PITTSBURGH — Michael Polite can look back now with newly fraught nostalgia to all the rituals that came with applying for and being awarded federal grant money for an affordable housing project downtown.
In this case, Polite, a senior vice president for affordable housing developer Beacon Communities, recalls the time in November 2023 when his company received a more than $5 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the first round of a new Green and Resilient Retrofit Program seeded with $1 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, legislation signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022.
“The action was already approved. The building was picked,” recalled Polite, who has applied for various subsidies of all kinds to pursue affordable housing projects in his career. “The cardboard check had already been photographed.”
Fast-forward about 16 months and with the new administration of President Donald J. Trump, working closely with Elon Musk overseeing the Department of Government Efficiency, Polite has reason to wonder if the federal funding is coming.
“Now, you have the new administration that has to figure out how is it going to proceed,” he said.
While there has been no direct announcement by HUD yet of any changes to the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, the Associated Press is reporting, using unnamed sources and internal documents, that DOGE and the Trump Administration are halting the $1 billion GRRP, a move that if formally decided, announced and approved will throw plenty of plans and capital stacks into a state of uncertainty.
The more than $5 million award to Beacon was expected to be used for such upgrades as new windows, insulation and HVAC at the May Building, located at 111 Fifth Ave. downtown.
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