$800,000 Awarded For Lawrence County Affordable Housing, Blight-Fighting Projects

Four projects to fight blight and expand affordable housing are receiving a combined $800,000 in funding from the Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement fund, state Rep. Chris Sainato announced today.

Sainato, D-Lawrence, said the funding comes at an important time.

“With housing costs rising, expanding the supply of affordable housing is more important than ever, especially for seniors and others on a fixed income,” Sainato said. “The funding awarded today will expand these important programs and also fund the blight remediation needed to encourage further development.”

A breakdown of the funding:

• $300,000 to the Lawrence County Department of Planning and Community Development for a blight removal program that works with stakeholders to identify “tipping-point” neighborhoods in which public intervention has the potential to kickstart private investment.
• $250,000 to the Redevelopment Authority of Lawrence County to support the Countywide Housing Rehabilitation and Blight Removal Program being implemented.
• $200,000 to Urban Commonwealth CDC Inc. for the proposed New Horizons Senior Living project, a 55+ mixed income housing development in New Castle.
• $50,000 to Housing Opportunities of Beaver County Inc., to expand the first-time homebuyer program in Lawrence County and provide counseling for reverse mortgages in Lawrence and Beaver counties.

The PHARE fund – also known as the state’s Housing Trust Fund – is supported by impact fees collected from natural gas companies and from a portion of the realty transfer tax. Funding for the Lawrence County projects come from the realty transfer tax.

The awards are part of a package for projects statewide. More information on the funding is available here