In 2000, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh used eminent domain to seize or purchase hundreds of properties covering 34 blocks in the middle Hill District as part development project it called the “Bedford Plan.”
It was supposed to use $17.5 million in public funds to create more than 600 units of rental and for-sale housing, most as a partial replacement for residents of the Bedford Dwellings public housing. But due to a change in federal funding priorities, the 1,500 Bedford Dwellings was not entirely demolished, and only 147 of the new housing units—originally slated for completion by 2009—were ever built.
Now, almost 20 years later, and with the need for affordable housing greater than ever, the city will try again.
Along with its original partners—the URA, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and the Hill Community Development Corporation—the city has announced it is applying for a $2 million federal Choice Neighborhoods grant to write a “Neighborhood Transformation Plan” that would include plans for 1,200 new housing units, with 804 designated as “affordable.”
Additionally, according to a Jan. 19 press release from Mayor Bill Peduto, the plan would commit to a one-for-one replacement of the remaining 411 units at Bedford Dwellings and would support investment along the Bedford, Herron and Centre Avenue corridors.
“Working together we can turn the rebirth of the Hill from a dream into a reality,” said Peduto.” Starting with the Lower Hill, moving through Uptown and now the Middle Hill, all Hill District neighborhoods are poised for new opportunities for community growth.”
Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle has already introduced a resolution authorizing the city to commit the $10,000 in matching funds required to win the grant.
“If awarded, the grant would provide a tremendous opportunity for the Hill to not only build off of our master plan, but to also begin doing some implementation work, such as the initiation of the planning for the redevelopment of Bedford Dwellings,” Lavelle said. “It is therefore critical that the city be a co-applicant to demonstrate our commitment to HUD.”
The grant proposal will also out line how the project will enhance education and employment opportunities for residents, as well as access to amenities like parks, and arts and entertainment venues.
If the application is successful, it will take between two to three years to complete the neighborhood plan.
Housing Authority Executive Director Castor Binion was not here when the original Bedford Plan was initiated, but said the Choice Homes application presents a great opportunity.
“The Housing Authority is excited about the opportunity to begin the process of revitalizing Bedford Dwellings—the oldest public housing community in Pennsylvania and the last of the Hill District’s World War II Era public housing communities,” he said.
“We look forward to working with the City of Pittsburgh and our partners throughout the Middle Hill throughout this process. We are fully committed to achieving a plan that meets the affordable housing needs of the Middle Hill and further adds to the ongoing revitalization efforts already underway on the Hill.”
Hill Consensus Group founder Carl Redwood Jr., who has already filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development over affordable housing commitments on development at the former Civic Arena site in the lower Hill, repeated that “affordable housing” has to be affordable for the people in the Hill District, meaning these 408 units should be set aside and subsidized for people earning 50 percent or less than the median area income, rather than the usual 80 percent.
He said his understanding is that 400 of the units will fit that criteria.
“The plan will be aimed at tearing down the Somers Drive and Chauncey Drive projects, which house about 400 families, and developing about 1200 units—with 400 getting a deep subsidy, 400 at workforce rates, and 400 at the market rate,” he said.
A community meeting on the application was held Jan. 28. Details were not available by New Pittsburgh Courier deadline.
(A PowerPoint presentation on the plan is available at https://apps.pittsburghpa.gov/mayorpeduto/2016.01.19-Hill_District_Leadership_Meeting_Presentation.pdf)
Like us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Pittsburgh-Courier/143866755628836?ref=hl
Follow @NewPghCourier on Twitter https://twitter.com/NewPghCourier
Download our mobile app at https://www.appshopper.com/news/new-pittsburgh-courier
