URA is providing $3.6M in loans to preserve affordable housing in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is providing $3.6 million in loans to support a handful of affordable housing projects that will preserve 170 apartments.

The money is coming from the URA’s Housing Preservation Program, which the authority launched in April with $8.9 million in pandemic relief money.

Of the loans approved by the URA board on Thursday, the largest — $1.5 million — will go to the Allegheny YMCA in the Central Northside. The YMCA is partnering with nonprofit developer ACTION Housing to rehabilitate apartments there.

The top three floors of the 96-year-old building now contain 105 apartments, while the bottom three floors house recreational facilities. The URA said the YMCA hasn’t had the money to make some necessary improvements to the building because it charges below market rate for the apartments.

The YMCA and ACTION Housing plan to make the building accessible to people with disabilities, install air conditioning, improve outdated plumbing and mechanical systems, and repair water damage that made 21 of the apartments uninhabitable.

Plans also include a new resident lounge, new laundry facilities and a transition from shared bathrooms to private bathrooms. The YMCA will reduce the number of apartments from 105 to 89 as part of the renovations.

The project is expected to cost $22.5, according to the URA. Renovations are scheduled to be completed by August 2025.

Amy Kienle, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, said “the need is certainly there” for the upgrades.

“It is beautiful on the outside and it needs a lot of love on the inside,” she said of the building.

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The URA said 30 of the apartments will be affordable for people making up to half of the area median income, while 59 will be affordable for people making no more than 80% of the area median income.

The area median income ranges from $70,300 for an individual to $132,600 for a household of eight, according to the authority.

Also Thursday, the URA board approved a $450,000 loan for Independent Housing Resources East Inc., a subsidiary of ACTION Housing, to rehab 10 affordable apartments at four buildings in Garfield and Highland Park.

The sites were developed by ACTION Housing in the 1990s, but now need improvements including new windows, HVAC systems, flooring, paint, cabinets, counters, lighting, sidewalk repairs and porch replacements.

Under the loan agreement, the developer will be required to keep five apartments affordable to people making no more than 30% of the area median income and five affordable to people making no more than half of the area median income for at least 40 years.

Pennley Supportive Housing for the Elderly is receiving a loan of about $662,000 to fix up 38 affordable apartments at the Pennley Commons building in East Liberty.

The building is set to see accessibility improvements to the community room and kitchenette, a new roof, new windows, new HVAC units and elevator improvements.

The apartments will need to remain affordable for people making no more than half of the area median income for at least 40 years. The complex serves low-income seniors.

Rising Tide Partners is receiving a $450,000 loan to make improvements to a nine-unit apartment building it acquired in Hazelwood last year.

Rising Tide is planning more than $2.5 million in renovations at the site, including repairs to insulation, windows, exterior doors, water and waste piping, hot water tanks, wiring, water and lighting fixtures, and common-area appliances.

“For decades this building had been poorly managed and undercapitalized,” said Niklas Perrson, a lending analyst with the URA.

Renovations are expected to be completed by the end of 2024, he said. All nine units will remain affordable for people making up to 50% of the area median income for at least 40 years.

The Widows Home Project is receiving a $500,000 loan to rehab 24 apartments it has in the Central Northside. The Widows Home Project is a historic complex of buildings that was initially developed in the late 1800s to provide housing for widows and low-income or elderly women.

ACTION Housing bought the site last year. Andrews said the affordability likely would have been lost if a for-profit developer had purchased the property.

Planned improvements include replacing roofs, installing new windows, repairing sidewalks and improving paint, carpeting and landscaping. The project is expected to cost $1.7 million, Perrson said.

The loan requires that 13 units remain affordable for people making no more than half of the area median income and 11 units remain affordable for people making no more than 60% of the area median income for at least 40 years.