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Monday, May 20, 2002

By Mike Bucsko, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

English Webb has lived in Clairton long enough -- 73 years -- to take with a grain of salt what he hears about prospective new developments in the community.

But Webb has tempered his skepticism in anticipation of a project that could bring 44 new townhomes and about 30 single-family homes to a blighted area around the Millvue Acres public housing development on Clairton's south side.

Webb calls the project a "dream come true." But, he cautiously added, "it's one thing to dream, it's another thing to cause it to happen."

Clairton's success in another development venture would indicate it will happen.

The community and its strong local development group have been at the forefront among the industrial towns of the Monongahela River valley in rehabilitating dilapidated homes for resale. The Community Economic Development Corp. of Clairton has renovated 32 homes in the past several years, most through a cooperative effort with the Mon Valley Initiative.

As a result of its successful track record, Clairton stands to benefit greatly in the new housing development from a pool of federal money set aside for community development as part of the Sanders housing discrimination lawsuit settlement.

The Sanders Task Force, a panel that determines how to spend about $25 million in Community Development Block grants, has approved nearly $4 million for development projects in Clairton in the past six years.

Most of that money -- $3.66 million -- is reserved for the development planned outside Millvue Acres. The project, expected to cost $9 million to $10 million, represents the single largest investment to date from the Sanders case for a project in one community.

Though the bulk of the Sanders money will be for construction, the allocation also includes $300,000 for a new recreation center, $77,100 for a social service worker and $89,000 for a development plan completed by a Downtown consulting firm, Urban Design Associates.

Clairton is one of seven communities that are targeted for economic development in the Sanders settlement. The others are Braddock, Duquesne, Homestead, McKees Rocks, Rankin and Wilkinsburg.

The 1988 lawsuit, filed by Cheryl Sanders and other residents of the former Talbot Towers public housing complex in Braddock, charged those towns suffered from a discriminatory pattern of segregated public housing that funneled poor blacks into certain communities.

Among a host of other provisions, the 1994 lawsuit settlement requires federal block grant money from the county to be set aside for economic development projects in each of the seven communities. The development is targeted largely for the areas around public housing to restore a stable housing stock to communities.

As part of the Sanders settlement, the Allegheny County Housing Authority renovated many of its housing developments. A $5.4 million renovation at Millvue Acres was completed last year.

The prospective housing development has attracted considerable interest in Clairton, where residents estimate a new home has not been built in at least 30 years.

Clairton, like many of the old mill towns in Western Pennsylvania, has suffered from a loss of population and industry. But longtime residents, such as Webb and Cheryl Hurt, said the new development will provide a significant step up as the town moves its way back up the economic ladder.

Hurt, a business owner and president of Clairton's economic development organization, called the new development a "shot in the arm for Clairton." Coupled with expected economic development from the opening of the Mon-Fayette Expressway interchange in nearby Jefferson Hills, the new housing provides hope for Clairton residents, she said.

As the project progresses, Hurt said it's important for residents to participate in the changes that are taking place in the community.

"After all, we're the ones who know the community best," Hurt said.

Use of the $3.2 million Sanders money for construction in Clairton is contingent on approval by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency of a financing package submitted by the developers, Ralph Falbo Inc. and Pennrose Associates Inc. of Philadelphia.

The developers expect a decision on their application for tax credits for low income housing by September to help finance the 44 rental units, Falbo said. If approved, construction will begin on the rental units early next year, he said.

Other types of financing through the agency will be used for the second phase of the project, 25 to 35 single-family homes that will be sold, Falbo said. The application for that funding has not been submitted to the state.

The development will be built in the area around Millvue Acres on more than 100 lots, most of which were recently obtained by the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County. Most of the lots are vacant and overgrown, but several contain dilapidated homes that will have to be demolished.

The county, which obtained the properties after working with Clairton officials, will deed the lots over to the developers as the project gets under way.