Ted Black admits the former YWCA on Wood Street — right in the thick of Point Park University’s campus — is “quite frankly a bit of an eyesore.”
But Black, Point Park’s senior vice president of institutional advancement and strategy, also notes the opportunity the property represents.
The Downtown school in November announced it would acquire the empty building at 305 Wood St.
“An opportunity like that fits,” Black said. Plans for repurposing the building have not been announced.
“Our overall view of Downtown is: We want to be part of the solution,” Black continued. “If we can do our part and activate a building that makes the streets safer and more secure, and allows us to grow and have more students working, learning and living in Downtown Pittsburgh, we think we’re a very significant catalyst in continuing the vibrancy of Downtown Pittsburgh.”
Colleges increasingly are expanding their footprints in Pittsburgh, whether by acquiring property or building on land they already own.
Consider:
• Duquesne University revamped a section on Forbes Avenue with the new McGinley Hall dorms and the Osteopathic Medicine College. It has announced plans for a Rangos School of Health Sciences.
• Within recent months, Pitt has purchased property along Atwood Street and announced plans for a 400-bed dormitory on property it owns near Fifth and Ruskin avenues in Oakland. In 2024, Pitt purchased the historic Pittsburgh Athletic Association building, just across Fifth Avenue from the Cathedral of Learning. “The university is always looking for opportunities near campus that support our long-term mission and give us flexibility to meet future academic needs and to contribute to the vibrancy of Oakland,” said Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer. In late 2023, Pitt acquired land in Hazelwood Green for BioForge, its $250 million biomanufacturing facility.
• At Carnegie Mellon University, construction continues on the Richard King Mellon Hall of Sciences at the corner of Forbes Avenue and South Craig Street. The complex, set to be completed in 2027, “is positioned as a gateway to campus,” the university says.
Not taxed, but contributing
Officials in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County believe colleges expanding their physical footprint ultimately benefits the region, even though nearly all university-owned buildings are tax-exempt.
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor said universities are critical to the city’s economy.
“These new projects are creating construction jobs, creating space for new employees and job growth, supporting investment from private partnerships and promoting world-class research,” O’Connor said in a prepared statement.
Not all university properties are tax-exempt, though.
O’Connor and Allegheny County officials point to Duquesne’s McGinley Hall — an apartment-style, 556-bed dormitory along Forbes Avenue that opened in fall 2024 — as an example of universities putting properties back onto the tax rolls.
McGinley Hall is university-affiliated housing, managed in partnership with Lumina Housing, said Molly Onufer, O’Connor’s spokeswoman. The property will generate about $261,700 in real estate tax revenue this year, up from $23,300 in 2024, according to Allegheny County real estate records.
Duquesne officials didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story.
“While we are committed to everyone paying their fair share of taxes, our colleges and universities provide significant benefits to the region beyond that,” said Allegheny County spokeswoman Abigail Gardner. “This includes developing property that was not on the tax rolls before and now is, being hubs for innovation and creating jobs.”
Point Park’s Black said, while its buildings are tax-exempt, the university contributes in other ways. Students and faculty spend money at businesses and events, and Point Park operates its own police force, contributing to safety Downtown, he said.
Black pointed to a third-party study commissioned by Point Park last year that found the university annually generated $236.9 million between university operations, students, visitors and construction, and 3,270 total jobs for the regional economy. In 2033, the study projected Point Park to generate $486.3 million and 4,370 total jobs.
“The indirect stabilization and safety can, and will, and does, attract private investment,” he said.
Pitt annually generates $6.6 billion statewide and $1.8 billion in Pittsburgh, Stonesifer said. Pitt affects business volume in the state through direct expenditures for goods and services by Pitt and its staff, faculty, students and visitors, which in turn support local businesses and their employees, according to a 2023 economic impact report. About $2.2 billion is represented through this direct impact.
Pitt also contributes indirectly, the report said, where businesses and individuals that receive direct payments spend that money within the state, creating the need for more jobs. This amounts to about $4.4 billion annually, the report said.
Bucking a trend
Universities expanding locally comes at a time when the number of students nationwide attending college is shrinking.
The number of 18-year-old high school graduates nationwide will decline by 13% — or nearly a half-million — through 2041, according to the Western Interstate Commission of Higher Education.
Universities in Pittsburgh, however, are reporting the opposite.
“We’re actually growing,” Black said. “Our year-over-year went up 10% two years ago and 20% this past year. We’re bucking that trend. A large part of that is the offerings we have, and Downtown Pittsburgh is an asset.”
Last fall, Point Park and Pitt leased properties off-campus to house students because of overbooking. Point Park reported its largest enrollment post-pandemic — 3,648. Pitt reported a record 31,237 students at its Oakland campus last fall, while branch campus enrollments have declined over the years.
“The value proposition for a place like Pittsburgh, for a significant number of prospective students, is very, very strong,” Black said. “More and more kids are looking for the Downtown Pittsburgh experience.”
Carnegie Mellon also doesn’t expect to be impacted by the enrollment cliff in the same ways other universities would, said Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, dean of the Mellon College of Science. “CMU has such a deep pool of applicants. … We view it as central to our mission to get the best and brightest students.”
Long-term planning
The Richard King Mellon Hall of Science is at an ideal location for CMU — on Forbes Avenue property owned by the university for years, Shinn-Cunningham said.
The space will converge multiple disciplines, bringing together schools of sciences, machine learning and the Institute for Contemporary Art Pittsburgh under one roof. “It’s bringing people together whose ideas, when they mesh, are going to solve problems,” she said.
CMU has planned development at the Mellon site for two decades, spokesman Chuck Carney said.
The footprint of CMU has grown steadily over several decades. In addition to its growth along Forbes Avenue, it has acquired several apartment buildings in Oakland and purchased the Pittsburgh Filmmakers building on Melwood Avenue in 2018.
Carney said CMU’s master plan was last updated in 2022 with consideration from city officials. The plan focuses on density rather than further taking in large blocks of land for expansion. For example, in 2024, CMU opened its Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics on Tech Street, part of the school’s original campus since 1900.
“CMU has helped shape Pittsburgh’s shift to a knowledge-based tech hub, fostering innovation in robotics/AI, attracting major tech companies, creating startups, enriching culture through the arts, and enhancing community life, making it a vital catalyst for the city’s revitalization and future growth,” he said.
“At the same time, our own student population growth requires thoughtful development of new academic spaces and on-campus housing toward CMU’s mission of a transformative experience for our students’ education as well as our local community.”
Pitt plans for long-term investments throughout the city, said Keith Caldwell, executive director of place-based initiatives at Pitt.
Pitt has community engagement centers in Homewood and the Hill District and also has community initiatives in Hazelwood with the development of BioForge, Caldwell said. At the community engagement centers, the university invests as anchor tenants, works with community groups and provides educational and workforce development opportunities, he said.
“They are an important investment for the university to have made in these three neighborhoods,” Caldwell said. “There’s a recognition that part of our job in this work is to continue to enhance how the university serves as an engaged problem solver in the community.”