Pa. officials awarded $98 million in housing grants. Here's where the money is going.

Bethany Rodgers, York Daily Record
·7 min read

In a push to help remedy Pennsylvania’s affordable housing shortage, state officials recently announced how they will distribute $98 million in funding to support the creation and preservation of more than 3,000 homes across the commonwealth.

Some of the money will flow into construction projects for new apartments and other homes, but another goal of the Housing Options Grant Program is to safeguard the state’s existing stock of affordable rentals.

“Part of the strategy for expanding affordable housing in Pennsylvania is to keep current affordable housing stock from falling into disrepair and being taken out of service,” Robin Wiessmann, executive director and CEO of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, said in a news release announcing the awards.

For instance, York County will receive about $1.6 million to preserve 28 homes in New Freedom Apartment, a complex where the monthly rent for a three-bedroom apartment ranges from about $920 to $1,060, according to the website.

Philadelphia got the most funding of any Pennsylvania county, receiving $39.8 million to support 1,180 affordable units in the city.

The grants came out of Pennsylvania’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act funding, a federal aid package aimed at helping the economy recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

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How will the grants be used?

In 2022, Pennsylvania lawmakers set aside $100 million in federal COVID-19 stimulus funding for the Housing Options Grant Program, which aims to protect and increase the commonwealth’s stock of affordable rental housing.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency administers the program and awards the grants. Under the program guidelines, the agency must distribute the grants by the end of 2024; recipients have through 2026 to spend the money.

Property owners can use the funds to construct new affordable housing or to preserve homes that already exist by making interior repairs, installing new appliances or painting, among other things.

The money can also go toward emergency repairs, such as removing lead paint, replacing roofs, repairing plumbing or remediating mold or asbestos contamination.

Units preserved or built with assistance from the program have to remain affordably priced for at least 20 years.

What are Pennsylvania’s affordable housing needs?

Pennsylvania is suffering from a shortage of roughly 267,000 homes for extremely low-income households, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. That means for every 100 extremely low-income households — which would include a family of four earning less than $26,500 per year — there are only 38 affordable homes available in the commonwealth.

The problem has been worsening for years, but the pandemic has only intensified the need, the Keystone Research Center explained in a 2022 report.

Which counties are getting HOP funding?

Adams County: $693,363 for 50 units

  • Pennsylvania Interfaith Community Programs Inc., $693,363 for preservation of 50 affordable units.

Allegheny County: $24,567,544 for 786 units

  • African Queens Apartments, $900,000 for construction of nine affordable units.

  • Homewood Affordable Housing Construction, $1.5 million for construction of 37 affordable units.

  • St. Coleman's Apartments, $2.6 million for construction of 26 affordable units.

  • Coraopolis Gardens, $1,161,510 for preservation of 40 affordable units.

  • Allegheny YMCA Renovation, $2.2 million for preservation of 88 affordable units.

  • Hazelwood 2023, $540,000 for preservation of nine affordable units.

  • Hazelwood Affordable Rental Preservation Program, $1,861,552 for preservation of 61 affordable units.

  • Homewood Housing Rehabilitation, $1.02 million for preservation of 17 affordable units.

  • Independent Housing Resources East, $1.4 million for preservation of 24 affordable units.

  • Light of Life Sister's Recovery House, $660,000 for preservation of 11 affordable units.

  • Pennley Commons Recapitalization, $2,101,155 for preservation of 38 affordable units.

  • Summit Retirement Residence, $798,327 for preservation of 55 affordable units.

  • The Residences at Wood Street/Wood Street Commons Investment Project, $2 million for preservation of 250 affordable units.

  • Widows Home, $825,000 for preservation of 24 affordable units.

  • Wood Towers, $5 million for preservation of 97 affordable units.

Bradford County: $131,250 for 30 units

  • Packer-Wilbur, $131,250 for preservation of 30 affordable units.

Chester County: $1,822,612 for 97 units

  • St. James Place Apartments, $1,597,612 for preservation of 40 affordable units.

  • Spring City Elderly Housing, $225,000 for preservation of 57 affordable units.

Delaware County: $5,600,000 for 116 units

  • Eileen & Shawn’s Place, $600,000 for construction of six affordable units.

  • Ruth L. Bennett Homes Preservation, $5 million for preservation of 110 affordable units.

Elk County: $506,131 for nine units

  • Saint Mary's PA Preservation Initiative, $506,131 for preservation of nine affordable units.

Erie County: $400,000 for four units

  • Emma Howell Apartments, $400,000 for construction of four affordable units.

