Mayor Wanda Williams and Business Administrator Sam Sulkosky announced recipients of affordable housing funds at city hall.
Over a dozen local projects will get a boost of cash to create housing.
Harrisburg officials on Wednesday announced the 13 affordable housing projects that will receive a total of almost $8 million in grants, money that was made available to the city through federal COVID-relief funds.
“I am proud to continue fulfilling one of my original campaign promises to make Harrisburg a city where everyone has access to a safe affordable place to call home,” Mayor Wanda Williams said at a morning press conference.
The money for the initiative was made possible through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) program. Harrisburg received a total of $47 million in ARPA money.
City Council, in 2023, approved putting $31.4 million into the city’s general fund to replace revenue lost during the pandemic. That money then went to pay for regular budget items, freeing up money for special projects. Council designated certain projects that the money should fund, such as the $8 million for affordable housing, in addition to other projects.
Recipients of the Affordable Housing Development Fund grants are as follows:
- Beahive Affordable Housing Outreach, 4 units-$400,000
- Breneman Group, 14 units-$650,000
- Habitat for Humanity, 4 units-$400,000
- Handles Helping Hand Foundation, 4 units-$900,000
- Latino Connection Foundation LLC-Sycamore Homes, 23 units-$800,000
- Latino Connection Foundation LLC-Woodward Lofts, 48 units-$700,000
- PSV Properties, 3 units-$73,000
- Scholars Inc. dba Thrive Housing Services, 3 units-$300,000
- TLC Capstone, 34 units-$600,000
- TLC Cornerstone Renewal, 50 units-$750,000
- Vice Capital LLC and Savoy Harrisburg LLC, 10 units-$1,300,000
- Wildheart International Ministries Gateway, 9 units-$377,000
- Williams and Williams Properties LLC, 14 units-$500,000
The amount awarded totals $7,750,000. According to Williams, the remaining $250,000 is being saved in case of needed adjustments during the projects’ construction processes.
A total of 26 applications were submitted to Harrisburg, and 13 were awarded.
According to city officials, all of the awarded projects are fully affordable, except for one, Vice Capital’s Savoy project, which includes 10 affordable units out of 48.
Applications for the money opened on Aug. 11 and were due Sept. 5. A two-person, independent committee, made up of Doug Hill, retired director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and Eric Jenkins, retired Harrisburg Fire Bureau firefighter, scored each application and made a recommendation to the mayor and several members of her cabinet.
Applicants were required to have experience developing affordable housing, and the projects could include constructing or renovating units. Williams said that the projects were also scored based on their readiness, impact and community engagement.
According to city Business Administrator Sam Sulkosky, the list of recipients includes some projects that have been completed and some that have yet to break ground.
Tarik Casteel, of Harrisburg-based TLC Construction, received money for his already completed Cornerstone Renewal project, which they cut the ribbon on in Nov. 2024, as well as for his second phase of the project that will add 34 more units to the development at N. 16th and Walnut streets.
“It helps tremendously,” Casteel said of his award. “I’m happy with what I got.”
Casteel said that he received exactly the amount of money that he requested from the city.
When asked how the amount of funding was chosen for each awardee, Sulkosky said that it differed for each project, depending on factors like their total project cost, their requested amount and their other funding sources.
Several other developers told TheBurg that they also received the exact amount that they requested and were satisfied with it.
Harrisburg-based Wildheart Ministries will receive $377,000 from the city for its $4 million project to construct nine units in an empty lot at 1260-1270 Market St. The project is shovel-ready, according to Tannon and Cristina Herman, and the units will be for sale at affordable prices.
“This is huge,” Cristina said. “It’s huge that the city is doing this, because that’s what all the other funders want to see. Their buy-in will help us get the others to the finish line.”
Wildheart plans to break ground in the spring.
For more information on the Affordable Housing Development Fund, visit Harrisburg’s website.
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