Bloomfield confronts rising cost of housing
Concerns grow amid new development
Bloomfield resident Emily Embrey loves being able to walk to grocery stores or to Lawrenceville and Garfield, having the green spaces of Friendship Parklet and the Allegheny Cemetery, and seeing people she knows on the street. She doesn’t own a car, and she takes a bus to work.
But she’s concerned she won’t be able to live in Bloomfield much longer due to rising housing costs.
Spiking rents have been a concern in other East End neighborhoods — and that concern is now being felt in Bloomfield, say neighborhood groups and residents such as Ms. Embrey.
A proposed apartment development at the site of the Bloomfield IGA supermarket has heightened thoseaffordability worries, they say.
An event focused on housing affordability the neighborhood will take place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the West Penn Hospital School of Nursing auditorium, hosted by BloomfieldDevelopment Corp.
Real estate data shows a steady increase in Bloomfield home sale prices — from $116,000 on average in 2013 to $179,838 in 2017, according to West Penn Multi-List data
provided by Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. The data shows an increase in neighboring Garfield as well, from an average home sale price of $30,513 in 2013 to $119,102 in 2017.
“It’s becoming more expensive for people to stay in these neighborhoods, there’s no doubt about it,” said Rick Swartz, executive director of the BloomfieldGarfield Corp.
Monthly average rent is $877 for a one-bedroom apartment in the area and $1,262 for a two-bedroom unit, according to Rent Jungle, a company that tracks rental rates.
“It’s clear that the neighborhood property values have jumped,” said Christina Howell, executive director of the Bloomfield Development Corp.
These rising prices have people such as Ms. Embrey in a bind.
“We’ve kind of given up on owning in Bloomfield,” said Ms. Embrey, a city of Pittsburgh employee who is required to live within city limits. She emphasized that she is speaking for herself and not as city representative regarding her affordability concerns.
Ms. Howell said in previous years, she used to hear more from residents about wanting to attract development and investment.
“I don’t hear that anymore. ... Now I hear, ‘How do we keep Bloomfield Bloomfield?’” she said.
That concern has come up repeatedly in community meetings and conversations about the large apartment building that developer Milhaus has proposed for the site, she said.
“If almost no one living in Bloomfield can afford to rent a unit there, then is that building truly going to be reflective of Bloomfield? Or is it going to ultimately change the neighborhood that they are buying into?” Ms. Howell asked.
Representatives for the Indianapolis-based developer could not be reached.
Bloomfield Development Corp. has said it would like to see at least 15 percent of “truly affordable housing units” — affordable to people earning between 50 and 80 percent of area median income — in addition to ground-floor grocery retail, and improvements to the Bloomfield Bridge intersection.
The developer’s initial plan requires approvals from the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment; it hasn’t submitted information to the board.
“The developer has been very open to talking about both the grocery store and affordability and what the options might be and how we might partner on it,” said Dan Gilman, chief of staff for Mayor Bill Peduto.
He said the mayor’s office has been working to craft a proposal that could please all sides.
“We all share concerns, both about affordability and about food access in a community,” he said. “This site is a critical gateway. It needs significant infrastructure improvements for pedestrian and bike and auto safety. It needs improvements in terms of stormwater. It has the opportunity to be a development that is a positive in all regards for the community. That’s why we are working with both residents and the developer to look at the numbers and to figure out a way to do it.”
Mr. Swartz believes housing costs will continue to rise, driven by universities and high-tech companies making large investments in the East End and attracting new people to the city who want to live close to their jobs.
“The end is not in sight yet for this type of [new, upscale] development, and it’s going to put a lot of upward pressure on rent prices,” he said. There are now few twobedroom neighborhood apartments available for less than $800 a month, he said.
“That’s a big departure from where we were five or so years ago.”
Mr. Swartz said his organization was supportive of the city’s Housing Opportunity Fund, created last year, for this reason.
The fund was approved by city council in December, although it’s not yet up and running. Earlier this month, the Urban Redevelopment Authority board authorized the hiring of New Yorkbased HR&A Advisors to create policies and procedures for the fund.
Mr. Gilman said the mayor has identified who will make up the fund’s 17member advisory board and will submit their names to city council shortly. He’s hopeful funds can start being used before the end of the year. In addition to closing gaps on financing for affordable developments, the fund is also intended to help middle-income homeowners with capital improvements and help first-time home buyers purchase homes.
These aspects in particular, could benefit neighborhoods like Bloomfield, Mr. Gilman said.
Ms. Embrey said she is hopeful residents and officials cancome up with solutions.
“We’re not Seattle yet,” Ms. Embrey said. “We still have an opportunity to address these issues ... that is sustainable in the long term for more people.”