KeyBank Provides $21 Million of Financing for Adaptive Reuse of Historic Former School To Provide Affordable Housing in Pittsburgh

CLEVELAND, July 12, 2023 /3BL/ – KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) provided a $9.8 million construction loan and $11.8 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity for the construction of an affordable multifamily property in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Letsche School Development will include an adaptive re-use of the historic former Letsche School, as well as the new construction of four townhomes on two adjacent vacant parcels. The project will create 46 mixed income units and a community space for families and individuals earning no more than 60% of the area median income (AMI), of which 25 units will be subsidized by a Section 8 Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) Contract and seven units will remain at market rate. The unit mix includes 27 one-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units, and seven three-bedroom units. The property will offer amenities including a community room, courtyard and picnic area, laundry room, playground, and elevator.

The property will offer an on-site Resident Service Coordinator, who will be responsible for developing on-site educational, recreational, and cultural programming. The coordinator will ensure that residents – especially families, children, and non-elderly residents with disabilities – are linked to the specific supportive services they need to continue to live independently. These services include rent assistance, mental and behavioral health, workforce training, family empowerment initiatives and education, health and wellness, youth enrichment, and community building.

The project sponsor is Beacon Communities (“Beacon”), a developer, owner, and manager of multifamily real estate properties, including affordable housing, which makes up a majority of its portfolio. In addition, the project received permanent financing from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Authority and aligns with the Hill District Community Development Corp (CDC) Master Plan to revitalize existing structures and provide affordable housing within mixed income developments in the Greater Hill District of Pittsburgh.

The project is 0.2 miles east of downtown in the central portion of Pittsburgh and is accessible to local urban amenities and new infrastructures including grocery and convenience shopping, public transportation, employment, recreation and parks, pharmacies, banks, and hospitals. Many of these services are within walking distance of the property.

Eric Steinberg, Seaver Rickert and Anna Belanger of KeyBank CDLI structured the financing.

About KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment

KeyBank Community Development Lending and Investment (CDLI) finances projects that stabilize and revitalize communities across all 50 states. As one of the top affordable housing capital providers in the country, KeyBank’s platform brings together construction, acquisition, bridge-to-re-syndication, and preservation loans, as well as lines of credit, Agency and HUD permanent mortgage executions, and equity investments for low-income housing projects, especially Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) financing. KeyBank has earned 10 consecutive “Outstanding” ratings on the Community Reinvestment Act exam, from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, making it the first U.S. national bank among the 25 largest to do so since the Act’s passage in 1977.

About KeyCorp

KeyCorp's roots trace back nearly 200 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $198 billion at March 31, 2023. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,000 branches and approximately 1,300 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications, and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.