Those living at 5600 Penn will be allowed to stay until the end of March 2017. Those living in 5704 Penn have until the end of February 2016 to vacate. However, 20 units at 5600 will be made available for seniors and residents with children now living at 5704 Penn.
According to the Sept. 28 statement from Peduto’s office, “the agreement creates a new standard for developments across Pittsburgh that threaten to displace long-term residents.” Also as part of the deal, the city has agreed to hire a consultant to help residents find new homes. The city says Penn Plaza residents will also be given a preference for rental units in the yet-to-be-built Mellon Orchard site, a couple of blocks away from Penn Plaza.
The Gumbergs have also committed to providing, to the affordable-housing fund, cash equal to 50 percent of any tax abatement the company receives for future development of the Penn Plaza lot. The Gumbergs have also submitted an application to develop the Mellon Orchard site, with a commitment to making at least 30 percent of its units affordable for those earning up to half of the area’s average income.
In exchange for vacating Penn Plaza, residents can receive money to help with relocation costs. According to the mayor’s office, residents living at 5704 Penn will receive $1,600, and residents in 5600 Penn will receive $800.
Housing advocate Alethea Sims, of the Coalition of Organized Residents of East Liberty, is worried about the displacement of the Penn Plaza residents from East Liberty. She says that unless new, affordable housing complexes in the neighborhood start construction today, they will not be ready in time to accommodate all of the Penn Plaza residents.
Two mixed-income developments are planned near the Penn Plaza site — the Mellon Orchard project and a development with about 50 units designated for low-income residents on the Larimer-East Liberty border. However, Mellon Orchard is still years from completion, according to East Liberty Development Inc. (ELDI) deputy director Skip Schwab.
Stan Holbrook, a staffer at the Larimer Consensus Group, says there is a small possibility that the Larimer-East Liberty development could have some affordable units available by the time all Penn Plaza residents are kicked out in 2017. But that possibility is complicated by other requirements of the project. About half of its more than 300 units are guaranteed to those who will be forced to move from the nearby East Liberty Gardens public-housing project when it is torn down.
Additionally, the waitlist for subsidized-housing units in East Liberty is currently two to five years long.
“Unfortunately, in many respects, we are late,” says Lavelle of the city’s actions on affordable housing. “Hopefully, there is some assistance for [Penn Plaza residents] to find new homes immediately.”
Lavelle hopes that some help will come from a bill he is introducing that would bar landlords from discriminating against Section 8 voucher-holders. When the evictions were announced, Penn Plaza had 41 units that were occupied by Section 8 voucher-holders.
ELDI’s Schwab says that this seems to be an issue of unfortunate timing. He says that more mixed-income and affordable developments are planned for East Liberty, but several are still in the planning process.
“It is definitely a timing thing,” says Schwab. “That is why we are trying to find more affordable units.”
But the mayor and council have other options. According to Zoning Department administrative specialist Rachel Salem, any major changes to the properties’ purpose would require a zoning change. If the Gumbergs want to convert the Penn Plaza lot to a mix of retail and housing, a zoning change would have to be approved by a city-council vote and the mayor’s signature.
Asked if mayor or council would consider using zoning as leverage against the Gumbergs, Lavelle says, “That is a legitimate question.”
Bill Bartlett, of advocacy group Action United, says the deal is “a start” and while it addresses some of the resident’s concerns, it does not address all of them. “The onus is now on the city to make sure that enough affordable housing will be online by the time they move,” says Bartlett.
But Bartlett is happy that affordable housing issues are now getting the attention they deserve. “It is awesome that the city is saying we have an affordable-housing problem and trying to fix it,” he says.
Penn Plaza tenant council representative Taylor feels the city could do even more. “This whole thing has been designed to shut people up,” he says. He believes, given the difficult circumstances of finding a comparable below-market-rate unit in East Liberty, that most Penn Plaza residents will take the $1,600 check.
But tenant-council president Grate says that many critics of the agreement are not solely focused on the residents and are more concerned with the larger issues affecting East Liberty: “We just fought for the residents, and I feel we got a good deal.
Editor’s Note: This article was changed due to a misrepresentation of Bartlett’s feelings about the Penn Plaza agreement.
