants to build more housing.

Oak Hill is currently a collection of townhouses and apartment buildings.

Jim Zapf, the senior property manager of Oak Hill, said that low-income families occupy about 71 percent of Oak Hill’s homes.

He said that Pitt is expanding out of Oakland and into the Hill District and making parts of the Hill District more isolated. He added that the timing of Pitt’s move to acquire the property will disrupt the second part of a housing project.

“No one wants to deny Pitt anything,” Zapf said. “Pitt waited until everyone did the work, sweat, blood, and [it] wants to reap the benefits.”

Chuck Rohrer, a staff writer for the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, said that there is no timetable for determining who will receive the rights to the land. The Authority currently owns the disputed land and has the right to award it to one organization or the other.

Pitt’s Theiss Medical Center is on land the University is leasing from the Housing Authority.

Beacon/Corcoran Jennison, a Boston-based developer, began construction for Oak Hill in the mid ’90s and had planned on building in two phases.

The first phase is complete. The second phase was to be built on the disputed property.

A claim filed by Beacon/Corcoran Jennison against Pitt in the Court of Common Pleas alleges that Pitt offered incentives to members of the Oak Hill Residents Council to encourage a favorable response to their development proposal.

It further said that Pitt plans on building a series of athletic facilities on the property.

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill said that the University was invited to submit a bid for the land, and Pitt did.

“I do believe the issue can and will be resolved,” he said.