Read up on the BGC’s affordable housing initiatives
HOME OWNERSHIP
Over the past 25 years, the BGC has renovated or built more than 200 units of rental and owner-occupied housing in Garfield, Bloomfield, and Highland Park primarily for low-income individuals and families. Our latest homeownership project was done in conjunction with Garfield Jubilee Association, and produced 50 new single-family homes in Garfield (between 2002 and 2014) for low-income households to purchase.
The BGC works to make decent, affordable housing available for all residents of our community. We acquire vacant and abandoned property from the city’s property reserve to pass on to responsible and financially sound developers for redevelopment. We also renovate and build new homes to offer for sale to owner-occupants.
Although high utility bills can keep many families from owning homes, the new homes built by the BGC, in partnership with the Garfield Jubilee Association and others, meet federal EnergyStar standards to make homeownership a manageable goal for all families. By providing affordable housing, the BGC is helping create a more stable neighborhood where residents can afford more than just their basic expenses.
Listen to BGC Executive Director Rick Swartz talk about affordable housing on WESA-FM.
RENTAL PROPERTIES
Since 2011, the BGC, working in partnership with Gatesburg Road Development, has built 64 single-family homes as rentals for low-income individuals and families. The development, known as “Garfield Glen I & II,” has helped to balance the scales between affordable and market-rate housing now being produced in Garfield.
Low-income households earning less than $40,000 a year are eligible to rent a Garfield Glen unit, with an option of buying it outright after 15 years.
The units are conveniently located on Kincaid, Broad, and Dearborn Streets between North Mathilda and North Atlantic. The PA Housing Finance Agency provided some funding for the project in the form of $1.17 million in federal tax credits for private investors. Additional funds came from Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, which announced in June 2011 that they would lend $1.7 million to the project. A groundbreaking took place on February 24, 2012.
There is currently a waiting list for Garfield Glen units. If you are interested in being a tenant at Garfield Glen, please contact NDC Real Estate Management at 412-647-7410.
GARFIELD 2030
To capitalize on momentum in our neighborhood, the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation and Garfield Jubilee Association provided the impetus for “Garfield 2030,” an ambitious master plan to make Garfield a neighborhood of choice for residents and businesses. Garfield 2030 arose out of community meetings held in 2009. The final plan was presented to the community on April 29, 2010.
Some goals identified by the community were:
- to increase population
- to promote the creation of a viable, affordable neighborhood
- to improve housing quality and reduce vacancy rates
Consultants Perkins Eastman took Garfield 2030 from theory to practice by breaking the 2030 goals into manageable steps. The result is a final Neighborhood Investment Strategy.
Some strategies to achieve Garfield 2030’s goals have been to:
- Start homeowner/block associations
- Provide financial and homeowner education classes for residents
- Analyze adequacy of street lighting
- Establish a multi-year schedule for street paving
- Create a hilltop park and recreational facility
- Develop a Garfield Vacant Lot “Handbook” of improvements that private owners and organizations can make.
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