When Tramian Hall of the Urbana Investment Group, LLC. (UIG), and Pro Development Institute (PDI), took the stage at the Old Urbana University campus in 2024, he made a promise to bring something special to the City of Urbana.
PDI was to be a professional-grade development center to prepare high school and college athletes for the NCAA and Professional leagues. Until recently, the only growth witnessed on campus was the grass. According to court documents, in November 2023, UIG was notified of several fire code violations in the buildings of the old school. They were advised that no occupation of the buildings could occur until after these violations were corrected. The group planned on hosting a football camp in January 2024, but couldn’t because of the fire code violations. Again, in March 2024, they requested temporary occupation of the buildings. Upon reinspection, once again, no corrections were made, and occupancy was denied.
This pattern continued throughout the summer. Eventually, all responses from the investment group would cease. By September, citations for 20 buildings, totalling 160 violations, were reported to UIG. Citations stacked upon citations. Fines piled upon fines.
In January 2025, members of the UIG appealed to the Champaign County Common Pleas Court and were dismissed.
Since then, the City of Urbana has made several unsuccessful attempts to contact individuals associated with UIG to seek an agreement regarding occupancy in the interim. Despite open Fire Code violations, UIG directly stated that they will continue to occupy and use the facilities. Specifically, “12-14 basketball players and a couple of coaches living on the premises.” These occupants were seen as recently as March 2025. As of May 21, 2025, re-inspection shows all of the open violations remain uncorrected.
On Friday, June 20, the City of Urbana filed a complaint for injunctive relief and damages against Jared Pitt and the Urbana Investment Group, LLC., in the Champaign County Common Pleas Court, seeking remedies for Fire Code violations or a lien to be put on the property. They seek payment of the initial civil fines of $17,500, plus fines accumulated at a rate of $100 per day per violation since January 8, 2025.
Only recently did attempts to care for the facilities begin with mowing and bailing the grass in the open campus areas. These bales, however, and staged on campus, and fallen tree branches and limbs remain spread throughout.
No comments could be made by the City of Urbana due to ongoing litigation, and no response was made to attempts to contact members of UIG/PDI at this time.
