ALLENTOWN - With a backdrop of a neighborhood transformed, three Lehigh Valley affordable housing developments received nearly $1 million in grants Monday. A representative of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh presented a check for $150,000 to the Bethlehem YMCA for the renovation of 56 apartments into 35 apartments in its transitional housing program. Work on the $4.3 million project began last month at the 430 E. Broad St. facility.
Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley Inc. received a $500,000 grant for its 40-home Minsi Ridge development on South Side Bethlehem. The development is expected to cost $5.3 million with a value of $9 million once volunteer labor is factored in, local Habitat Executive Director Christopher Bennick said.
Originally slated as 27 homes, the development grew by incorporating two smaller developments near the James and Aaron streets site, Bennick said. Funding is in place for 15 of the homes, all of which will be for sale. The project includes 12 acres of open space.
The presentation coincided with the grand opening of Allentown's Overlook Park, an $85 million redevelopment of what had been the Hanover Acres and Riverview Terrace public housing developments. The Allentown Housing Authority received $300,000 on Monday from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh for the next phase of the 322-home development.
The homes, including 53 for sale, are replacing 421 rentals described as "dilapidated, barracks-style wartime housing" by Mark Dambly, president of the authority's developer, Pennrose Properties LLC. With 159 apartments finished, the final construction phases are slated to begin next year.
Pennrose is working with the Easton Housing Authority on a similar redevelopment of Delaware Terrace with demolition slated to begin in June. Funding for both undertakings began with a $20 million federal loan from the HOPE VI program. "I'm really impressed with them," Delaware Terrace Resident Management Association President Keith Guyton said after touring one of the Overlook Park homes. "This is awesome. I can't wait till they start."
Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh was chartered by Congress in 1932 to provide loans to banks as the nation struggled with the Great Depression. The bank funnels private capital to 332 financial institutions in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Under the federal charter, 10 percent of profits must go to affordable housing developments, Community Investment Coordinator Bill Joseph said.
Source: NJ.com