Pittsburgh’s Bedford Dwellings overhaul to transform neighborhood, curb crime

PITTSBURGH — A major redevelopment project that’s meant to revitalize and strengthen Pittsburgh’s Hill District is moving forward.

The long-standing Bedford Dwellings complex will be completely overhauled and replaced to transform public housing in the neighborhood and improve lives.

Construction is already underway to two of the new apartment buildings.

Bedford Dwellings is the oldest public housing community in the entire state, and with old age comes a fair share of problems.

Siroya Mitchell has lived in the complex for two years.

“There’s people here that sometimes their water doesn’t work. During the winter, heat don’t work,” Mitchell said. “It’s like being in a jail where they regulate your heat. You’re still cold.”

Mitchell is fed up with the crime.

“Every time you come up here, it’s literally like a jungle,” she said.

A major overhaul to the low-income housing units that are now taking shape is expected to change that.

With the help of a $50 million federal grant, known as a Choice Neighborhoods Initiative (CNI) Grant, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh (HACP)  is moving forward with a seven-year multi-phase project.

“Once the red light turned to green, we got started,” said HACP Executive Director Caster Binion.

Eventually, Bedford Dwellings will be torn down and rebuilt into a mixed-income community with affordable and market-rate housing.

“Even though it’s $50 million, this will probably create a billion-dollar worth of activities,” Binion said. “It’s construction, jobs, education.”

At the start of the new year, some 90 residents will be relocated into a mid-rise 160-unit apartment building on Roberts and Reed streets behind PPG Paints Arena.

A total of 826 new units - more than double the amount at its current site - will be built at several sites throughout the Hill District. The rest of the more than 300 residents will be moved into the buildings as soon as they’re ready. No one will have to live in temporary housing units.

“These mixed communities, they make a difference,” Binion said. “It changes the culture of the community.”

Binion said the new housing community will curb crime by bringing people together with different economic backgrounds.

“This transformation reduces crime,” he said. “The ripple effect is a positive impact on people’s lives.”

Once Bedford Dwellings is torn down, Binion said they’ll get started on building new affordable housing units in it spot.

The new mixed-income housing project is expected to be finished by 2032.

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