Braddock residents, elected officials and housing advocates gathered in the lobby of Avenue Apartments in Braddock Tuesday to celebrate $3 million in federal funding earmarked for taking vacant or under-occupied apartment buildings in Allegheny County and turning them into at least 50 affordable housing units for people who are currently experiencing homelessness due to financial hardship.
“It didn’t just happen because somebody in Washington said, ‘Listen, it’s time to give to our most needed communities’,” U.S. Representative Summer Lee said. “No. This is because of the work that we all have put in our region.”
The money comes from the federal Community Project Funding — also known as earmarks. And it will flow through Allegheny County’s Department of Economic Development. On a project-by-project basis, the county plans to work with developers and non-profit partners who deal with affordable housing, such as Action Housing, to buy and fix up apartment buildings in the county that aren’t fully occupied. The goal is to put them on the market as high-quality, affordable units, according to Ed Nusser, director of housing strategy at Allegheny County.
“If they’re already affordable, those affordable rents are preserved,” Nusser said. “If they are not already affordable, it’s about supporting that acquisition price so that the units can remain affordable in perpetuity.”
These future apartments would be designed to help people transition from staying in temporary shelters to stable housing. It would help address a local shortage of affordable housing for very low income residents in Allegheny County that has led to people staying in shelters for longer and a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness, according to county officials.
The number of people in Allegheny County rose from 1,026 in January 2024 to 1,130 last year, according to the county’s most recent count conducted in March 2025. And 244 people were unsheltered last March compared to 169 in January 2024. The county conducted a count in February but the numbers are not yet available.
This investment is the latest addition to a broader effort to expand deeply affordable housing in Allegheny County. In June 2024, County Executive Sara Innamorato launched an initiative called “500 in 500” pledging to find and fund 500 units of deeply affordable housing to move people into stable housing and out of homelessness. And last fall, the county celebrated moving more than 600 people into housing through the program — the majority of them remained housed, according to officials.
“ When we can preserve housing, when we can buy units that are underutilized or in areas of opportunity for people, it’s just a much more cost effective way to do it,” Innamorato said. “And it’s a much quicker way to add units to the housing portfolio.”