Manchester housing upgrades in the works
The Pittsburgh Housing Authority is aiming to rehab 86 public housing units in the Manchester neighborhood in Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Housing officials say they will seek federal approval next month for the improvements, which aim to repair and replace floors, furnaces and water heaters and install new cabinets and bathroom fixtures as well as building roofs.
Residents will have to temporarily relocate but will have the right to return when repairs are completed, though not necessarily to their identical unit, according to materials from the housing authority.
The homes are a mix of multifamily apartment buildings and row homes scattered throughout the historic neighborhood, which is filled with brick homes and many brick sidewalks.
While tenants have concerns about relocating and want to remain in their neighborhood, Tenant Council President Jala Rucker said the housing authority has done a good job of reaching out to residents and keeping them informed about what is happening with multiple meetings, and sending certified mail to tenants to make sure they receive important notices.
“I feel like they have done a pretty good job of connecting with residents,” said Ms. Rucker, who has lived in Manchester for most of her life and raised her children there. Potential relocation is the biggest concern among her neighbors, she said.
“I don’t want us to have to relocate out of the community,” she said.
Under the proposal, the homes would be upgraded as part of the RAD — Rental Assistance Demonstration — program, which aims to rehab public housing with a different funding stream.
The RAD program arose because the nation’s older public housing needs billions of dollars in repairs and investments, but Congress is unlikely to ever fully fund improving this backlog of capital needs. The RAD program converts the housing to Section 8 that is owned by a new entity, allowing debt to be leveraged to fund needed improvements.
Some affordable housing advocates are skeptical of the program because of problems with tenant displacement and other issues elsewhere.
RAD programs need to be carefully managed by housing authorities, said Shamus
Roller, executive director of the National Housing Law Project.
“The details really matter in this,” Mr. Roller said.
RAD also has been faulted for lack of federal oversight.
A 2018 report from the federal Government Accountability Office criticized the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for not systematically tracking the impacts of RAD conversions on resident households “such as changes in rent and income, or relocation.”
“Without a comprehensive review of household information and procedures for fully monitoring all resident safeguards, HUD cannot fully assess the effects of RAD on residents,” the report noted.
Housing authority officials have said residents’ rights will be protected throughout the process.
“The RAD conversion will not privatize your housing or involuntarily displace you from your household and will not demolish or reduce the number of households in your Manchester community,” according to a housing authority-produced video for residents.
If approved by HUD, temporary relocation for residents would not start until next year.
More information is available for residents at hacp.org/manchester-redevelopment/.
“I don’t want us to have to relocate out of the community.”
— Jala Rucker