“One of the things that is critical to any kind of affordable housing effort in the city is a dedicated source of funds to pay for it,” said Gastil. “It’s great to talk about things, but there’s a severe shortage of somewhere between 19- and 21-thousand units. You need money to address that.”
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh has already established a trust fund for affordable housing in East Liberty, to be funded through a portion of taxes generated by current and future development projects. Also—most notably in Crawford Square—the authority has already preserved its affordable housing component by buying out one of the development partners before the deed covenants requiring a set number of affordable housing units expired.
The city and authority have also already employed another of the recommendations—incentivizing developers to create a set number of affordable units as part of any development plan—in addressing the redevelopment of the Penn Plaza Apartments site.
To support existing affordable units, the task force recommends initiatives such as: controls over reassessment spikes; the Rental Registration ordinance; just cause eviction protections and notification requirements for tenants of developments receiving direct public subsidy, and other tenant protection and relocation assistance initiatives.
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