Board members at the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh unanimously voted Thursday to reserve up to $5 million to potentially purchase a troubled Homewood apartment building.

“This has been a long time coming,” said board member Charlise Smith.

The 100-unit Homewood House is part of a group of affordable apartments purchased by out-of-state investors NB Affordable several years ago; the properties are now in stages of foreclosure or bankruptcy after the company’s leaders pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme. The buildings are privately owned and receive a federal subsidy to house low-income tenants.

Homewood House residents have complained about poor living conditions in the building for some time; WESA first reported on their concerns in 2023.

In December, Pittsburgh City Council approved a resolution to potentially use eminent domain to take the Frankstown Avenue property, with the goal of having the housing authority preserve the housing as affordable and ultimately improve it. Eminent domain allows a government to take private property in certain circumstances if it is used for public benefit.

It’s unclear if the city will act on the resolution, which would still require court action and the city to pay for the property.

In a statement, Mayor Corey O’Connor’s office said his administration is, “working closely with [Homewood] Councilman [Khari] Mosley, the [housing authority], and community partners to ensure that Homewood House is a high quality, affordable housing option in our community. We will continue to work collaboratively with our partners on all paths that lead to this outcome,” said spokesperson Molly Onufer.

James Harris, the housing authority’s general counsel, told board members Thursday he doesn’t know if the city plans to use eminent domain to wrest control of the property.

Such a use of eminent domain would be unusual, legal experts have told WESA.

Eminent domain would be “a very admittedly extraordinary step…but we think it is a necessary step,” said Pittsburgh City Councilman Khari Mosley, who represents Homewood, and who also sits on the Housing Authority board.

Mosley said the goal is to prevent displacement of the building’s approximately 100-plus low-income seniors, to preserve the building as affordable in perpetuity, and keep the property from “falling into the hands of another bad actor.”

The building’s residents are supportive of the effort, Mosley said.

Board members voted to reserve the funds to potentially buy the building from either the city, its Urban Redevelopment Authority, or another party “for a price up to the property’s appraised fair market value.”

The Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae, has obtained a foreclosure judgement against the property. The apartment building is scheduled for a Sheriff’s Sale on Monday.

Additionally on Thursday, board members voted to extend Executive Director Caster Binion’s contract, which was set to expire at the end of March, for another three months.

The terms of the contract were not immediately available on Thursday; according to a prior contract WESA obtained via a Right to Know request, Binion’s annual salary was $221,080.48 in 2022.

WESA has reported a slate of new board members last year signaled they wanted new leadership at the agency. Their efforts to replace Binion were ongoing last year, according to emails WESA obtained through a Right to Know request.

As recently as last summer, Binion had said in an email to the board he did not wish to retire.

“I will continue until they find a successful replacement,” he said Thursday.

A job listing for the position was posted online in December.