Pitt offloads sprawling but underused Harmar research park for $5 million

Even as it plans for growth, the University of Pittsburgh has reduced its footprint by 85 acres through the sale of a sprawling but underused research park in Harmar.

The $5 million transaction of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center (U-PARC) in Harmar was completed Sept. 24, said Pitt spokesman Jared Stonesifer.

The 50-building, 85-acre site was bought by A&W LLC.

The property carried burdensome renovation costs and was no longer of strategic value, Pitt said. The university received the same sales price recommended by the Pitt trustees’ Property and Facilities Committee in September 2023.

No details about A&W and its plans for the property were released.

The facility dates to the days of Gulf Oil Corp. For half a century beginning in the 1930s, it operated a petroleum research center there.

Chevron Corp., which acquired Gulf, took over the complex and donated it to Pitt in 1985. It has more than 50 buildings encompassing approximately 900,000 gross square feet of space on two parcels located at 3170 William Pitt Way.

It runs along Route 28 and has nondescript tan brick buildings, though motorists sometimes spot the facility from the road because of a Pitt logo on a tower.

The university operated it as a center for business and research tenants. But it has become less of a draw over the years.