Urban Redevelopment Authority's affordable housing preservation program launches Friday

The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority’s affordable housing preservation program launches Friday.

The program, first presented to the URA board in January, aims to provide financial assistance to owners of affordable housing units. The URA hopes the help will dissuade the owners from shutting down the affordable units or converting them to market-rate units for financial reasons.

Officials have designated $8.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act money for the initiative.

Money will help fund the acquisition, rehabilitation and operation of existing affordable housing to preserve the city’s existing affordable housing, said Evan Miller, the URA’s director of housing.

Applications will be accepted starting Friday on the URA’s website, Miller said.

“It’s incredibly important,” URA Board Chairman Kyle Chintalapalli said. “I would encourage folks to take a look and get those applications in so we can start protecting and preserving those units for our residents throughout the city.”

Guidelines approved by the URA in February require eligible housing developments to have at least five units, at least half of which must be affordable to households making no more than 80% of the area median income. Priority will be given to housing units that are affordable to people making no more than half of the area median income.

Developers who receive funding must agree to keep the housing units affordable for at least 40 years.

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

The preservation funding also will be available to help fund limited-equity housing cooperatives.

When the proposal was first presented to the board in January, Miller estimated that there was about $70 million to $100 million needed for such funding throughout the city.

The URA on Wednesday also unveiled plans for a new for-sale development program for community land trusts, which would provide funding for the “substantial rehabilitation or new construction of affordable for-sale housing.”

The initiative would provide grants or low-interest construction financing “for the purpose of increasing the supply of permanently affordable housing for home ownership,” according to a report provided by the URA.

Guidelines for the proposed initiative were presented Wednesday. That measure is expected to be discussed at the next URA board meeting in May.

Under the proposed guidelines, funding for that initiative would be available to projects serving households that make no more than 80% of the area median income, and all homes would need to be affordable for at least 99 years.

The program would offer developers up to $100,000 for rehabilitated units and up to $130,000 for new construction.

The initiative would be funded with $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act money from the city.