Two Decades of Community-Driven Transformation

EAST LIBERTY

Two Decades of Community-Driven Transformation

We’d like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our community partners, development partners, and funders who have made our work possible over the past 20 years.

Two Decades of Community-Driven Transformation

From Our Executive Director

In 1996, when I moved my family to East Liberty to become the executive director of East Liberty Development, Inc. (ELDI), the neighborhood did not look like it does today. The East Liberty I came to was suffering from vacant buildings, blight, crime, and drugs. That was the condition of the commercial core, and sadly, the residential enclave was just as distressed. It turned out that ELDI as an organization was also in a state of distress, having lost the faith and trust of the neighborhood.

I moved from Cleveland where I had been successfully working in real estate since the 1970s and was the executive director of Hough Area Partners in Process, a community organization working in the inner-city of Cleveland. While I was skilled at completing bricks and mortar housing developments, I realized that before I could do development in East Liberty, I would have to build

back and earn the trust of the neighborhood

My first task was gathering the community to listen, learn, and develop a vision for their dreams and desires for this struggling neighborhood. Three years and literally hundreds of meetings led to the development of the 1999 East Liberty Community Plan. This bold plan called for a revitalized commercial core, hotels and restaurants—and most importantly—a mixed-income community. The mostly minority community that I was working with knew the path the neighborhood was on was unsustainable. That community plan, as well as the 2010 East Liberty Community Plan, have served as our road map and my job description for two decades. While the community plans set the roadmap for change, it was the opening of The Home Depot in 2000 that started to change the perception of East Liberty. Home Depot’s success encouraged other retailers and developers to once again view East Liberty as a regional market and helped jump start our vision of a vibrant commercial core. It’s amazing to walk down Penn Avenue two decades later and see the results. Neighbors of all colors and socioeconomic levels, a diverse collection of stores and restaurants, thousands of new jobs, new parks, a reconstructed transit center, bike lanes, and on and on.

But the achievement I’m most proud of is protecting and improving affordable housing during this amazing transformation. Most people are shocked to learn that over 30% of East Liberty’s rental units are permanently affordable, and they’re even more shocked when they see this beautiful housing at places like East Liberty Place South, Fairfield Apartments, Dad’s House, or Cornerstone Village Apartments, many of which you will read about in the following pages.

I’m also proud to have worked with so many amazing partners—from single moms at East Liberty Garden Apartments to fellow nonprofits to multi-million dollar developers—all working together to change our community for the better.

The mixed-income East Liberty of today is very much the vision that was born from the blight and struggles of our first community meeting in 1996. I hope as you read through the following pages you will have a fuller understanding of the amazing journey of East Liberty and its people over these past two decades. It’s been my honor and life’s passion to be part of this community work for the past 25 years. Enjoy!

Sincerely,

MAELENE J. MYERS

“MY FIRST TASK WAS GATHERING THE COMMUNITY TO LISTEN, LEARN, AND DEVELOP A VISION FOR THEIR DREAMS AND DESIRES...”

A Look Back

1910–1950s BOOMING BUSINESS DISTRICT

The early decades of the Twentieth Century were the peak of progress for East Liberty. Industry was booming, schools were being built, and the social life of the community flourished. By the 1950s, East Liberty was the third-largest shopping district in Pennsylvania, behind Center City Philadelphia and downtown Pittsburgh. Around its peak in 1959, East Liberty boasted 575 businesses and a population of nearly 14,000.

1960

URBAN RENEWAL AND THE DECLINE

East Liberty was a booming regional business district until 1958 when increasing traffic, lack of parking, and competition from the suburbs drove East Liberty's business leaders to call for change. Not long after, one of the nation's largest urban renewal projects began in East Liberty. Mimicking suburban development, streets, residential homes, and commercial properties were demolished and replaced by highway-sized Penn Circle and vast parking lots. The new suburban-style development ultimately failed and left a moat of vacant buildings in its wake.

1960s-1970s

POPULATION LOSS AND CRIME ON THE RISE

Urban renewal and its poorly designed streets and walking mall began a two-decadelong decline in both East Liberty’s commercial and residential areas. By the 1970s, only around 125 businesses remained and over 15% of the residential enclaves were vacant. East Liberty became known for blight and crime.

This decline was only exacerbated by the collapse of Pittsburgh’s steel and manufacturing industry throughout the late 1970s and into the 80s as families struggled to afford and/or maintain their homes or simply left the area for employment. Between 1970 and 1990, the Pittsburgh region lost 158,000 manufacturing jobs and over 150,000 residents.

1980s

EAST LIBERTY DEVELOPMENT, INC. FOUNDED

In the fall of 1979, the East Liberty Quarter Chamber of Commerce formed the nonprofit East Liberty Development, Inc. to facilitate redevelopment efforts in the neighborhood and begin reversing the effects of urban renewal. In the 1980s, the group focused on reopening Penn Avenue, Highland Avenue, and Broad Street to vehicular traffic. ELDI also worked with partners to restore and redevelop buildings along Penn Avenue.

1999

A PLAN FOR EAST LIBERTY

New leaders in East Liberty brought a sense of urgency to tackling old problems. Through a community-driven process, stakeholders developed a community plan— A Vision for East Liberty. The plan highlighted community initiatives that represented the beginning of local investment and success, which became the building blocks for a self-sustaining community.

2005-2009

THREE TOWERS DEMOLISHED

A historic partnership of private developers, community stakeholders, and building tenants brought about the demolition of the Liberty Park and East Mall high-rises in 2005, and later Penn Circle Apartments in 2009. These three poorly-managed, high-rise apartment buildings were replaced with nearly 400 units of higher quality mixed-income rental and affordable homeownership options. As of 2009, over 160 displaced residents returned to the mixed-income communities of New Pennley Place, Penn Manor, Negley Neighbors, and Fairfield Apartments.

2004-2012

RECONNECTING EAST LIBERTY

With dead-end streets, fences, and the removal of bridges that once connected East Liberty and neighboring Shadyside, the first step to merging the two communities was building a bridge to span the literal and figurative divide. The Eastside Pedestrian Bridge, which was finally completed in 2012, connects the Eastside parking lot to Ellsworth Avenue and was part of a larger development strategy to restore the commercial and residential market in East Liberty as well as the pedestrian infrastructure that was lost during urban renewal.

2011

COMMUNITY AMENITIES AND JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Shortly after Google established itself in Larimer, Target opened its doors to the community as a part of the Eastside V development. The store's opening was the culmination of a long-term plan that designated the former Penn Circle Apartments site—the five-acre site bordering Penn Avenue, Penn Circle, and Broad Street—for a department store. ELDI worked with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and a wide range of community groups for over seven years to find a potential retailer and ultimately secure Target for the site.

2014-2021

REVIVING ENRIGHT COURT

2014

CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS

The Larimer / East Liberty Choice Neighborhoods Initiative was a $30 million award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to revitalize the Larimer and East Liberty neighborhoods. Revitalization includes 334 new housing units and a neighborhood park. 85 units were completed in 2016, 150 additional units were completed across from Target in 2019, and the final 99 units were completed in 2022. These 334 units replaced the 155 blighted units of East Liberty Garden Apartments and public housing known as Hamilton Larimer.

A key element of the Choice Neighborhoods grant was an awareness of the need to incorporate social services into the redevelopment strategy. This concept was spearheaded by a coalition of organizations known as KEEL—the Kingsley Association, East Liberty Housing Inc., ELDI, and the Larimer Consensus Group. This strategy proved so successful that the US Department of Housing and Urban Development recognized KEEL as a best practice in a national evaluation of the Choice Neighborhoods grant program.

Also part of Choice was the development of Liberty Green Park, which was completed in 2020. The $6.5 million park is located on 3.2 acres of land in East Liberty, nestled between mixed-income housing and the historic Sts. Peter and Paul Church.

Sitting just a few blocks east of East Liberty’s commercial core, the Enright Court townhouse community comprises 98 predominantly owner-occupied homes built using funds from the Housing and Urban Development Section 235 Program in the early 1970s. Over the years, Enright has suffered from vacancy and fallen into disrepair, but since 2014, ELDI has worked to change that, purchasing nearly 30 units in an effort to rehab them and return them to homeownership. Part of that process has been working with renting tenants to prepare them for homeownership with our partner program Catapult Greater Pittsburgh.

2015 PENN PLAZA

The displacement of more than 200 residents from the Penn Plaza Apartments in East Liberty captured the public’s attention and came to symbolize gentrification in Pittsburgh. The apartment complex was built and financed with a US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mortgage during urban renewal, and while the HUD income restrictions had expired, the building’s owners—LG Realty Advisors—maintained affordability for several years on a month-to-month rental basis. Many tenants voluntarily moved, and then, in July 2015, they issued 90-day eviction notices to the remaining occupants of Penn Plaza. The City of Pittsburgh intervened on behalf of the tenants and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was entered into between LG Realty Advisors, the City of Pittsburgh, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, and the newly formed resident tenant council. While the MOU was effective in securing more time for the residents to relocate, it did not resolve the fundamental problem or issue as to where these residents could go, and many Penn Plaza residents were forced to relocate to other neighborhoods.

2015-2021

TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT & THE TRANSIT REVITALIZATION INVESTMENT DISTRICT

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is a nationally recognized strategy for organizing mixed-use development around a transit station to encourage transit use. With its close proximity to the commercial district and residential enclaves, the busy East Liberty Station on Pittsburgh’s Bus Rapid Transit was an ideal candidate for TOD.

However, TOD work in older urban areas can be prohibitively expensive so East Liberty turned to the Transit Revitalization Improvement District (TRID) for assistance. The TRID was created by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 2004 as a mechanism to capture a portion of future property tax revenues created as the value of private property surrounding transit investments increases over time. Developers are often hesitant to invest in an area that needs substantial infrastructure improvements, so a TRID provides a win-win for both developers and the municipality. Though tax funding is used, funds must also be guaranteed by the private developers. The TRID boundary is typically within a half-mile radius of a transit station in which private developments (sources of increased value) fund public infrastructure (uses of funds).

