A Pittsburgh initiative to develop seven mostly-Black business districts throughout the city is nearing its end as the Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA] board approved a third round of grants, bringing to nearly $7 million the total awarded to dozens of businesses.
In 2021, City Council earmarked $7 million from the city’s American Rescue Plan allocation for the URA to use in the Avenues of Hope initiative. Each grantee can get up to $200,000 for their business.
Last June the URA approved its first round of grants to 20 organizations totaling $2.4 million. A second round of funding totaling $1.2 million went out in September to 15 organizations. On Thursday 27 projects received board approval for a total of nearly $2.5 million. There is still some funding available for the Chartiers Avenue corridor.
Talia O’Brien, the URA’s neighborhood business district program analyst, said that the selection process included an extensive review of all applications and input from the targeted communities. The new awardees include the nonprofit Rising Tide in the South Perrysville Avenue corridor, 1:11 Juice Bar in Hazelwood’s Second Avenue corridor and food shop Farmer Girl Eb in Sheraden’s Chartiers Avenue corridor.
“It was a dream of mine to have my own space in Sheraden,” said Ebony Evans, owner of Farmer Girl Eb, “with food growing and education and to connect with the community. I’m super excited.”
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Loans for troubled Homewood site
The board also addressed the redevelopment of Homewood by issuing two housing loans totaling $2 million to help a nonprofit corporation to acquire buildings in the neighborhood to be turned into 30 scattered site rentals. Once completed, the apartments would be rented to Housing Choice Voucher holders and people making 50% of the area median income or less. That requirement will be in place for 40 years.
With this funding approved, Homewood Redevelopment, owned by the nonprofit Pennsylvania Affordable Housing Corporation, will buy the properties from an absentee landlord for $6.25 million.
Shawn Taylor, president of the nonprofit, said these properties had fallen into disrepair and called the sites a source of blight.
Kyle Chintalapalli, a board member and the city’s chief economic development officer, observed that the properties were part of the former Bethesda-Homewood portfolio – units in the East End that in 2017 lost federal subsidies because of the property owner’s failure to maintain them. The loss of subsidies led to the forced displacement of around 100 families or more than 200 people, according to a study conducted by Allegheny County.
According to the URA, construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2024 and end in the second quarter of 2025.
“It’s a great day in the neighborhood to have this project come online,” Taylor said. “We are very excited about it. There are challenges ahead in respect to rehabilitation and addressing blight.”
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Bureaucratic hub to affordable housing
During Thursday’s meeting a selection committee of URA staff recommended that the authority sell 200 Ross Street, Downtown, to ACTION Housing for the creation of affordable housing and office space. The building previously housed several city agencies including the URA and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh.
Chintalapalli said that he was hopeful to see nonprofit ACTION submit a redevelopment proposal to the board for approval.
“It’s a significant building for the redevelopment of Downtown,” Chintalapalli said. “It’s been on so many of our minds: What can the Downtown become.”
Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter, and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.
