Owners of unfinished Pittsburgh luxury student high rise release updated move-in dates

Owners of an unfinished 10-story luxury student high-rise in Oakland that is weeks behind its planned opening are giving tentative move-in dates between late September and later October — starting with the lowest floors.

In the meantime, the owners of Here Pittsburgh say they are providing alternative housing for 463 students unable to move in.

Here Pittsburgh is on Forbes Avenue, between McKee Place and Semple Street, not far from the campuses of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University.

In response to an email from the Tribune-Review, Sara Glenn, a regional manager in Chicago with CA Ventures, said the firm is “terribly disappointed” by the “unforeseen and unavoidable delays” in the construction process.

In total, the building can house 593 occupants, she said. They are to be in accommodations from studio apartments to three-bedroom units.

Based on an update from the general contractor, “we are now estimating the building will be ready for move-in for floors 1-5, end-of-September,” the company stated. “Once the building is ready to occupy, we will begin moving residents into the property in phases, starting with the first floor, working our way up.

“In accordance with the general contractor’s update, we would anticipate floors 6-10, mid-to-late October,” it read. “The construction team is doing everything they can to better this timeline.”

CA Ventures said those availability dates aren’t set in stone.

“We would like to emphasize that this timeline is subject to change,” read the company’s statement. “We will continue to provide updates as new information becomes available, or if this timeline is impacted in any way.”

Glenn shared the most current update given, as of last weekend, to tenants unable to move in as planned in August for the start of fall classes.

It said “permanent power” has been turned on in the building.

“The permanent power process and required electrical testing took longer than expected and has affected our previously communicated estimated timeline,” stated the update.

Nevertheless, it said, Here Pittsburgh “is now actively undergoing the inspection phase for lower floors in preparation to receive a temporary Certificate of Occupancy.”

Students and their parents described the uncertainty about their move-in date as the biggest issue for them.

“I was definitely bummed a lot because I’m the kind of person who has an entire Pinterest board full of apartment ideas. And I was so ready to get into my own place,” Carnegie Mellon sophomore Hailey Garza, 19, of Buckeye, Ariz., told the Tribune-Review last week.

She hoped to move in on Aug. 25, three days before the fall semester began, but is still living in a basement Airbnb in Shadyside.