Phase one TRID dollars have funded several projects in East Liberty and Larimer, including the redevelopment of the East Liberty Bus Transit Station, safety improvements at The Obama Academy intersection, and the two-way conversion of Penn Circle. Phase two funds have been used to implement infrastructure improvements around Lincoln Elementary School and to fund affordable housing and workforce development projects in Larimer.

2017-2023 FOSTERING MINORITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND HOMEOWNERSHIP

As new investment continues to come into the neighborhood, ELDI is working to preserve a healthy mix of affordable and market-rate housing while creating opportunities for long-time residents with its Affordable Homeownership Opportunities (AHO) program. The AHO program is a partnership with Catapult Greater Pittsburgh (formerly Circles Greater Pittsburgh, an organization incubated at ELDI) that helps ELDI rental tenants, particularly minority tenants, transition into homeownership by giving them the opportunities and tools they need to succeed. Catapult also provides mentorship to minority entrepreneurs in the area so that they can build and grow thriving businesses.

A Meaningful Model for Community Development

Reflecting on the progress in East Liberty over the last two decades, there are many successes to celebrate along with many lessons learned.

A key success that stands out is the model that the ELDI team, our partners, and the community created to chart the way forward. The model emerged over the course of many years and consists of four focus areas—Plan, Advocate, Facilitate, and Invest, or as we call it for short PAFI.

The PAFI Model paved the way for several important interventions, and following this effective model continues to fuel progress in East Liberty and beyond.

Key Interventions

These key interventions form the basis of the PAFI model which resulted in vibrant and safe streets, a thriving business district, and a diverse group of residents living in East Liberty.

1. ESTABLISH DESIGN STANDARDS Design standards were put in place to guide urban, dense, and pedestrian-oriented development.

2. DEVELOP FROM OUR STRONG MARKET EDGES Streetworks, a national consultant who tested various development plans with ELDI, counseled to build from our strong edges and not the most blighted, internal areas of the neighborhood.

3. CREATE A MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN This plan became a template for the City and developers to follow.

• Site Acquisition: Nabru Lawener (which is Urban Renewal in reverse)—a joint venture with a private developer for site acquisition and pre-development activities

• Investment Model: ELDI acted as investor rather than developer—influenced urban design and local employment

• Prototype Homes: Designed and built energy-efficient homes on standard-sized urban lots—could be replicated

4. ADDRESS CIRCULATION AND MOBILITY The traditional street grid within Penn Circle that was disrupted by urban renewal was restored and improved.

5. INCREASE HOMEOWNERSHIP A number of important programs and interventions have led to increased homeownership in East Liberty.

• New Markets Tax Credits Strategy: ELDI worked with a national consultant to create a financing structure for market rate and affordable homeownership

• Catapult Greater Pittsburgh (formerly Circles Greater Pittsburgh) / Open Hand Ministries: These programs support wealth creation and homeownership for lower income minority residents

• Enright Court: Rebuilding wealth for minority homeowners—a targeted land recycling effort

6. IMPLEMENT A CRIME INTERVENTION STRATEGY The local analytics consultancy Numeritics conducted a crime study to validate our efforts to manage occupied nuisance rental properties—the study demonstrated that 50% of neighborhood crime comes from only 3% of properties—and that crime does not move to other parts of the neighborhood.

East Liberty's community plans were created through an extensive community engagement process that involved hundreds of meetings with long-time residents and stakeholders.

Plan

Community development starts with a vision. In East Liberty, that vision was defined by residents in the neighborhood’s 1999 and 2010 community plans. The plans serve as long-term frameworks for revitalization , defining what the community does and does not want to see happen in the neighborhood.

At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, East Liberty had the third-largest shopping district in the State of Pennsylvania, after Center City, Philadelphia and Downtown Pittsburgh. Among other things, East Liberty's community plans outlined a "Town in a City" vision to restore East Liberty's business district to its former glory.

Community plans are living documents to be re-examined, revised, and updated regularly. They serve as the core document in an ongoing series of planning and strategy documents. The plan provides a structure for actions to address specific needs and provides a springboard from which to conduct strategic plans for specific areas of the neighborhood.

1999 — A VISION FOR EAST LIBERTY

The development of East Liberty’s first community plan—A Vision for East Liberty—began in 1996. This was the first comprehensive plan for the community since the 1960s, when top-down urban renewal planning drastically reshaped the area. Published in 1999, A Vision for East Liberty helped guide the neighborhood’s recovery from failed urban renewal efforts of the past.

The 1999 community plan laid the groundwork for East Liberty’s recovery. In it, the existing residents described their vision of a “Town in a City,” a small-scale, full-service neighborhood within the larger city of Pittsburgh. Drawing on East Liberty’s history as a vibrant cultural and commercial hub, the vision was a thriving urban community that offers commerce, employment, recreation, services, good schools, and diverse housing choices. A closeknit community linked together both physically and socially.

THE 2010 EAST LIBERTY COMMUNITY PLAN — MANY VOICES DRIVING NEIGHBORHOOD CHANGE

Recognizing the success that followed the 1999 plan, ELDI

DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINES

decided to come together with the community again to include new and old neighbors and expand and refine our vision in East Liberty’s 2010 Community Plan.

With so much change, new stakeholders, and huge investments in the 2000s, it became apparent that the goals set forth in the 1999 plan were nearing completion. The community needed a revised longterm plan to include new voices and re-evaluate strategies and priorities. Starting in 2007, hundreds of stakeholders from the East Liberty area gathered regularly for two years to create a new document that redefined the community’s goals while not straying from the core principles the community articulated in the late nineties.

The many perspectives incorporated into the new plan reflected the lessons ELDI had learned (see right column).

Staying true to the foundation laid by East Liberty’s long-time residents and stakeholders, this new community plan continued to push towards the ultimate vision of a thriving, self-sustaining, and unique “Town in a City” that meets the needs of everyone who lives, works, plays, worships, or shops in East Liberty.

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The neighborhood must ensure that its newfound market potential does not overshadow East Liberty’s uniqueness.

The vibrant history and spirit of the neighborhood must be celebrated.

The neighborhood must grow in greener ways.

2010 Community Plan Themes

Several clear themes emerged in the 2010 plan to guide residents, developers, organizers, and stakeholders towards the community’s goals:

SUSTAINABILITY

Ensure change is economically viable, benefits community members equitably, and protects our environment.

COLLABORATION

Address community-wide and regional issues comprehensively with a coordinated vision and strategy.

INFORMATION SHARING

Improve neighborhood-wide awareness of programs and services, events, and development plans.

IMAGE & IDENTITY

Encourage a positive perception of East Liberty and pride among community members by improving the look and feel of the neighborhood and celebrating our history and culture.

2010 Community Plan Action Steps

Working in eight task forces, community members outlined solutions to the problems facing East Liberty and called for the following primary action steps:

1. NEIGHBORHOOD STABILIZATION

Continue a comprehensive housing strategy that reweaves neighborhood fabric through a variety of mixed-income alternatives to provide housing for all.

2. COMMERCIAL CORE REVITALIZATION

Reinforce East Liberty’s commercial heart as a unique “Town in a City” that serves both nearby residents and regional markets by providing a mix of national and local products, services, and entertainment.

3. CONNECTIVITY

Improve transportation infrastructure and connectivity to drive development. Priorities include: pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, bicycling amenities, street grid reconnections, intuitive parking, transit-oriented development, and Penn Circle's two-way conversion.

4. GREENING

Prioritize green projects and sustainability in every neighborhood development.

5. WORKFORCE

Unify workforce development initiatives into one comprehensive strategy that addresses employers’ and job seekers’ needs.

6. YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

Engage youth in community decision-making and sharing information about healthy activities. Engage youth with jobs and career preparation. Promote collaboration among youth service providers.

7. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Improve and create comprehensive systems of collaboration and communication among service providers, neighborhood safety initiatives, small business advocates, block groups, and tenant councils.

East Liberty’s Community Planning Committee: How it Guides Neighborhood Developments

Next to defining a clear plan for the neighborhood, there is another vital part to stewarding the community’s vision: East Liberty’s Community Planning Committee.

WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY PLANNING COMMITTEE?

Formed during the creation of the 1999 community plan, this committee guides new real estate in the neighborhood, from family homes to large-scale developments like Target or the Mellon’s Orchard South Apartments. The committee is made up of community members and ELDI board members and is in regular communication with representatives from city government. Their role is to ensure that any development being proposed matches the community plan and fits within the fabric of East Liberty.

WHAT GOES THROUGH THE COMMUNITY PLANNING COMMITTEE?

Every real estate project undertaken by ELDI goes through the committee process, and while projects undertaken by others are

not required to go through the committee, if the project needs City Planning Commission or City zoning approval, most developers elect to get feedback and support from the committee. This means that East Liberty’s Community Planning Committee provides input on the majority of developments in the neighborhood.

WHERE DOES A PROJECT GO AFTER THE COMMUNITY PLANNING COMMITTEE?

If it is an ELDI project, then it goes through ELDI’s Real Estate Investment Committee, Finance Committee, Executive Committee, and finally to the full ELDI board for approval. If the project is from a developer, then a support letter is provided, assuming that the project is approved. If it’s not approved, then the developer is asked to make revisions and come back to the committee.

“EAST LIBERTY’S COMMUNITY PLANS GUIDE ALL OF OUR DISCUSSIONS.

The plans are still relevant to the community to this day—even the 1999 plan—because they are living plans. Having a livable plan is important because things change. When the 1999 plan was created, for example, we weren’t thinking much about water remediation and permeable surfaces or some of the other ecological aspects of a neighborhood. But because the plans were created with input from a wide range of people—young and old, people of different races and socioeconomic backgrounds— they set a comprehensive yet flexible structure for what development should look like in the community. So, when a developer or individual comes in and says, ‘This is what we want to do,’ we check to make sure it meets all of the things that the neighborhood wants.”

