Read up on the BGC’s affordable housing initiatives

HOME OWNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Over the past 43 years, the BGC has built or renovated over 120 houses and condominiums for sale as affordable homeownership in Garfield and Bloomfield, either alone or in partnership with other organizations. Our latest project involves the construction of three single-family homes with Open Hand Ministries, Inc. in the 5300 block of Hillcrest St. Our homebuyers are generally low-income in that they earn 80% or less of median household income for the Pittsburgh region.

We typically purchase vacant lots from the City or the Pittsburgh Land Bank so that acquisition costs can be held as low as possible. We secure grants from a number of sources to write down the cost of development, and then help the buyers qualify for second-mortgage loans from the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority. 

We are currently working with approximately 20 low-income tenants in our Garfield Glen I rental development to help them make the voluntary transition to homeownership in 2027. NeighborWorks of Western PA is assisting each resident with repairing their credit history, saving for the downpayment, and learning how the process around the mortgage loan application works. 

At present, we also have interest from a local housing developer in building a prototype for a single-family home where the construction costs for the unit itself can be held under $200,000, yet still deliver a quality product to the buyer.  If financing for the project can be secured, three homes could be under construction in Garfield by the fall of 2026.

RENTAL HOUSING OPPOTUNITIES

The BGC’s most recent rental housing development was completed in early 2024. In partnership with Gatesburg Road Development based in State College, PA, the project produced 25 scattered-site, single-family homes, all of which are affordable to households at 60% or less of median household income. This brings to 89 the number of rental houses that the BGC and Gatesburg Road have produced in Garfield since 2012. 

The BGC is also involved in the ownership, with ACTION-Housing, Inc., of Laurentian Hall Apartments, a 36-unit complex in the 5300 block of Penn Avenue for low-income senior citizens and persons who are permanently disabled, and the Montana Apts., a 16-unit complex in the 5400 block of Penn Avenue for working-class people owned in conjunction with the Garfield land trust group. Finally, we are partners with the Highland Park CDC in an 11-unit rental complex in the 5600 block of Stanton Avenue for working-class households.

NDC Asset Management handles the day-to-day leasing and operations associated with these properties. 

Steel City Shared-Equity Housing Association

The BGC is a board member of a newly-formed, non-profit organization that will attempt to expand the availability of housing cooperatives in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County in the years to come. Steel City Shared-Equity Housing Association believes that with the majority of working-class households now priced out of the home-buying market, there needs to be another way to give them the chance to build equity in the home where they live. Co-op housing, where the tenants are shareholders in the entity that owns the home or apartment, has historically been an overlooked option in western Pennsylvania, and Steel City hopes to seed a number of new co-op developments  that are affordable and will help to alter this picture.

Matching Grant Program for Emergency Repairs to Owner-Occupied Homes

This spring, the BGC is unveiling a matching grant program to assist low-income homeowners in Garfield and Bloomfield who are challenged with coming up with the money to pay for emergency repairs to their properties. Thanks to a grant from Duquesne Light, the BGC hopes to assist 15-16 homeowners with grants that match what the homeowner themselves can afford to pay. In most cases, the homeowner will be asked to pay for one-third of the cost, and the BGC will provide a grant of up to $1200 to cover the remaining cost. The application to that program is available below.