Hill District Renaissance
Status: Predevelopment
The Hill District Renaissance Project will create 20 3-bedroom For-Sale Units and 12 new
3-bedroom Rental Units. The 20 for-sale homes will be comprised of 18 new construction
units (6 on Milwaukee St., 2 on Adelaide St., 4 on Ossipee St., 6 on Ledlie St.) and 2
rehabbed units on Clarissa St. The homeownership unit construction will be broken into
two phases: Phase I will include the 10 units on Milwaukee St., Adelaide St., and Clarissa
St. Phase II will include the remaining 10 units on Ossipee St. and Ledlie St.
Of the 12 rental units, 5 will be located on Ossipee St. and the remaining 7 units will be
located on Milwaukee St. All 12 rental units will have Project-Based Vouchers and all
utilities will be included in the rent. Amani will work with the Housing Authority of the
City of Pittsburgh (HACP) to allow 4-7 units of the affordable rental units to become
available for homeownership within 5-7 years through their lease to purchase program.
Most of the project sites in the Upper Hill are in a blighted and underused area on publicly
owned land along Milwaukee St. and Ossipee St., near the vacant MLK community reading
room. The MLK reading room will be incorporated into the project as a combination of
community space and the leasing office for the development. The landlord will provide
common area maintenance to both the residential units and the MLK reading center.
The project requires acquisition of a total of 38 publicly owned parcels (most of which are
vacant lots) from the City of Pittsburgh and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The URA has initiated the acquisition process to transfer the properties from the City to
the URA and then designate the properties for disposition to the Hill District Renaissance
Project.
The for-sale development plan includes site improvements, new construction, storm water
management, and separate entrances for each residence at an estimated project cost of
approximately $6.1M. The rental project will incorporate similar amenities as well. Amani
has engaged Graves Design Group, a certified MBE, for architectural design and the
contractor will be selected based upon schematic pricing for the work. The overall project
will be subject to the potential requirements of prevailing wage, M/WDBE and Section 3
from the HACP and URA.
In October 2020, Amani submitted for 24 Project-Based Vouchers and a loan of ~$2M from
the HACP. The Hill District Renaissance Project is expected to support $1.2 M in a
permanent first mortgage and to qualify for 4% Tax Exempt Bond Financing and Low-
Income Housing Tax Credits which are expected to raise $2.3 M in equity. Amani, the
developer, will pursue additional gap financing to complete the financing. Additionally, the
rental units will be available for 50% - 60% AMI households.
The schedule for the project financing is based on state and local funding rounds. It is the
goal of Amani to position the project to start construction in 2025.