LENORE WILLIAMS

ELDI BOARD MEMBER, CHAIRPERSON OF THE BAUM CENTRE INITIATIVE, AND A MEMBER OF EAST LIBERTY’S COMMUNITY PLANNING COMMITTEE SINCE 2014

Achievements

We have redeveloped and protected more than a third of all the rental housing in the neighborhood as long-term or permanent affordable housing. Low-income homeowners have had their generational wealth restored as we stabilized the housing market and added homeownership opportunities, and the community vision of a vibrant regional commercial district has been achieved.

In addition to new housing, the development of Eastside Bond created a beautiful pedestrian bridge open to the public, reconnected the street grid, and brought extensive landscaping and stormwater mitigation improvements to the area.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

At the end of the 2010 East Liberty Community Plan planning process, participants were asked to imagine what people might write in 2020 about the changes that had taken place in East Liberty over the past two decades. Much of what they said turned out to be prophetically accurate:

“In the 1990s, our neighborhood was synonymous with blight and vacancy.

Today, as a major destination for Pittsburghers and tourists alike, East Liberty is enjoying a neighborhood vibrancy that has been dormant for over two generations.”

“East Liberty is lauded as the city’s most diverse neighborhood, with nationally recognized supportive housing on the same blocks as $400,000 homes.”

“By the late 1990s, our limited parks were some of the least safe play spaces in the neighborhood, ringed in cyclone fences and barbed wire, surrounded by high speed traffic, and dominated by pavement. Bike lanes and trail systems now connect all the green space and connect to the larger regional parks.”

—2010 East Liberty Community Plan, pages 48 & 49

The change in East Liberty in a 20year span has been stunning, but it didn’t happen by accident. The change came about because of community input, a plan, passion, and dedicated partners. Dated and unsafe low income public housing was replaced by safe and modern

mixed-income housing. Crime-ridden residential areas that were 20% vacant in 2000 now boast a mix of rehabbed homes, new construction, and supportive service residences. A nearly dead commercial core now has a Whole Foods, a two-story Target, and dozens of restaurants. These changes eventually attracted thousands of jobs with companies such as Duolingo, Alpha Gear, and Google moving into the neighborhood. East Liberty today is a vibrant, diverse, and upwardly mobile model of a revitalized neighborhood for everyone.

Nearly 40 years after ELDI’s founding and more than 20 years after A Vision for East Liberty was published, we’re proud to say that with the help of countless partners we’ve brought East Liberty’s community plans close to full realization.

East Liberty, The East End, & The City

The results of East Liberty’s community plans can also be seen in its demographic transformation. In 1950, the booming business district and residential enclaves of East Liberty boasted a population of 14,954, of whom 12.6% identified as minority.

Over the next generation, as the impact of urban renewal, white flight, and the collapse of Pittsburgh’s steel industry were realized, East Liberty’s population plummeted to 7,973 in 1990, of whom 60.8% identified as minority residents. This diminished population struggled with vacancy, blight, crime, and poverty. However, these same residents spent three years involved in community planning efforts that led to the creation of the 1999 East Liberty Community Plan.

In the mid-90s, any planning or growth seemed impossible. However, East Liberty residents created a vision that “A new mixed-income population will create a market for housing, services, and shopping. Economically secure households, along with the changing neighborhood image, will attract larger markets for retail development and business expansion.”

Today, East Liberty is that community, boasting a growing and diverse population in 2020 of 6,187 residents, of whom 42.2% are black, 40.8% are white and 16.9% identified as “other.” This diverse population is now enjoying the vision of those bold thinkers of the 90s through renewed retail shopping, jobs in the neighborhood, new parks and housing, and a dramatic drop in crime.

THE EAST END

Pittsburgh, like many Northeastern cities, has experienced staggering population loss since the mid-twentieth century. Pittsburgh’s overall population was 604,332 in 1960 and dropped to 302,971 in 2020—a drastic 50% decrease.

The East End of Pittsburgh experienced similar losses as well, but not evenly across its major neighborhoods. Minority neighborhoods experienced significantly higher losses than majority white neighborhoods. Since 1960, Larimer has lost 83.7% of its population, Garfield 61.4%, and Homewood 80%, while neighborhoods such as Highland Park and Shadyside remained more stable. Geographically, East Liberty sits in the midst of these neighborhoods as a crossroads between wealth and poverty.

“A new mixed-income population will create a market for housing, services, and shopping. Economically secure households, along with the changing neighborhood image, will attract larger markets for retail development and business expansion.”

1999 EAST LIBERTY COMMUNITY PLAN

Population Overview

Source: Based on 1960–2020 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Spanning the Eastside parking lot and Ellsworth Avenue, the Eastside Pedestrian Bridge was the result of a community engagement process and larger effort to reconnect East Liberty with Shadyside. It was designed by artist Shelia Klein using railings salvaged from the 31st Street Bridge and thousands of glass sequins made at the Pittsburgh Glass Center in Friendship.

Advocacy is an important and vital component of the PAFI model. ELDI advocates for stakeholders and issues within East Liberty, and also on a regional level, to further the goals and vision within the neighborhood’s community plans and other strategy documents.

Looking down Penn Avenue towards the new Liberty East development

Whole Foods Market anchors the ground floor of the Liberty East development at 5700 Penn Avenue in East Liberty.

Mayor Ed Gainey breaks bread with the Whole Foods Market team at the store's opening on August 10, 2022.

PENN PLAZA

Penn Plaza Apartments were one of several large apartment complexes built in East Liberty in the late 1960s as part of the city’s sweeping midcentury urban renewal projects.

The apartments were located in what the community plans called the “Western Gateway” of East Liberty. Around 2015, the complex was past its useful life, and the owners of the building, LG Realty, had the idea to replace the complex with an anchor, mixed-use development that would draw people into the East Liberty retail area while connecting East Liberty and Garfield. To realize that goal, in July 2015, they issued 90-day eviction notices to the remaining occupants. The ensuing uproar due to the displacement of more than 200 residents captured headlines and the public’s attention and has come to symbolize gentrification in Pittsburgh.

The City of Pittsburgh intervened quickly on behalf of the tenants and met weekly for three months with LG Realty and a newly formed tenant council called the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition (PPSAC). Out of those meetings came a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that secured more time for the residents to relocate. LG Realty then put together a relocation team to help tenants find new housing.

While the MOU was effective in securing more time for the residents to relocate, it did not resolve the fundamental issue of where they would go. Without any new

replacement housing built prior to relocation, Penn Plaza residents were faced with waiting lists for properties in East Liberty, and many were forced to relocate to other neighborhoods, including to communities outside of the city. One of the main lessons learned from the successful relocation of residents from East Liberty Garden Apartments (detailed on page 34) is that replacement housing should be built first and counseling and supportive services provided to residents well before—ideally eight to 12 months before—being forced to move.

Looking back, the leaders of LG Realty recognize that they should have done things differently.

“We had an internal strategy in our minds of how to do it that would be in the tenant's best interest, and we tried to do a very slow phasing, but the initial letter was not well written,” said Zachary Gumberg, principal of LG Realty Advisors. “We should have had better communication.”

LIBERTY EAST

Following the Penn Plaza relocation, LG Realty met with ELDI, the Friendship Community Group, the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, and the Enright Park Neighborhood Association for several years to design the new anchor development called Liberty East. Construction was completed in August 2022 on the nine-story, 252,301-square-foot building. Whole Foods took over the majority of the more than 50,000

square foot ground floor retail space, relocating from their previous location in Eastside on Centre Avenue which they had outgrown. On top of the first-floor retail is substantial office space. Duolingo signed on as one of the building’s first office tenants, nearly doubling its office footprint in the neighborhood.

“We know that this area is burgeoning with opportunities to house companies that want to be in the university and Oakland sector,” said Larry Gumberg, founder and president of LG Realty Advisors. “We are going after the companies that are likely not in Pittsburgh now, that are probably coming from Southern California and are in the software and technology space. We didn't build the project for anyone in particular, but we built it with that in mind—for attracting and retaining talent here in Pittsburgh—because what we saw 10 years ago was the need for this kind of development.”

As a part of the MOU, LG Realty also put $1 million in a fund for the redevelopment of Penn Plaza’s Enright Park. The City has been meeting with community members to complete the park renovation plans.

“There were lots of other lessons, but the good news is we've got a great development here for all concerned,” Zachary Gumberg said. “What we're hearing in the community is that everyone's very pleased.”

FUNDS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

A belated but positive outcome from the Penn Plaza relocation and lengthy legal dispute between LG Realty Advisors, the City, and the above-mentioned neighborhood groups, was an agreement to fund affordable housing through a 2017 consent decree. This court-ordered agreement was voluntarily mediated by Attorney William Pietragallo and signed by Judge Joseph James. It required that the City (through the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh) direct an estimated $3 million of City real estate tax and bond funds borrowed against increased future tax revenues of the redeveloped Penn Plaza site into an account for affordable housing.

Access to these funds is directed by the members of the East End Housing Development Program (EEHDP) and can be used for projects related to affordable rental and for-sale housing units within the existing East Liberty Transit Revitalization Improvement District (TRID) boundary. Its members include representatives from ELDI, the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation,

the Friendship Community Group, and the City of Pittsburgh. The idea is that these funds can be used by developers who want to create an affordable housing development but need additional funds to make it happen.

MELLON’S ORCHARD SOUTH, HARVARD BEATTY HOUSING, THE CARINA, & THE QUAD AT MELLON’S ORCHARD

Trek Development Group was the first to access funds through EEHDP and borrowed $500,000 at no interest over a 40-year term to help build the $13.6 million Mellon’s Orchard South Apartments on an empty lot at Station and North Beatty Streets in East Liberty. The building has 47 units, 37 of which are affordable and 10 market rate. Thanks to the collaboration between Trek and PPSAC, 14 former residents of Penn Plaza now call Mellon’s Orchard home.

At the grand opening of Mellon’s Orchard South in 2021, Mayor Peduto shared, “These projects represent the brick-and-mortar affordable housing we need. I’d like to thank all of our partners who have made

these projects a reality, and especially thank East Liberty Development, Inc. and the Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition for their most important contributions to its success.”

