(PITTSBURGH) August 21, 2012   Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, joined by TREK Development Group today celebrated the start of the Dinwiddie Street Housing development’s third phase, which includes historic renovations of the vacant Miller School into eight loft apartments and 18 new townhome units along Heldman Street in the Hill District neighborhood. Dinwiddie Street - once a few blocks of vacant and underutilized homes - has been transformed in the project’s first two phases to include 46 new rental townhomes and apartment units.

“Over the last six years, the City and its partners have invested over $120 million to create 41 single-family units and 490 multi-family units in the Hill District,” Ravenstahl said. “These investments are community-driven solutions that provide affordable and quality housing options for residents, while revitalizing more areas of this up and coming neighborhood.”

Dinwiddie Street Housing units are built to meet ENERGY STAR standards, incorporating high efficiency and alternative energy strategies, which results in substantial savings for tenants. Systems such as independent heat pumps – which are 45 percent more efficient than standard HVAC systems – and solar panels will help tenants save upwards of $900 per year on their utility bills, while reducing the City’s carbon footprint. Consistent with the units in the first two phases, the units in Phase III will be offered to households at or below 60 percent of the area median income.

Phase III of the four-phase project is supported with a $1.5 million Rental Housing Development and Improvement Program loan from the City’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Completion of Phase III is anticipated for June 2013. Total project costs are estimated at $9.4 million.

In addition to the newly constructed residences on Dinwiddie Street, a number of the street’s original brownstone houses have been rehabilitated to create a rich mix of urban housing. The URA, Trek Development Group and the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh are advancing a façade improvement program for existing housing in the Hill District in alignment with the ongoing development efforts, providing up to $7,500 per household. To date, five owner-occupants are participating in the program. The Design Center is working to identify other applicants.

"We are proud to be playing a role in the revitalization of the lower Hill District,” said William J. Gatti, Jr., President, TREK Development Group.  “A block-by-block, and building-by-building restoration and reconstruction of the neighborhood that mixes residents of different ages and incomes is a more vital and sustainable re-development model. The re-use of this important historic structure serves as a source of neighborhood identity and pride and creates some very dynamic and dramatic living spaces. It is a win for all."

The Dinwiddie Street Housing project has been designed by Rothschild Doyno Collaborative with Mistick Construction as the general contractor. Additional funding partners include PNC Bank, Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, and Commonwealth Financing Agency.