Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is moving forward with plans for an affordable housing preservation program.

The program will work to prevent existing affordable housing from being converted to market-rate units or taken off the market.

“This program is going to help with funding the acquisition, rehab and operations of existing affordable housing,” said Evan Miller, the URA’s director of housing.

Officials have designated $8.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to fund the program.

Guidelines approved by the URA’s board Thursday requires housing developments to have at least five units to be eligible, with at least half of the units affordable to households making no more than 80% of the area median income. The program will give priority to housing units that are affordable to people making no more than half of the area median income.

Funding recipients must agree to keep their developments affordable for at least 40 years.

The URA will be able to give developers up to $50,000 per unit, with a maximum of $1.5 million per project.

The preservation funds also will be available to help fund limited-equity housing cooperatives, Miller said.

State Rep. Sara Innamorato, who sits on the URA board, said she was glad to see limited-equity housing cooperatives included in the program. Pittsburgh City Council members also have expressed interest in looking into ways to expand such housing options, which are a kind of collective co-ownership that allows people to invest small amounts of money into houses with others.

“I think that’s a model of housing that has a lot of potential in our region,” Innamorato said.

She highlighted the importance of preserving existing affordable housing as the costs of building new units have skyrocketed.

“Using these dollars, we’re getting a significant return on investment preserving the existing structures,” she said.

When the guidelines were initially presented to the board last month, Miller estimated that there was about $70 million to $100 million in need for such an initiative throughout the city.

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