In 2022, Trek also began construction on a $14.3 million second phase called Harvard Beatty Housing, which will have 42 apartments (33 affordable, nine market-rate, and eight reserved for Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh Section 8 voucher holders). It was completed in spring 2023, and Penn Plaza residents are again being given priority on these new apartments.

Additional affordable housing is being constructed at the site of the former B'nai Israel Synagogue on Negley Avenue. Built in 1923, it was most recently home to the Urban League Charter School. Called The Carina, it will have 45 affordable units and seven market-rate apartments in what was formerly the school building. Developer Beacon Communities plans for the site to be both Passive House and Enterprise Communities Certified, meaning that it will be energy efficient and have a reduced ecological footprint. Plans are also underway for the sanctuary/ rotunda of the site to be transformed into an arts and community center.

Finally, New Burgh Development is in the planning stages to create The Quad at Mellon’s Orchard, which will replace several blighted buildings on Negley Avenue directly across the street from the synagogue site. The Quad will feature a blend of 264 residential units across four distinct buildings designed to complement adjacent streets. 53 units at The Quad will be affordable to tenants earning 50% of the Area Median Income.

Penn Plaza in 2017 prior to its demolition

“GETTING TARGET TO INVEST IN EAST LIBERTY WAS AN INTENSE STRATEGIC EFFORT THAT COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT SO MANY VALUABLE PARTNERS WHO BELIEVE IN THE ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION OF OUR CITY AND OF EAST LIBERTY.”

MAYOR LUKE RAVENSTAHL FORMER MAYOR OF PITTSBURGH

HOUSING MAP

COMMERCIAL MAP

In 2006, ELDI helped stabilize and redevelop East Liberty Garden Apartments, an aging affordable housing complex located on Broad Street in East Liberty. The redevelopment of this complex enabled the neighboring community of Larimer to apply for and ultimately be awarded a $30 million federal Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. Residents of East Liberty Garden Apartments were assigned active case managers to assist with relocation, and with this assistance, over half of the residents have already moved into the resulting Cornerstone Village developments in East Liberty and Larimer. The rest of the residents chose to move to other neighborhoods, pursue homeownership, or are waiting for the final phases of housing to be completed.

East Liberty Garden Apartments

Cornerstone Village

Facilitate

ELDI works with many partners to achieve goals laid out in stakeholder supported plans, most notably the East Liberty Community Plans. As a facilitator, ELDI builds relationships, navigates public processes, and raises resources for partners to achieve their missions in East Liberty.

As a facilitator, ELDI does not always act as the lead project manager and usually does not incur the majority of development risk. Many examples exist, including the Eastside development, Penn Circle twoway conversion, tree plantings, and vacant lot transformation, but ELDI’s most fulfilling facilitation was the patient redevelopment of East Liberty Garden Apartments.

EAST LIBERTY GARDEN APARTMENTS

The redevelopment of East Liberty Garden Apartments was set against the backdrop of the foreclosure of East Liberty’s three affordable housing towers—East Mall, Penn Circle, and Liberty Park—and the resulting stress of the swift evictions and demolitions that followed.

East Liberty Garden Apartments, known as “the Gardens,” was itself in the early stages of foreclosure in 2005 when Mr. Floyd Coles—the lone member of East Liberty Housing Inc. (ELHI), the owner of the Gardens—approached ELDI for help. It seemed like recent history would soon repeat itself and more low-income residents would be quickly told to find new housing.

However, working with the local U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development office, ELDI began to manage the property with the aim of stabilizing it for current tenants and guiding its long-term redevelopment. One of the goals was to retain the Section 8 project-based voucher attached to the property, as similar vouchers had been permanently lost when the three towers were demolished.

ELDI worked to stop the Garden’s foreclosure while property managers began the turnaround effort of the property, which had received failing

housing inspection scores for years. We also re-engaged the ELHI board with representatives from each of the founding organizations—East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Eastminster Presbyterian Church, and the Kingsley Association. By 2007, the property was fully stabilized, financially sound, and had an active board. During that time, the board and churches worked together to build a brand new playground, dedicated an on-site unit for a computer lab and meeting space, held semi-annual dinners to communicate with the residents, and even hosted an annual Christmas party for the tenants. This didn’t change the fact that the building was beyond its useful life, but it created community and communication about the future of the property.

CHOICE GRANT

Enter the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant. “Choice” is a highly competitive $30 million federal grant that requires a one-for-one replacement of affordable housing as well as additional mixed-income housing and other neighborhood amenities. The neighboring community of Larimer was working on their third application for the grant to help them jumpstart revitalization of the neighborhood after years of disinvestment. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh had some housing in Larimer, but not enough

units to create a winning application. With East Liberty Garden Apartments stabilized, ELDI came together with the Housing Authority, the City, the Larimer Consensus Group, and many other players to apply a third time for the grant.

With much fanfare, the Choice Neighborhoods grant was awarded in the fall of 2014 and has now spurred multiple phases of mixed-income development in Larimer and East Liberty. In total, 334 new units are being constructed. 46% of those units are using Section-8 vouchers, 28% are affordable (60% or less than the Area Median Income), and 26% are market rate.

Unlike the hasty relocation of the earlier high-rise demolitions, residents of East Liberty Garden Apartments were assigned active case managers to assist logistically and financially with relocation. With this assistance, over half of the residents secured units in Cornerstone Village Apartments (pictured right) just one block away.

Desi-Rai LaPrade and Deshawn

Daniels are two of the East Liberty Garden Apartments residents who transitioned out of the development in 2015. During this transition, they were introduced to Catapult Greater Pittsburgh (formerly Circles Greater Pittsburgh) and Open Hand Ministries, and both are now proud homeowners in the East End, experiencing equity growth that can benefit their families now and for generations to come.

Ted Melnyk, ELHI board president and ELDI's director of operations, reflects on the results, ”This project has taught us again that when many partners come together around a comprehensive plan, we can make a difference that benefits the community for generations.”

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE THAT BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY FOR GENERATIONS.”

“THE RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT HAVE TAUGHT US AGAIN THAT WHEN MANY PARTNERS COME TOGETHER AROUND A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN,

TED MELNYK ELHI BOARD PRESIDENT AND ELDI DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

The opening of Target in 2011 was the culmination of a long-term plan that designated the former Penn Circle Apartments site for a department store. It has created over 260 new jobs for local residents and has provided much needed access to goods and services for all East End residents.

Invest

ELDI directly contributes to the future of East Liberty by investing in development deals that align with East Liberty's community plans. By investing in these projects, we support our partners, encourage good practices like local workforce hiring, gain a voice in project planning, and provide a long-term return to our organization. The capital we invest is provided by foundations, government programs, and other sources.

As ELDI worked to redevelop East Liberty’s commercial core, we stumbled upon a unique investment model that has enabled much of the transformation of the neighborhood’s business district: partnerships with private developers. By leveraging and targeting funds from different sources, we were able to act as an investor in private development projects, and as a result, strategically guided development that matched the community's vision. The story starts with the East End Growth Fund.

THE EAST END GROWTH FUND

The East End Growth Fund was an effort by the Pittsburgh Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) office to focus planning and pre-development grants to the East Liberty, Friendship, and Garfield corridor over an extended period. LISC is a national nonprofit network that connects hard-to-tap public and private resources with underinvested places and communities.

Recognizing that pre-development funds were particularly hard to come by for community organizations, the Growth Fund provided much needed early, first seed capital to fund planning and marketing studies, such as the Streetworks Market Plan and East Liberty Parking Study, which eventually led to the establishment of East Liberty’s development guidelines and standards. These development guidelines ensured that development partners were working towards the community's shared goals and visions of the neighborhood. There was (and continues to be) a need for early, first seed capital as banks, government, and foundations often want to be the last funds in. It is this early, at-risk capital, however, that is crucial for community organizations to control development in their neighborhood.

PARTNERSHIPS WITH PRIVATE DEVELOPERS

In the early 2000s, after the East End Growth Fund brought everyone together and enabled the necessary pre-development work to occur, ELDI wanted to have a say in the pending Whole Foods Market development (also known as Eastside I) being planned by The Mosites Company. At the time, ELDI wanted to be a codeveloper but did not have the strong balance sheet, available cash, or commercial development experience needed to take on the risk associated with this commercial development. After initial requests to local foundations for investment capital were rejected, ELDI got to the table using federal workforce grants from the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as additional grants from LISC (local foundations did eventually invest as well). These funds enabled ELDI to make patient investments (loans) to the developer in exchange for commitments to incorporate pedestrian access and stormwater management into their design, and to agree to local hiring requirements and a commitment to engage neighborhood workforce organizations in the hiring process.

Whole Foods Market

Ace Hotel (now Maverick)

Eastside II

Eastside Bond

Staples

A UNIQUE APPROACH FOR A COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION

It was not immediately apparent that these investments would have such a profound impact on the economic viability of ELDI. These investments were loans that went onto the balance sheet of ELDI, which in turn enabled us to secure pre-development loans for our real estate development activities.

As Mosites’ Director of Real Estate Mark Minnerly notes, this investment model is uncommon for a community development corporation (CDC): “CDCs often have a difficult time paying for competent staff because most of what they do doesn't generate money, but if you have the possibility of investing in something that's big, then the community gets some of that investment returned,” he said.

“We used the Whole Foods project as a prototype of how the East End Growth Fund would work. You had the foundations stepping in to allow the CDC to have equity to lower the developer’s risk. ELDI’s development team and board understood the value of trying to be creative and not taking a one-size-fits-all approach.”

ELDI has used this financing tool to invest in and help influence the development of six commercial developments in the neighborhood, including Target, Whole Foods, Ace Hotel, Eastside I-V, Eastside Bond, and Shop 'n Save / Staples.

