Urbana asks court to force compliance at former university

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Weeds and overgrown grass appear in front of the Losch Hall building in early July, along with a "Campus Closed" sign in one of its doorways near the entrance of the former Urbana University, now owned by Urbana Investment Group, LLC and Pro Development Institute. The City of Urbana has filed a legal action against the property's owners to rectify fire code and occupancy violations. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

Urbana is seeking court action to force an investment group occupying the former Urbana University campus to comply with occupancy and fire regulations.

The city has filed for injunctive relief and damages against Jared Pitt of Tarzana, Calif., and Urbana Investment Group LLC. City officials are asking the Champaign County Common Pleas Court to order the investment group to correct occupancy violations or place a lien on the property.

Urbana has imposed a fine of $17,500 plus $100 per day since Jan. 8, 2025.

Pitt and UIG were sent a summons regarding the lawsuit via certified mail, according to court records.

UIG along with Pro Development Institute took over the defunct college campus in 2023 with the goal of establishing a center for developing high school and college athletes for college and professional leagues.

Several Ohio Fire Code violations were documented in November, 2023, according to the city’s complaint. UIG and PDI were informed they could not occupy the buildings unless the violations were corrected.

A January, 2024, football camp was canceled and a temporary occupancy request was denied after new inspections found nothing had been done to correct the violations.

Still, UIG continued to house athletes and coaches on the campus, Urbana claims. By September, the city issued citations for 20 buildings for a total of 160 violations.

In January, UIG filed an administrative appeal to challenge the citations but the court found the appeal was filed too late.

Efforts to contact Jared Pitt and others associated with UIG to seek an occupancy agreement have failed, Urbana claims. UIG has stated it will continue to occupy and use the facilities, despite the open fire code violations.

Occupants have been spotted on the campus as recently as March. A May 21 inspection found none of the previously documented violations have been corrected.

If UIG fails to pay the fines and correct the violations, the city wants the court to place a lien on the property and order it to be sold with proceeds paying for the fire code violations.

Prior to the UIG-PDI acquisition, Franklin University purchased the then-financially struggling Urbana University in 2014 and operated it under the Franklin banner until 2020, when the school was shuttered.