Pittsburgh Review

City of Pittsburgh issued the following announcement on Oct. 28.

The City of Pittsburgh joined partners Trek Development Group, Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP), Urban Redevelopment of Pittsburgh (URA) and community members, including representatives from the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition and East Liberty Development Inc. (ELDI), today to officially open the Mellons Orchard South and break ground on the Harvard Beatty Housing development projects.  

Both development projects were designed in partnership with the community according to the vision laid out in the East Liberty Community Plan, which outlines redeveloping vacant land closer to the business district, providing diverse housing choices and offering priority housing preference for previous residents of Penn Plaza.  

Construction of the $13.6 million, 47 mixed-income, multi-family units that make up Mellons Orchard South began in 2019 and was completed in 2021. The development includes 35 apartment units, 12 townhouses and a community room. Of those, 37 units will be affordable, 10 will be market rate and eight are reserved for HACP project-based voucher holders. Fourteen former Penn Plaza residents are currently living there. The community also includes six accessible units and one unit for individuals with sensory impairments.  

The ground was broken today for the Harvard Beatty Housing new construction development, which will replace a surface parking lot at the edge of the East Liberty business district across from Mellons Orchard. This $14.3 million project will include 42 apartment units with 33 affordable units, nine market rate units, eight units for HACP project-based voucher holders and priority for former Penn Plaza residents. The project was awarded a 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) by the state, which was part of Mayor William Peduto’s record number of LIHTC awards in 2020. The project is expected to be completed and in service by late 2022.  

"It’s important to have partners work together to achieve the vision of our communities and to meet the needs they define like East Liberty did in their community plan,” said Mayor William Peduto. “These projects represent the brick and mortar affordable housing we need, but they also represent investment in our most important assets – our people, our businesses and their visions. I’d like to thank all of our partners who have made these projects a reality and especially thank ELDI and the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition for their most important contributions to its success.”  

“We are honored and proud to be a member of this team working to address important questions around urban redevelopment, affordability and the future of the East Liberty neighborhood,” said William Gatti, CEO and President of Trek Development Group. “The collaboration and generative spirit of this group of people is unique and heartwarming.” 

Original source can be found here.