INVESTMENT MODEL IN ACTION: Pedestrian Infrastructure

The failed urban renewal improvements of the 1960s left behind

a confusing patchwork of one-way streets, surface parking lots, and a one-way four lane ring road in East Liberty. Throughout every iteration of the Mosites Eastside developments, we used our influence as a coinvestor to advocate for pedestrian access and traffic improvements, such as a pedestrian bridge that connects Eastside II to Shadyside and converting Penn Circle back into two-way streets. This has resulted in significant improvements to pedestrian accessibility and created more entry points to the neighborhood that have diffused traffic significantly.

INVESTMENT MODEL IN ACTION: Eastside Bond

Eastside Bond is the final Eastside development from Mosites. When first laying eyes on this building, one might think it's a prime example of gentrification and displacement; however, the entire development

was built on surface parking lots, a turn-around for buses, and a vacant indoor tennis facility. No housing was demolished, and no residents were relocated. The $100 million development, funded in part by the East Liberty TRID, incorporates 50,000 square feet of retail, 350 residential apartments, and a 570-space parking garage—all woven into a completely rebuilt East Liberty Transit Station. Through our co-investor model, we were able to push for the inclusion of a landscaped pedestrian bridge, a reconnected street grid, and extensive landscaping and storm water mitigation improvements.

This investment model unified the often combative interests of private development and community planning in a unique way that not only followed the community’s vision but also brought much needed market development to the eastern gateway of East Liberty.

“THIS IS THE RUB ABOUT A COMMUNITY PLAN—

a community plan sets out a vision for what a community wants to see happen with properties that are owned by other people. People say that they would love housing to be affordable in their neighborhood, but if the community doesn’t own those properties, they don't control their use. You can't just wish a park into existence. You can’t just wish affordable housing into existence. You have to enable the nonprofit, community, and partners to actually own the property. That’s the fundamental truth that is missing in the economics of community development—because it’s a scary thing to take on a lot of distressed properties, even if you’re committed to the neighborhood. For every property you own, you have to pay taxes, you have to maintain it, you have to care for it, and you have to figure out how to make that property work in the marketplace or for affordable development.”

KENDALL PELLING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RISING TIDE PARTNERS AND ELDI'S FORMER DIRECTOR OF LAND RECYCLING

EDLI used dozens of vacant lots to build 20 units of affordable housing in partnership with the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh.

ELDI’S RESIDENTIAL REDEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

LAND RECYCLING Acquiring the Land to Realize the Vision

In addition to leveraging and targeting funds into East Liberty from grants and other sources, another key component of ELDI's success in the neighborhood was making direct investments into the neighborhood through a process called ”land recycling.”

Land recycling is the challenging work of gaining control of abandoned, vacant, or underutilized properties through public and nonprofit means, including working with the City Land Reserve, applying for conservatorship, identifying sellers and buying the properties, making deals with families that walked away from houses, acquisition through foreclosure and lenders, and more. It is an essential process to make properties available for developments consistent with East Liberty’s community plans.

LAND RECYCLING IN ACTION ELDI’s Scattered Site Development Strategy

In 2002, ELDI only controlled four residential properties in East Liberty,

yet the community vision plan called for a diverse, mixed-income neighborhood where both low- to moderate-income families as well as middle and upper income families would have opportunities to buy attractive homes. From that vision came a residential redevelopment strategy of “Test Drives, Flips, Targets, and Mothballs.”

With support from local foundations and LISC, ELDI acquired nearly 200 vacant, blighted, and/or abandoned properties in the neighborhood. These properties represented over 10% of all properties in the neighborhood.

ELDI’s approach to intervene at the scale of the whole neighborhood was considered bold for a community development corporation—a proposition that was inspiring to some, scary to others. In the early 2000s, homes in East Liberty were not worth what it cost to renovate, meaning that every single house was a recipe for financial disaster. With an experienced leadership team who saw the potential of the neighborhood, ELDI was able to garner support from the City and other key partners by pledging to buy and maintain these properties.

TEST DRIVE

A pipeline of prospective buyers were given the opportunity to “Test Drive” the neighborhood by renting houses in good condition owned by ELDI.

FLIPPED

Houses in fair condition were “Flipped” to new buyers after moderate improvements were made.

TARGETS

Nuisance and poor condition properties were developed with significant renovations as “Targets” to supply move-in quality homes to new buyers.

MOTHBALLED

Recognizing that rehabilitating just a few dilapidated properties would drain available resources, ELDI acquired and simply “Mothballed” these properties for future development. When the neighborhood finally tipped toward revitalization, it became financially feasible to develop the mothballed properties. Some of these properties and vacant lots were held by ELDI for over 10 to 15 years.

Lessons Learned

SITE CONTROL IS KEY

Real estate acquisition and financing is inherently risky—blighted and vacant real estate even more so. It makes lenders very nervous. But visioning, planning, and mapping out the rebuilding of a neighborhood is useless without site control. This lesson is probably ELDI’s most important.

PRINCIPLES FOR RESIDENTIAL TRANSFORMATION

REMOVE BAD LANDLORDS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD

ELDI has purchased, sometimes over market value, properties that were owned by absentee or careless landlords, particularly if in a critical area. Sometimes you simply have to “own the problem” when no amount of 911 calls or letters to the landlord will do the trick.

INVEST IN GOOD NEIGHBORS

Good neighbors are often long-time neighbors who have endured through the good and bad times. Programs for facade improvements, low-interest loans for new roofs, and/or connections to nonprofits that provide home improvements and supportive services are critical.

MAINTAIN LAND THAT IS VACANT AND ABANDONED, SO IT IS CLEAN, GREEN, AND READY FOR THE FUTURE

Neighborhoods with high volumes of vacant land need to be maintained just like any other neighborhood. The grass needs to be cut and the litter needs to be cleaned up to begin to create a vision for a brighter future.

CRIME IS A REAL ESTATE PROBLEM

According to crime “hotspot” theory, a very small percentage of physical addresses in a neighborhood are often responsible for a disproportionate amount of criminal activity. Therefore, crime is a real estate problem that can be addressed through acquisition and management.

4— EARLY, FIRST-IN SEED CAPITAL IS KEY

BUILD INCREMENTALLY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY’S VISION

The 1999 East Liberty Community Plan was followed closely over these past two decades, but not completely. Times change, technology changes, and people change. With public input, incremental changes to neighborhood plans have happened along the way— bike lanes and breweries being two small examples.

It is hard to over-emphasize the importance of flexible equity funds and their impact on enabling ELDI to sustain and accelerate transformation. These funds helped ELDI effectively manage the financial risk associated with real estate development.

After 20+ years of community development work in East Liberty, these are ELDI's principles for successful revitalization.

MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN (NOT MASTER DEVELOPER)

5— 6— 7—

There are very few communities that can be transformed by one organization alone. Our experience is that it takes “all hands on deck.” It takes savvy, informed residents, politicians, preachers, donors, and developers each “staying in their lane” to bring the vision of the master plan to fruition.

PRINCIPLES FOR COMMERCIAL TRANSFORMATION

POOL OF FUNDS —

Target an area for an extended period of time

The “East Liberty Growth Fund” was an early intervention by multiple funders to kick-start and sustain small businesses in the community's commercial core through grants and low-interest loans.

VENTURE CAPITAL APPROACH

If it works support it, if not move on You’ve probably heard of throwing spaghetti on a wall to see if it sticks (meaning it’s ready to eat), and we’ve found the same is true for development. We’ve learned to separate wishful thinking about costly, unsuccessful projects and make objective decisions to stop, while at the same time, working to increase funds and support for successful ventures.

BUILD ON STRONG MARKET EDGES

This lesson runs a close second behind site control. Rebuilding a historic building in the midst of substantial blight is not the ideal path, no matter how beautiful the building. However, building on the strong edge of the neighborhood in a systematic way to ultimately connect with that beautiful building has a much greater likelihood of success.

DESIGN STANDARDS & LAND USE PLANNING

When neighborhoods are struggling with blight, they may think that "something is better than nothing" when it comes to a particular development. Tempting as this may be, it can quickly result in unattractive, outdated buildings or areas of prime real estate becoming unavailable for strategic future use. That's why it is critical to have a community-driven plan for land use and design standards that identify areas for everything from residential homes to parks and even green infrastructure.

8—

PARTNER, PARTNER, PARTNER

Impact on the Community

When ELDI first began its work in East Liberty more than 20 years ago, the neighborhood looked vastly different. Where there were three deteriorating residential towers that created concentrations of poverty, there is now a wealth of affordable units that blend seamlessly in with the market-rate units. In the commercial core, where there was once a serious lack of vital amenties, Target, Whole Foods, and other retailers now provide residents with an array of options. Where the impressive mixed-use Eastside Bond development now sits was a vacant lot gathering litter. And what was once an empty cookie and cracker factory on the neighborhood’s edge, is now Bakery Square, a hub of world-class tech companies and attractive food and dining options. These changes are a direct testament to the thoroughness of East Liberty’s community plans and the valuable community input they encompass. This guidance has ensured a healthy revitalization process that put long-time residents first and has created a higher quality of life for all who live, work, and play in East Liberty.

Major Developments Influenced by East Liberty ’s Community Plans

2,800+ JOBS CREATED

230+ TREES PLANTED

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DEVELOPMENT

8+ MILES OF BIKE LANES

1,139+ UNITS OF NEW AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING

320+ HOUSES AQUIRED & REHABBED

A Steep Decline In Crime

In the 1990s and early 2000s, property values were at rock bottom and crime was at an all-time high in East Liberty. After trying to improve the situation through conventional means such as 911 calls, requesting increased police patrols, and instituting block watch groups, ELDI decided to take a different approach rooted in crime “hotspot”theory 1,2 and acquired approximately 200 troubled units of occupied rental properties—nearly 3% of all rental units in East Liberty. This intervention is detailed in a series of research papers by the analytics consultancy Numeritics which shows that a very small percentage of physical addresses in a neighborhood are usually responsible for a disproportionate amount of criminal activity. In a study that came closest to what was happening in East Liberty, 3% of addresses generated 50% of all calls to the police. 2

Once these “hot spot” units were purchased, ELDI staff instituted effective property management to enforce existing rules, hired off-duty police to randomly patrol these properties, and created a safe and

anonymous system for tenants to report criminal behavior. Lawabiding residents were not displaced and were relieved to regain a sense of order in their neighborhood.

