URA to launch grant program for Hill District homeowners

Homeowners in Pittsburgh’s Hill District will have an opportunity to receive grants to cover the cost of home repairs under a plan approved Thursday by the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The URA plans to use $465,000 from the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund to launch the grant program.

Homeowners will be able to get up to $20,000 to fund home repairs, with the first round of applications set to be accepted through the URA’s website starting within about a week through the end of September. URA officials said they would accept additional applications in future rounds.

The home repair initiative will give priority consideration to applicants whose incomes are at or below 80% of the area median income, or between $56,250 for one person to $106,000 for a family of eight, according to the authority.

Priority also will be given to households that “require critical repairs to remain habitable” and households that have a child 5 or younger, a senior citizen 62 or older or a person with a disability, according to guidelines presented to the URA board Thursday.

Once an application is deemed eligible, the URA will send it to the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund Advisory Board for a final vote.

The Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund takes diverted tax revenues from the Lower Hill redevelopment project — which is set to include a new live music venue, public safety station and other amenities — and provides funding for community needs throughout the Hill District. Its board is comprised of 12 Hill District community stakeholders.

City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, D-Hill District, who co-chairs the fund’s board and sits on the URA board, said it’s been about two years since the fund got its first infusion of cash. He said officials needed to have proper infrastructure and staffing in place to distribute funding before initiatives like this could begin.

The cash being used for the grant program is part of a $7.1 million contribution by the Lower Hill Redevelopment team in September 2021 that went into the fund. This marks the first time Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund money will be available directly to Hill District residents.