Construction of the “We Proudly Brew” Starbucks, meant to replace the on-campus Starbucks location that was closed down last May, has been set back by over a year.

In an article on the project published in The Globe on Sept. 5, it was projected that the new location would open within the academic year. The newly anticipated opening date for the location is October of 2018.

“I want to say timing is everything, and in these projects and so on, and there’s a lot going on at Point Park University,” Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Keith Paylo said. “As things were being analyzed, this project just basically fell into the place of where it needed to be in the priority area.” Paylo said.

Paylo described the current development of the project in an interview on Jan. 11.

“It is in the development stage as we speak, and when I say development, that means a lot of things: actual layout, ordering of furniture, construction, all of those things,” Paylo said. “It is in process. The selection of those who are doing construction, the selection of everything from what chair to use in different locations, what tables, every piece of equipment, everything is in that process.”

When students originally heard about the closing of the on-campus Starbucks, some were left confused, such as sophomore cinema production major Lauren Killian.

“Me and a lot of my friends, we all kind of used the Starbucks a lot, especially in the mornings before class,” Killian said. “Now it’s a bit of an inconvenience because we love Starbucks, so we would go all the way to Market Square just to be able to get some coffee or cake pops.”

Alexa Kruchten, a junior dance major, recalled how often she used to visit the old location as she sipped on a drink from another Starbucks.

“I would go maybe two to three times a week,” Kruchten said. “I also had flex dollars, so I would use them there.”

The absence of a new location has led some students to the nearest location in Market Square to get their fix, but according to Dean Paylo, it couldn’t have been prevented.

“The stars aligned, in a sense, with the new food service company coming in to Point Park University, the old food service organization leaving, and so on, everything gets re-analyzed,” Paylo said.

He explained that CulinArt, Point Park’s current food service provider, held discussions with Starbucks corporate and made the decision to open a “We Proudly Brew” instead of another Starbucks location.

“In all honesty, it will give the university a lot more freedom to do more within that space,” Paylo said.

While it has taken longer than originally anticipated, students like Killian are still optimistic.

“To be honest, I don’t know exactly what they’re doing with it, but I’m excited to see what they’ll do.” Killian said.