As a result of these efforts, between 2008 and 2012, crime in East Liberty’s residential neighborhood fell by 49% and residential housing values rose by 120%. This crime reduction is significantly greater than what occurred, on average, in the City of Pittsburgh during that period, and is also noticeably greater than that observed for comparable neighborhoods in close proximity to East Liberty. The benefits of this strategy are still being seen today as crime continues to decline in East Liberty. From 2011 to 2021 alone, offenses decreased by a staggering 44%. When reflecting on ELDI's strategy, Numeritics’ lead economist Tayo Fabusuyi said, ”What was really novel was the use of real estate to address crime.” With East Liberty serving as an example, we hope other community groups can find guidance in this principle that crime can be treated as a real estate problem.

For a more in-depth look at our crime strategy, read Numeritics’ white papers at www.eastliberty.org/what-we-do/eldi-plans-studies/.

2008 2011

49%

RESIDENTIAL HOUSING VALUES ROSE BY

120% 2011 2021

44% OFFENSES DECREASED BY

1 Sherman L, Buerger M, Gartin P (1989a). Repeat call address policing: The Minneapolis RECAP experiment. Washington, DC: Crime Control Institute.

2 Weisburd DL, Bushway S, Lum C, Yang S (2004). Trajectories of crime at places: a longitudinal study of street segments in the city of Seattle. Criminology 42:283–321.

CRIME FELL BY

Correlation Between Crime Trend & Property Price in East Liberty

The below chart represents a correlation between reduction in crime indicidents and property prices. The 49% reduction in crime in the residential area was associated with approximately 120% increase in residential property prices.

The  second  relevant  theory  to  ELDI’s  strategy  is  called  “place based  management3 . ” Place-­‐based  initiatives attempt  to  leverage  resources  by  focusing  investments  and corrective  action  measures  in  targeted  places.  These  measures  can  be  instrumental  in changing  the  culture  of  disorderly  conduct  and  criminal  activities  in  specific  places. Once  ELDI  acquired  these properties,  the organization put  strong  property management  in  place to  enforce  already  existing  rules.  Law-­‐abiding  residents were not  displaced,  and  residents  were  much more  satisfied  with  a  renewed  sense  of order.

The  second  relevant  theory  to  ELDI’s  strategy  is  called  “place based  management3 . ” Place based  initiatives attempt  to  leverage  resources  by  focusing  investments  and corrective  action  measures  in  targeted  places.  These  measures  can  be  instrumental  in changing  the  culture  of  disorderly  conduct  and  criminal  activities  in  specific  places. Once  ELDI  acquired  these properties,  the organization put  strong  property management  in  place to  enforce  already  existing  rules.  Law abiding  residents were not  displaced,  and  residents  were  much more  satisfied  with  a  renewed  sense  of order.

The  use  of  property-­‐management  as  a  place-­‐based  approach  to  crime  reduction  is  novel in  that  most  crime  prevention  efforts  at  hot spots  rely  on  police.  The  chief  limitation  of  a police centric  approach  is  that  crime  returns when  the  police  leave.4 ELDI’s  approach  has delivered  sustained  reductions  in  crime because,  unlike  police,  effective  property management  is  a  constant  presence.

The  second  relevant  theory  to  ELDI’s  strategy  is  called  “place based  management3 ” Place based  initiatives attempt  to  leverage  resources  by  focusing  investments  and corrective  action  measures  in  targeted  places.  These  measures  can  be  instrumental  in changing  the  culture  of  disorderly  conduct  and  criminal  activities  in  specific  places. Once  ELDI  acquired  these properties,  the organization put  strong  property management  in  place to  enforce  already  existing  rules.  Law abiding  residents were not  displaced,  and  residents  were  much more  satisfied  with  a  renewed  sense  of order

The  use  of  property management  as  a  place based  approach  to  crime  reduction  is  novel in  that  most  crime  prevention  efforts  at  hot spots  rely  on  police.  The  chief  limitation  of  a police centric  approach  is  that  crime  returns when  the  police  leave.4 ELDI’s  approach  has delivered  sustained  reductions  in  crime because,  unlike  police,  effective  property management  is  a  constant  presence.

to  ELDI’s  strategy  is  called  “place based  management3 . ” attempt  to  leverage  resources  by  focusing  investments  and  in  targeted  places.  These  measures  can  be  instrumental  in  disorderly  conduct  and  criminal  activities  in  specific  places.  these properties,  the organization put  strong  property  enforce  already  existing  rules.  Law abiding  residents were  residents  were  much  renewed  sense  of

The  use  of  property management  as  a  place based  approach  to  crime  reduction  is  novel in  that  most  crime  prevention  efforts  at  hot spots  rely  on  police.  The  chief  limitation  of  a police centric  approach  is  that  crime  returns when  the  police  leave.4 ELDI’s  approach  has delivered  sustained  reductions  in  crime because,  unlike  police,  effective  property management  is  a  constant  presence

management  as  a  place  reduction  is  novel  prevention  efforts  at  hot  chief  limitation  of  a

that  crime  returns

ELDI’s  approach  has  reductions  in  crime  effective  property  presence.

These  efforts in  turn  fostered  a  sense  of “collective  efficacy 5 ,”  a  third  theory  that posits  that  when  people  feel  a  sense  of  social cohesion and  belonging,  they  are  more willing  to  intervene  on  behalf  of  the  common good.  Collective  efficacy  then  helps  to encourage informal  social  controls,  which  in turn  reduce  the  need  for  police  intervention, and   consequently   allows  for  positive  social changes  to  be  sustainable. Over  the  past  two decades,   ELDI  has been  instrumental  in seeding  this  community  effort through partnerships  and  collaborations  and  the  use of  platforms  that  put  residents  in  the driver’s  seat  of  the  decision making  process. The  outcome of ELDI’s property acquisition

Hot Spot Crime Reduction

These  efforts in  turn  fostered  a  sense  of “collective  efficacy 5 ,”  a  third  theory  that posits  that  when  people  feel  a  sense  of  social cohesion and  belonging,  they  are  more willing  to  intervene  on  behalf  of  the  common good.  Collective  efficacy  then  helps  to encourage informal  social  controls,  which  in turn  reduce  the  need  for  police  intervention, and consequently allows  for  positive  social changes  to  be  sustainable. Over  the  past  two decades, ELDI  has been  instrumental  i seeding  this  community  effort partnerships  and  collaborations  and  the  use of  platforms  that  put  residents  in  the driver’s  seat  of  the  decision making  process.

Heat maps showing East Liberty's crime hot spots in 2008, 2010, and 2012.

fostered  a  sense  of  third  theory  that

a  sense  of  social  they  are  more

The  outcome of ELDI’s property acquisition

crime  hot  spots  in  2008,  2010  and  2012.

c:  Heat  maps  showing  East Liberty’s crime  hot  spots  in  2008,  2010  and  2012.

Data source: Visit the link on page 48 for precise data sources. Five crime studies were completed in total.

Justice

4 Koper,  C.S.  (1995)  Just  Enough  Police  Presence: optimizing  patrol  time  in  crime  hot  spots.  Justice Quarterly,  12(4),  649 672.,  Sherman  1990

5 Sampson,  R.

These  efforts in  turn  fostered  a  sense  of “collective  efficacy 5 ,”  a  third  theory  that posits  that  when  people  feel  a  sense  of  social cohesion and  belonging,  they  are  more willing  to  intervene  on  behalf  of  the  common good.  Collective  efficacy  then  helps  to encourage informal  social  controls,  which  in turn  reduce  the  need  for  police  intervention, and consequently allows  for  positive  social changes  to  be  sustainable. Over  the  past  two decades, ELDI  has been  instrumental  in seeding  this  community  effort through partnerships  and  collaborations  and  the  use of  platforms  that  put  residents  in  the driver’s  seat  of  the  decision making  process.

From Our Legacy Businesses in East Liberty

KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER

Open since 2003

Previously opened in 1914 as the Regent Theater

”I remember first working at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in 2009, and there was still hesitation from visitors around coming into this neighborhood—which I believe has always had great value and has been a home to many great people—but over time, we don’t get those questions anymore. I see the role of KST as helping people see themselves but also helping to build community between folks who may not otherwise be in community with each other.”

JOSEPH HALL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF KELLY STRAYHORN THEATER

ACE LOCK, INC.

Open since 1975

”I think it's really great to have all these new businesses close by, because when we first became tenants in East Liberty, there was almost nothing here. Now, we have high-tech businesses and a lot of restaurants. In the past, sometimes it was hard to attract staff as well. Once East Liberty had an improved reputation as a safe area, it was easier to hire.”

SANDRA HUNTER, OWNER OF ACE LOCK

”Let me tell you, the new East Liberty is definitely new, but the old school is still here. East Liberty was a great place. It's still a great place. The business coming in, the development of homes. The Google thing definitely helped…and it's beautiful.”

AL VENTO JR., OWNER OF VENTO’S PIZZA

Right: The Vento’s Pizza storefront on Highland Avenue in the 1960s.

VENTO’S PIZZA Open since 1961

ASIA CARPET & DECORATING CO.

Open since 1933

TANA ETHIOPIAN CUISINE

Open since 2007

”My father and I witnessed how East Liberty was decaying. So, we began to invest in the community together. The core was the worst part—crime and deterioration-wise—so us small businesspeople took on the task of coming into the core, primarily on Broad Street, and restored it with new sidewalks, new facades, and the first historic lights outside of Downtown Pittsburgh.

Today, we’ve got a good balance of restored and new buildings. We have a nice younger generation of people coming in, and they are making changes and creating new jobs and new businesses. It’s unbelievable. We worked hard on it one step at a time. It was only natural that this place would come back to life again.”

