Somebody had a bad day

Just a guess - I betcha that there was a 10' road dedication planned, but not yet consummated, at the time of construction start and that the site plan called for things to be a certain distance off the R/W.

Why don't they just fill the hole with low psi concrete to match the density of the unexcavated/compacted soil? That would be less expensive than ripping everything out, compaction, forms etc. ?????ÿ

The problem is they had an existing building that they knew what the distance from it was supposed to be.  Somebody's E&O is about to have a large payout.

Of course it would be the new Engineering building. 

Revise and adapt to fit existing structures...........

Plus or minus 10 feet sounds reasonable. The area involved was to be converted from a road to pedestrian access so that does not seem to be a problem. I do not see how it could change the grade of any road, so it is only a possible zoning issue. Best solution is to name it "The Turner Engineering Building" and give them a thank you letter for their generous contribution.

I worked for a firm that surveyed construction for some new college dorms. When the rock excavation exceeded the contractors quote based on boring data, the contractor asked us to look into it. Turns out the designer blew it on the baseline of the existing buildings and the new buildings were laid out from the same baseline. We documented everything and the contractor informed the university. He had a very good contract clause for excess rock and we continued to document the volumes. On top of that bonus money the contractor in turn donated the excess rock to a stream stabilization located on the other side of the access road. The contractor got a tax write off for the rock value and the hauling, and we got paid extra for all our work. Sometimes even a mistake allows someone to benefit.

Paul in PA, PE, PLs

They decided to leave the hole where it is and put the building in it:?ÿ https://www.vnews.com/College-Submits-New-Plans-for-Thayer-Buliding-26839629

Looks like a reasonable course of action to me given the surrounding uses and the typical density of forest in the area.?ÿ In 5 years, nobody will give a hoot that the new building is 10 feet closer to what looks like apartments or student housing on the southeast side.?ÿ I agree with @Paul in PA that the road grades shouldn't be severely affected.