The University of Pittsburgh is weighing construction of new residence hall space for up to 900 students to further the school's aim to offer housing to a larger share of its main-campus population.

The build-out over the next few years, if authorized in full, would approach the scope of a 931-bed expansion earlier this decade on Pitt's upper campus near the Petersen Events Center that was the biggest housing push by the university in decades.

The work this time will focus on the lower Oakland campus, officials said. Slightly more than 16,700 undergraduates are enrolled full time on the main campus.

Senior Pitt administrators outlined their plans yesterday after a committee of school trustees approved an initial part of the work -- the purchase of land in the 300 block of Oakland Avenue to enable a 200-bed expansion of Pitt's 496-bed Bouquet Gardens residence.

Adding to that apartment-style complex will meet only part of Pitt's housing needs, said Jerome Cochran, executive vice chancellor.

Pitt long has wanted to be able to accommodate a larger share of those desiring to live on its campus. Neighborhood groups for years have urged the school to cut down on off-campus dwellers, citing a range of issues from rowdiness to scarcity of parking.

Pitt has beds for about 7,200 main-campus students at present, officials said.

"In order to keep our commitment to provide a three-year guarantee of housing, we're going to have to build another larger residence hall," Mr. Cochran said.

"There's always been a desire -- although I don't know that we'll get there -- to offer a four-year guarantee," he said. "We also have a lot of transfer students who start second term, and we have no place for them."

Officials with the city Urban Redevelopment Authority and the city's Bureau of Building Inspection could not be reached for comment yesterday. In 2003, word of upper campus plans for what became known as Panther and Pennsylvania halls drew praise from within the city Planning Department.

The city has been on a push to clean up rundown housing along some streets populated with off-campus students.

Yesterday's vote by the Pitt trustees property and facilities committee authorizes administrators to spend about $1.4 million to acquire a three-quarter-acre parcel at 315 Oakland Ave. A two-and-a-half story building there most recently was used as offices by Children's Hospital and the UPMC Health System.

Zoning and design studies needed to advance the project are under way, and Mr. Cochran said Pitt wants to start work as soon as possible with the necessary campus and city approvals.

He said he hopes to bring the second residence hall project with 500 to 700 beds to the board of trustees for approval within two years.

The new project could share some similarities with Panther and Pennsylvania halls, Mr. Cochran said. Those high-rises accommodate 511 and 420 students, respectively, in dwellings that include suites and doubles with private baths, Pitt spokesman John Fedele said.

Also at its meeting yesterday, the property and facilities committee authorized a $5.4-million residence hall complex on Pitt's Bradford campus and a $9.7-million multipurpose wellness and recreation center on the Johnstown campus.

The three-story Bradford residence, expected to be completed by August, will house 103 students. Pitt said the Johnstown project will include a multipurpose gymnasium, an elevated three-lane running track, a fitness center with weight and cardiovascular exercise equipment, a climbing wall, two combination classroom/dance/exercise rooms, as well as office space.

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