Pittsburgh looks to issue bond for affordable housing efforts

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said Wednesday that the city could bring in between $25 million and $40 million for affordable housing initiatives by issuing a bond.

Gainey said legislation will be introduced to City Council — and also require authorization from the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority — to issue a bond that the city would pay back in annual increments of $2.5 million for 25 years. The mayor said the bond would bring in about $25 million to $40 million over three years.

The city, in partnership with the URA, would then dedicate the new cash to affordable housing initiatives, Gainey said.

“We will begin working immediately to bring these bonds to market,” Gainey said.

Officials said there is an urgent need to address affordable housing now, as costs to build and maintain housing have skyrocketed since the onset of the covid-19 pandemic.

“The cost of providing affordable housing is more expensive than ever,” said City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, D-Hill District, who sits on the URA board.

Lavelle said he will urge his colleagues on council to “pass this legislation as soon as possible.”

“The URA sees this is an opportunity to create innovative solutions to complex housing problems,” URA Chief Housing Officer Quianna Wasler said.

Officials were not immediately able to offer more specific details about the bond investment. URA board Chair Kyle Chintalapalli said officials won’t know exactly how much money will come in from the bond issuance until “we go to pricing later this year.”

He also couldn’t specify what type of affordable housing initiatives would be funded with the money.

“We’re not looking to start up new programs,” he said. “We want to focus on bringing new units to market as quickly as we can.”

URA Executive Director Susheela Nemani-Stanger said the money also could be used to leverage added state and federal resources for affordable housing.

The URA in the last year launched a number of initiatives aimed at creating and maintaining affordable housing, including an affordable housing preservation program, the Downtown residential conversion initiative and OwnPGH, which aims to help low-income, first-time homebuyers with the initial expenses of purchasing a home.