The University of Pittsburgh plans a 400-bed dormitory for first-year students at property it owns near Fifth and Ruskin avenues in Oakland.
The university is in a design-build selection process for a first-year residence hall at a parking lot adjacent to the Music Building and annex, said spokesman Jared Stonesifer.
“This project will create a 400-bed traditional-style residence hall for first-year students,” Stonesifer said. “The facility will include private powder and shower rooms off public corridors, dining on the first floor and campus-level bicycle facilities.
“The residence hall will also accommodate Honors College amenities, including a faculty-in-residence apartment, office and study rooms.”
Pitt plans interviews with design-build teams this month, Stonesifer said. A committee of university leaders and students will review the proposals.
Final selection, with student input, is expected this spring, Stonesifer said. Pitt’s Board of Trustees will review the project in May.
“Pending their approval, design and construction would begin immediately thereafter, with construction completion targeted for summer 2028,” Stonesifer said.
Students would be able to live in the building that fall, he said.
Stonesifer said the lot is outlined as a priority site for new student housing.
“As identified in the campus master plan, and the 2021 city-approved institutional master plan, this site is allowable for use as a residence hall, and the university intends to honor the zoning requirements within the (plan)” Stonesifer said.
Last summer, Pitt leased three buildings, including one hotel, to create 400 additional beds for student housing. They also added nearly 300 beds by reconfiguring existing facilities.
The fall 2025 first-year class was the largest on record, with 65,000 applications. More than 31,200 students attended the Oakland campus this fall. Of those, about 21,380, were undergraduates.
“The university’s strategic plan, the Plan for Pitt 2028, sets a goal of enrolling 22,000 undergraduates on the Pittsburgh campus by 2028, a target the university is on track to meet,” Stonesifer said.
In addition to the planned new dorm, Pitt is pursuing other long-term housing solutions, such as leasing additional space, repurposing existing campus buildings and acquiring new properties, Stonesifer said.
