Just six weeks after receiving the 388-acre Eden Hall Farm Campus in Richland Township,
Chatham University is poised for further expansion.
To accommodate significant growth in terms of its academic programs and enrollment, Chatham is purchasing a 250,000-square-foot office building located at 6585 Penn Ave. at the corner of Washington Blvd. Providing much-needed programming space as well as the capacity for long-term growth, Chatham's new Eastside campus will be located near a number of new East End development projects including the 495,000-square-foot mixed-use Bakery Square, now under construction along Penn.
The University’s Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant Studies degree programs will initially occupy 47,150 square feet of the building's leasable space. The move will allow Chatham's growing degree programs to further expand while freeing up classroom space for undergraduate and graduate programs at the University's Woodland Rd. campus in Shadyside. Remaining space will be leased to the building's current occupants.
University President Esther L. Barazzone says that Chatham’s enrollment growth, which has quadrupled since 1994, will reach a record high of 2,100 this fall.
To meet an increased demand for both undergraduate and graduate housing at Chatham, the University has also purchased the 10-unit Haber Apartment Building in Shadyside. Located across from Chatham's existing apartment complexes at the corner of Fifth and Maryland Aves., the Haber building will serve as graduate student housing. The acquisition follows the University's purchase one year ago of the Pelletreau Apartments located at 5826 Fifth Ave.
Writer:
Jennifer BaronSources: President Esther L. Barazzone and Paul Kovach, Chatham University
Photograph copyright Brian Cohen