Fayette County: $1,183,200 for 48 units

  • Gallatin School Living Centre, $1,183,200 for preservation of 48 affordable units.

Franklin County: $417,228 for 22 units

  • Valley Terrace Townhomes, $417,228 for emergency repairs for 22 affordable units.

Indiana County: $1,440,000 for 32 units

  • Garfield Courts, $360,000 for preservation of eight affordable units.

  • Schoolhouse Square, $1.08 million for preservation of 24 affordable units.

Lackawanna County: $383,049 for 92 units

  • Amos Towers, $383,049 for emergency repairs for 92 affordable units.

Lancaster County: $4,258,851 for 221 units

  • LCHA Farnum Street East, HVAC Update, $1,138,851 for preservation of 169 affordable units.

  • Old Market Preservation Project, $660,000 for preservation of 11 affordable units.

  • Three Center Square Preservation Project, $1.38 million for preservation of 23 affordable units.

  • Walnut Street Preservation Project, $1.08 million for preservation of 18 affordable units.

Lehigh County: $4,148,000 for 117 units

  • Regenerating Mill II, $2 million for preservation of 72 affordable units.

  • 901 Mill Revival, $2.148 million for preservation of 45 affordable units.

Montgomery County: $2 million for 20 units

  • UMAHA Town Center Residential Project, $2 million for construction of 20 affordable units.

Northampton County: $400,000 for four units

  • Italian Presbyterian Church Housing Conversion Project, $400,000 for construction of four affordable units.

Northumberland County: $2,051,420 for 54 units

  • Dalmatia Elderly Housing Associates, L.P., d/b/a Georgetown Heights, $1.35 million for preservation of 24 affordable units.

  • Willow Court Apartments, $701,420 for preservation of 30 affordable units.

Perry County: $1,329,222 for 24 units

  • Newport Hotel, $714,095 for preservation of 13 affordable units.

  • Newport Square, $615,127 for preservation of 11 affordable units.

Philadelphia County: $39,783,595 for 1,180 units

  • Caribe Towers Elderly Housing Development, $845,123 for emergency repairs for 57 affordable units.

  • CATCH - Anna's House, $222,348 for emergency repairs for 12 affordable units.

  • Evangelical Senior Housing (d/b/a Manor Glen Apartments), $411,975 for emergency repairs for 50 affordable units.

  • Gaudenzia Tioga Arms, $237,662 for emergency repairs for 22 affordable units.

  • Liberty Disston Street, $226,023 for emergency repairs for five affordable units.

  • Loney-Rhawn, $508,332 for emergency repairs for 16 affordable units.

  • Opportunities Tower III, $420,685 for emergency repairs for 60 affordable units.

  • Wingate, $531,447 for emergency repairs for 33 affordable units.

  • Amor Project, $800,000 for construction of eight affordable units.

  • Beacon of Hope K&A, $3 million for construction of 30 affordable units.

  • Cloisters III, $1.7 million for preservation of 50 affordable units.

  • Community Homes, $2.34 million for preservation of 39 affordable units.

  • Coral Street Arts House, $1.62 million for preservation of 27 affordable units.

  • Gaudenzia Winner, $720,000 for preservation of 12 affordable units.

  • Imani Homes Preservation Project, $3.3 million for preservation of 55 affordable units.

  • Philadelphia Housing Authority Environmental Conservation Project, $5 million for preservation of 364 affordable units.

  • 6655 Germantown Avenue, $600,000 for construction of six affordable units.

  • Frankford Senior Housing Associates (Meadow House Apartments), $3 million for preservation of 50 affordable units.

  • Project HOME Preservation, $5 million for preservation of 112 affordable units.

  • Project HOME St. Elizabeth's Recovery Residence, $1 million for preservation of 24 affordable units.

  • Regent Terrace, $4.8 million for preservation of 80 affordable units.

  • Vernon House, $3.5 million for preservation of 68 affordable units.

Schuylkill County: $4,897,987 for 114 units

  • 401 Hazle, $132,474 for emergency repairs for 14 affordable units.

  • ABC Tamaqua Hi-Rise, $4,765,513 for preservation of 100 affordable units.

Somerset County: $411,548 for 10 units

  • Rockwood Senior Housing, $411,548 for preservation of 10 affordable units.

York County: $1,575,000 for 28 units

  • New Freedom Apartments, $1.575 million for preservation of 28 affordable units.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: PA counties to get infusion of $98 million for affordable housing