EDDIE LESOON, OWNER OF ASIA CARPET & DECORATING CO. AND REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER WITH THE WEDGWOOD GROUP

”I think ELDI is honestly a magnet for the community. They have done so much, starting from the grassroots and creating public housing, just to give people with low-to-moderate incomes better, affordable houses. They brought good houses too. Of course, they may be getting resistance from some people, but they really have done a lot. Also, they are a big catalyst for businesses, particularly small businesses, to

SAM’S SHOES

Open since 1960

”For over 60 years, we've had a lot of loyal customers who have been good to us... we couldn't ask for better customers.”

SAM ARABIA, CO - OWNER OF SAM'S SHOES

Left to right: Brothers Sam Arabia and Vince Arabia in their store on Penn Avenue.

Left to right: Edward J. Lesoon III, Jonathan Lesoon, Edward Lesoon II in their store in East Liberty.

SEIFU HAILEYESUS, OWNER OF TANA ETHIOPIAN CUISINE

flourish. All credit goes to Ms. Myers. I'm telling you. I know.”

Clockwise from top: William Penn Smoke Shop, Jamil's Global Village, Holland's Specialty Shop

Board of Directors & Staff

ELDI has a long, strong history of regular and effective board participation and committee work. Neighbors, bankers, lawyers, and real estate agents have faithfully served the community through the board for over three decades.

ELDI’s board has met monthly through the good times and the lean, managing balance sheets, budgets, and blueprints. Also meeting monthly are ELDI’s committees, including the Real Estate Investment Committee, Finance Committee, and Executive Committee, many of which include community members who are often asked to then serve on the board.

Every major decision about buying, selling, borrowing, investing, or even receiving grant funds starts with committee discussions and approval (often more than one committee) before being presented to the full ELDI Board for approval.

Standing

Seated

Left to right:

Shivam Mathur, Project Manager

Jonathan Huck, Director of Real Estate Development

Ted Melnyk, Director of Operations

Scott Dillon, Director of Finance and Administration

Skip Schwab, Deputy Director

Not Pictured

Donald McCarten, Construction Manager

Rob Sederholm, Accounting Manager

Mary Hester, Affordable Housing Specialist

Elizabeth Sensky, Communications Director

ELDI Board of Directors (above)

left to right: Chad Restori, Lenore Williams, Becky Gloninger, Charles Peterson, Pamela Collier, Donna Jackson, Jack Pelles

left to right: Patrice Fowler-Searcy, Marie Wilkerson, Nora Sullivan

ELDI Staff (left)

WHAT IT TAKES TO TRANSFORM A COMMUNITY

ELDI's Board of Directors is a group of passionate people who come from diverse backgrounds to steward the community's vision. Steering the ship is President of the Board Reverend Patrice Fowler-Searcy who has played a vital role in East Liberty’s dramatic transformation, providing her wisdom and insight with a kind and steady hand.

Patrice’s relationship with ELDI began in 1996 when she started working at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church (ELPC). ”At the time, we were working on renovating and finding a viable new use for the Regent Theater (now the Kelly Strayhorn Theater), and ELPC became an anchor tenant for the development,” she said.

Living in the East End herself and through her work at ELPC, Patrice had come to know and love the people and vibe of East Liberty. So when our executive director Maelene Myers started hosting community meetings at ELPC and got residents and stakeholders talking about what they wanted their community to become, Patrice was ready to be

a part of it. Both Patrice and ELDI supported East Liberty to continue being what it was and much more for the folks who lived there and those who would come in the future.

In the community meetings, people talked about their desire for affordable yet safe and modern housing as well as for amenities other Pittsburgh neighborhoods had and that East Liberty once had when it was the third-largest shopping area in Pennsylvania. People also talked about wanting job opportunities in the neighborhood and access to quality education for their children. The vision for the community was established through these community meetings, so when Patrice joined the ELDI board in 1998, our focus was on housing.

A VISION FOR EAST LIBERTY

ELDI worked with the nonprofit real estate developer The Community Builders to build mixed-income housing to replace the housing lost with the demolition of the former Pennley Place Apartments and the towers in East Liberty and published the first community plan in 1999. ”It was then when we started to

realize how we were the only ones in the neighborhood who could take the risks needed to make sure that the community’s vision came to fruition. We recognized that for-profit developers were not going to take the risk in the beginning, neither the banks, nor even some of the foundations. We were the only ones that could,” Patrice remembers.

With the hard work of ELDI and community members, East Liberty now has new housing that supports people of every income level to create a just rental scenario in the neighborhood. The neighborhood now has the amenities of many other large neighborhoods. It has become a “grocery oasis”, with Giant Eagle, Target, Trader Joe’s, and other retailers providing residents choices in where they want to shop. With more new businesses settling in East Liberty, there are employment opportunities for residents as well.

Today, we are happy that we can walk down the streets in the neighborhood and meet new residents with diverse backgrounds and financial statuses as well as residents who have been here since the sixties.

“Some people might call the changes in East Liberty gentrification, but we haven't gentrified the neighborhood because gentrification implies displacement. What we have done is diversified the neighborhood based on what the residents who lived here for many, many years said they wanted this neighborhood to become.”

REVEREND PATRICE FOWLER - SEARCY PRESIDENT OF ELDI'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

”I have been honored to work closely with Maelene who is a visionary leader and skillful change agent. Through her genius, both East Liberty and the greater East End have undergone a positive economic and housing transformation. Our city and its residents owe a debt of gratitude to an extraordinary, intelligent, and effective community development leader.”

A TRIBUTE TO MAELENE MYERS’ 25 YEARS OF SERVICE IN EAST LIBERTY

COUNCILMAN REV. RICKY V. BURGESS Pictured (left) with Maelene at her 20th anniversary party

”Maelene has been an amazing leader of ELDI. She has mentored a staff, many of whom have gone on to become leaders of their own communities. She continues to give credit to her board when, in reality, credit for success belongs at her door.”

JACK PELLES TREASURER, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

”I learned so much from Maelene when I served as the director of finance at Sojourner House and Sojourner MOMS, and even more after my retirement when I became a member of the organization's Board of Directors. I will forever be in awe of Maelene’s passion for community development and her unwavering dedication to making East Liberty one of the most livable communities in Pittsburgh. Because of her commitment, so many are no longer homeless or hopeless. Congratulations on 25 years of service, and here’s to many more!”

GLORIA BROWN, MEMBER OF SOJOURNER HOUSE MOMS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“I HAVE HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF WORKING WITH MAELENE FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS, SINCE THE EARLIER DAYS OF WORKING ON BAKERY SQUARE. I SHUDDER TO THINK OF WHERE EAST LIBERTY WOULD BE WITHOUT HER STRONG LEADERSHIP AND ABILITY TO CUT THROUGH THE NONSENSE TO GET THINGS DONE. SHE IS, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, ONE OF EAST LIBERTY'S GREATEST STEWARDS, AND WE ALL OWE HER A TREMENDOUS DEBT.”

ANTHONY DOLAN ALPHABET CITY DEVELOPMENT

”It’s not everyday that you find a person with a passion to work so hard at giving to everyone. Change is hard, and she embraces it.”

DONNA JACKSON EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LARIMER CONSENSUS GROUP

The Future Focus for East Liberty

As we enter a new decade, much of the vision and work of East Liberty’s 1999 and 2010 community plans have been completed. As such, it is time for us to expand our scope at ELDI. To best serve the community, we recognize that our expertise and energy is best focused on creating new housing and homeownership opportunities and on sharing our lessons learned with other Pittsburgh neighborhoods so that they too can realize their community plans.

THE VILLAGE COLLABORATIVE OF EAST LIBERTY

A New “Registered Community Organization” (RCO) for East Liberty

Helping us with this transition will be the Village Collaborative of East Liberty, to which we will be transferring some of our community planning and development duties. This group was founded in 2018 by representatives from three East Liberty churches (Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ, Rodman Street Missionary Baptist Church, and Kingdom Light Ministries International) with support from the HELP Initiative, a multi-stakeholder group advocating for mixed-use, resident-driven development in the East End.

The Village Collaborative was created to engage more community members, including East Liberty’s faith-based community, in the equitable development of the neighborhood. With strong roots in

the neighborhood and a passionate interest in its members, we are confident that it is the ideal entity to shepherd future development. As of November 2021, the group is now East Liberty’s RCO. RCOs are an official designation granted by the City of Pittsburgh to community groups that ensures their formal role in current development projects and neighborhood planning processes. Over time, the collaborative will assume the duties of ELDI’s Community Planning Committee, meeting with developers, businesses, and individuals who want to come into the neighborhood. They will also create strategic community planning documents in partnership with residents, community groups, and the business community to outline the future vision of the neighborhood. In the short-term, ELDI will serve as the collaborative’s partner, helping them learn the ropes and ensuring they have the expertise and tools they need to succeed.

“ELDI HAS MADE A MAJOR IMPACT—

Maelene and her staff have worked some miracles, taking East Liberty from blight to where it is today. We feel that our work will be a supplement. As the RCO, we are committed to continuously engaging diverse sectors of the East Liberty community to ensure different perspectives are surfaced and reconciled. We want to be a voice for those who don't have a voice, but we want to stand on the shoulders of what ELDI has done. We are not here to try to reinvent the wheel, but I believe that we can build upon it and take it further.”

PASTOR DARRYL CANADY

SENIOR PASTOR AT RODMAN STREET MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH AND PRESIDENT OF THE VILLAGE COLLABORATIVE OF EAST LIBERTY

Moving Beyond East Liberty

CATAPULT GREATER PITTSBURGH: INCREASING HOMEOWNERSHIP AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

East Liberty is now a community full of rental opportunities, but it is still lagging on homeownership. That’s why ELDI will be turning its attention to creating more opportunities for homeownership— primarily for individuals who cannot purchase homes at market rates in the neighborhood. We believe that no matter people’s income levels, they deserve to invest in the neighborhood and their families’ lives to create generational equity. Our partner in this work is Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, an organization founded by ELDI at the beginning of 2021. Among other things, Catapult provides impactful homeownership training, helping ELDI tenants and community members— particularly low-income and minority individuals—prepare for every aspect of homeownership, from initial

budgeting for a down payment to the final home inspection. With their guidance, many long-time renters in East Liberty have achieved their dream of homeownership which they never thought possible.

