PITTSBURGH — The new Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh slowly rising on a 10-acre plot in the city's dense east end will cost more than $700 million when it is completed, an official said three years after a public tiff over the project's mounting costs.

The price tag of the project, born out of the 2002 merger of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the city's Children's Hospital, has steadily risen despite an agreement to cap it at $475 million.

Officials said new additions including an 800-space staff parking garage, an onsite day care center, a fitness center and a garden boosted the price of the project above the cap.

The design includes an outdoor garden and glass atrium that will allow sick children.