New homes rising at Braddock hospital site
On one of the last remnants of the site of the former Braddock Hospital, six new single-family homes are under construction in Braddock, part of a yearslong effort to redevelop the site.
The footprint of the former UPMC Braddock, which closed in 2010, is also home to other housing, as well as Braddock Civic Plaza. A small health clinic is in a former hospital parking lot.
The two-story homes, in what was formerly vacant land that had been hospital parking, are being developed by nonprofit Mon Valley Initiative and will be sold to income-qualified homebuyers.
Funding for the housing came from Community Development Block Grant funds, Allegheny County, and other public and private sources.
“It’s almost like this is a rising up of Braddock, from the base of the civic plaza and looking up to all the new development that is there. It’s almost like, in spite of it all, we survived. Look what has come from the rubble of the hospital leaving,” said Deborah Brown, the borough’s manager.
The homes grew out of community meetings held in the wake of the hospital’s closing, said Jason Togyer, communications manager for MVI. New single-family housing was one of the needs described by the community, along with park space and a health clinic.
Mayor Chardae Jones said she is excited about creating more homeowners in the borough.
Braddock also marked another milestone last month when officials voted to approve a plan to exit Act 47 status by 2022.
Braddock has been in Act 47, Pennsylvania’s program for “distressed” municipalities, since 1988. It has struggled with shrinking population, blight and a depleted tax base, and the hospital’s closure was another blow. Many municipal employees are still part time.
But officials say new businesses and new housing in recent years have been helping the tiny borough, and they are on track to shed the “distressed” label.
The plan calls for the community to continue to keep costs down and build on the growth it has seen, as well as increasing its collection rates in real estate and sewage revenues and continuing to examine local government structure and operations, including the Braddock Water Authority, to streamline costs.
The exit plan also recommends the community continue to build up cash reserves for a rainy day fund and suggests partnerships, such as membership in the TriCOG Land Bank to help fight blight, and with Allegheny County to continue to make sure it can utilize Community Development Block Grant funds.
“It is very important for us to get out of Act 47. We need to show that as an economically challenged community, we are doing the best to turn that around,” said Ms. Brown.
Exiting Act 47 “gives the residents that live there hope,” said Ms. Jones. “It changes the narrative.”
For information about homes for sale, contact Jonathan Weaver, MVI housing counselor: 412-4644000, ext. 4008.