In addition, together with Catapult, we are creating more minority business opportunities in East Liberty through Catapult’s 12-month Startup to Storefront business incubation program. This program provides tailored business training to minority entrepreneurs and business owners. In addition, entrepreneurs can test their business ideas right in the heart of East Liberty’s business district at the Gallery on Penn, a retail store provided to Catapult at a nominal cost.

We are also ramping up efforts to include moderate- and middle-income families and professional Black families, who have not necessarily embraced the neighborhood in terms of homeownership or rental.

THE LAUNCH OF RISING TIDE PARTNERS

recycling, to launch Rising Tide Partners in 2020. This new regional land recycling nonprofit employs a unique model of community development, helping other neighborhoods across Pittsburgh take advantage of land recycling tools to realize their community plans while preventing displacement.

When invited by a community, Rising Tide works to create the inventory of properties that make it possible for other nonprofit developers to bring new or renovated affordable homes online, along with other projects that achieve a community’s goal. The organization is already active and making strides in Homewood, Perry Hilltop, Fineview, Hazelwood, Garfield, East Hills, and other neighborhoods across the city.

THE WORK CONTINUES

These efforts are just a few examples of our ongoing mission—to ensure the long-term affordability and diversity of East Liberty while sharing our knowledge so that success doesn’t stop here. The work of community development is dynamic and ever-changing. It’s messy and rewarding. There are no cookiecutter answers, and, above all, each community must listen closely to its residents and their needs. If it does that, then it will be headed in the right direction.

Affordable (80% AMI) 26 units

Workforce (80–120% AMI) 10 units

Market Rate 15 units

TOTAL 51 units

62% SOLD TO MINORITY FAMILIES

The many successes in East Liberty, along with the failures and struggles, have taught us valuable lessons on how to restore communities. These are lessons that can be useful to other Pittsburgh neighborhoods, which is why ELDI supported Kendall Pelling, our former director of land

As we close this look back on our impact, we would like to thank the countless partners who have supported us and the community’s vision over the years. Together, we have realized dramatic transformations, and together, we will continue to carry the work forward.

“We’re giving the residents in this area an opportunity to be a part of something bigger. We’re giving them an opportunity to build wealth and break generational poverty.”

MARY HESTER, ELDI’S AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNERSHIP SPECIALIST

“Catapult’s Startup to Storefront program (a 12-month retail business incubation program for minority entrepreneurs) was launched based on both community feedback and Maelene’s desire to make sure that local, existing businesses in East Liberty were getting the support they needed to stay competitive in the fast-growing market. Thanks to her and ELDI’s generosity, graduates can test their business ideas right in the heart of East Liberty’s business district at the Gallery on Penn, a retail store provided to Catapult at a nominal cost.”

TAMMY THOMPSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CATAPULT GREATER PITTSBURGH

“There were some really key lessons that we figured out in East Liberty: from going through the traumatic displacement of the three high-rises to the successful redevelopment efforts of East Liberty Garden Apartments without displacement, which led to the Choice Neighborhoods developments in Larimer, to the successful efforts to buy out absentee landlords. All of these experiences showed us that if we do the right intervention in the community— if community partners, government, and philanthropy work together—we can actually prevent displacement and enable a community to control its own destiny. That’s part of the great vision of Rising Tide Partners—to create a regional land recycling nonprofit that doesn’t have a vested interest in owning everything and is designed to put the community in the driver’s seat of future development, while also directly helping to preserve the naturally affordable housing that we have in our neighborhoods.”

KENDALL PELLING, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RISING TIDE PARTNERS

“Community development doesn’t happen overnight; it is a long-term process that you must be willing to keep at. We hope people will look beyond the surface and be willing to hear the whole story of East Liberty. The changes in our community were made with the ‘legacy residents’— long-term East Liberty residents—in mind. The community vision plan was crafted collectively by East Liberty neighbors and residents—we are just the shepherds of it.”

REVEREND PATRICE FOWLERSEARCY, PRESIDENT OF ELDI’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“So what’s your secret sauce?”

For years, ELDI has entertained a constant stream of requests to explain how the transformation of East Liberty came about. To that end, we’ve hosted hundreds of presentations of this work to visitors from London to Texas; presenting at local churches and universities and giving many bus tours around the neighborhood. These presentations always lead to great questions. “How did you pay for all of this?” “How did you get the community involved?” “How did you ensure affordable housing remained in the neighborhood?” But the most humorous and direct question may have been from a long-time foundation officer who asked, “What’s your secret sauce?” We hope this impact report has answered many of those “sauce” questions, but as we conclude, we want to emphasize again our main ingredients and tie them into our final and biggest project, Saints Peter and Paul Church.

OWN IT

Without question, the main ingredient in our secret sauce is owning the real estate. Community plans, design standards, and vision statements are meaningless if you don’t own the real estate. Buying all of the tax delinquent properties and vacant lots in East Liberty was key to our success, as was buying out absentee slum landlords.

While it was the key to our success, it was also, however, almost the downfall of our organization— because with real estate ownership comes financial risk. There is always an inherent timing issue between holding costs and development costs until such time that the property

generates any income. This timing issue is especially acute when dealing with blighted property in distressed neighborhoods where almost all of the real estate is “underwater.” ELDI has had to hold some properties for nearly 15 years before the market improved enough that these properties could be redeveloped or sold.

SCALE IT

You simply cannot turn around a neighborhood by developing or renovating just a few houses scattered here and there. You must deal with all of the blight and get the neighborhood clean, green, and ready for development. The East Liberty of 1999 needed an

intervention that matched the scale of the problem. An important subset of scale is to make sure to rebuild from a community’s strong market edge, where commercial activity already exists, and then move incrementally and systematically through the neighborhood block by block.

WORK IT WITH MULTIPLE PARTNERS

The last key element to our secret sauce is to work collaboratively with multiple partners. Rather than trying to find a master developer, it is more effective to work with multiple partners—both nonprofit and for profit—in a collaborative manner, with all partners working in alignment with the community plan and community design standards.

SECRET SAUCE FOR SAVING SAINTS PETER & PAUL

As we approach the completion of our redevelopment work in East Liberty, ELDI is now focused on the long-elusive task of saving and repurposing the massive Saints Peter and Paul Church at 130 Larimer Avenue. Since 1890, the now strained steeples of Sts. Peter and Paul Church have hosted thousands of neighbors at Sunday services, weddings, funerals, and celebrations, but for the past few decades they’ve only played host to deterioration, vandals, or curious neighbors. This once vibrant church mirrored the slow and steady decline of Pittsburgh’s population after World War II, and by the 1980s, only a remnant of elderly parishioners remained who could no longer support the enormous structure; soon after the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced its closure and sale.

After years of attempts and negotiations, ELDI was granted ownership of the property in 2018 through Pennsylvania’s Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act, and with assistance from the URA, the church and neighboring school building were abated for asbestos, the church’s roof and steeples were stabilized, and the collapsing rectory was demolished.

But what does a local CDC do with an enormous, historic structure that needs millions of dollars of repairs?

This topic was discussed at length at the board and staff level with ideas ranging from demolition of the church to make room for market rate or affordable housing to using the property to house a charter school. But none of these ideas seemed to stick or gain traction.

In 2019, ELDI engaged the consultancy ULEAD to gather community feedback. Through their outreach and surveys, they found that the majority of people preferred a multi-use option for the space, with a music and performance theater, event center, banquet hall, and community recreational center noted as some of the preferred re-use options.

But was the building safe? It was important to find out if, after 130 years of church services, Pittsburgh weather, fire damage, and vandalism, the church was structurally sound. In October 2021, ELDI convened Robinson Building Analysis, LLC who confirmed that the main structure of the building was in generally good condition.

Assured that the structure was sound, in July 2021, ELDI hired Stone Planning

LLC and The Rooney Sports and Entertainment Group as consultants to provide an analysis of Sts. Peter and Paul Church serving as an event venue. Based on this analysis, they made the following recommendation.

“We recommend that the church is renovated for use as a multi-purpose events venue. There appears to be a strong market for use by events such as concerts and other entertainment, weddings and other social events, business events such as meetings and conferences, and others.”

Knowing ELDI had a sound facility and a market to support a future event venue, ELDI turned to the Pennsylvania Economy League of Greater Pittsburgh for a more detailed look at the potential economic impact on the neighborhood. Using the IMPLAN Economic Model, their detailed analysis estimated it will require

approximately $15 million to complete the facility; it will create 55 permanent jobs, host 200 events per year attracting 58,000 visitors, and add millions in annual tourism dollars to the neighborhood.

Finally, with the prior information as a baseline, ELDI commissioned Desmone Architecture to create sample architectural concepts which include a new two-story addition attached to the church structure with bathrooms, kitchen space, breakout meeting rooms, and parking space.

Sts. Peter and Paul Church is a microcosm (a big one!) of our work over the past decades—own it, scale it, and work it with multiple and expert partners to complete it. Our hope is to use our secret sauce to save this amazing and historic community centerpiece so that it might serve the community for another 100 years.

SAINTS PETER & PAUL CHURCH

After gathering the community to hear their vision for Sts. Peter

Church,

concept of

and Paul

ELDI engaged The Rooney Sports and Entertainment Group to analyze the

a multi-purpose events venue. A rendering from Desmone Architecture (right) shows that vision, which would potentially include a new two-story addition with bathrooms, kitchen space, breakout meeting rooms, and parking space.

2009 community meeting

2009 National Night Out

Enright Court Blitz Build with DreamBuilders in 2019

“The Arms of East Liberty” by Deavron Dailey on the Duolingo building

Catapult cohort session

Penn Avenue, c.1956-59

Penn Avenue, 1982

Liberty Green Park

To any partner omitted from this list, we apologize and thank you for your work with us!