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Continuing the “Blueprint” for Change in Wilkinsburg
Positive change is happening throughout the Borough of Wilkinsburg, a 2.1-square-mile community located nine miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2005, Wilkinsburg was named one of 22 Pennsylvania Blueprint Communities (BC) – an FHLBank Pittsburgh initiative designed to help older neighborhoods get their second wind and plan for community renewal. Over the past seven years, it has been full steam ahead for Wilkinsburg BC team members.
While serving on various community boards and committees, Wilkinsburg BC team members have been busy focusing on several major initiatives that built upon their training and planning efforts: restoring and building homes in the Peebles Square area, creating incentives for new business and tax programs to make it easier to purchase abandoned and delinquent properties, developing a comprehensive community development plan, creating a summer youth basketball program and establishing a monthly community newsletter delivered free to Wilkinsburg residents.
Wilkinsburg’s latest community revitalization endeavor is their largest project to date. Community developers have transformed two historic buildings in the Hamnett Place neighborhood – the Crescent apartment building and Wilson House – into 27 affordable apartments.
Allegheny County Economic Development (ACED) owned both turn-of-the-century buildings and, once project financing was in place, donated the properties to project sponsor, Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (PHLF). “The project was deemed impossible by many due to the deterioration of the buildings and market conditions, but a lot of planning, hard work and commitment by so many parties made this project a reality,” said Michael Sriprasert, director of real estate development, PHLF. Sriprasert is also president of Landmarks Community Capital Corporation and a member of the Wilkinsburg BC team.
The $8.6 million project was financed in part by a $300,000 grant from FHLBank Pittsburgh’s Affordable Housing Program (AHP) through member PNC Bank, N.A. Project financing included an additional $1.6 million from PNC Bank, $5.3 million from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and $1.4 million from ACED and Allegheny County Supportive Services.
Sriprasert said, “The $300,000 from PNC Bank assisted with hard costs for the restoration of the Crescent and Wilson buildings. Peter Kaplan was our main point of contact at PNC for the AHP funds. Since Peter and the bank were already involved in the project, it was a natural fit for them to assist us with the AHP funds. They have been great partners.”
The project includes five one-bedroom units, 15 two-bedroom units, and seven three-bedroom units. Four of the units are handicap accessible, and all offer rents affordable to households at or below 20% of the area median income. Rental interest has been robust. Sriprasert noted they received 55 rental inquiries during one recent weekend.
According to Sriprasert, PHLF has restored and placed on the market three, single-family homes located around the corner from the Crescent and Wilson House Apartments. Next summer, there will be an urban community garden located next to the Wilson House Apartments. The urban community gardens evolved through a partnership between PHLF, Allegheny Grows and the Hamnett Place Community Garden Group and are a model that Allegheny County wants to mimic around the region.
Community leaders have further reason to be optimistic as Wilkinsburg recently received an “A stable” bond rating from Standard & Poor’s, the Borough’s first rating ever. To help carry on the momentum, PHLF is presently in the planning phases for other restoration and redevelopment work in the area.
Since 2005, FHLBank Pittsburgh’s core investment of approximately $1 million in Blueprint Communities has leveraged more than $122 million of public and private investments in 41 neighborhoods across its district of Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Leaders of Blueprint Communities have taken advantage of other Bank programs, using a total of $4.3 million in FHLBank funds to further affordable housing and small businesses, with total development costs exceeding $55 million.
The Blueprint Communities initiative continues to inspire, inform and enable some truly engaged citizens across FHLBank’s three-state region. It’s a blueprint for change that’s working, even in today’s tough economy.
Photos courtesy of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation
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