Media Center | Press Releases « 2004 Press Releases »

2004 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cyla Alcantara, 412-288-2860, calcantara@fhlb-pgh.com

FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK OF PITTSBURGH AWARDS
$4.8 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN REGION

PITTSBURGH, PA, June 18, 2004 — The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Pittsburgh approved $4.8 million in grants under the Affordable Housing Program (AHP). The grants will help finance 33 projects — creating 765 affordable housing units throughout Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia — having total development costs of $67.4 million.

"Making housing and homeownership affordable is imperative to fostering sustainable and livable communities," said James D. Roy, FHLBank of Pittsburgh president and chief executive officer. "I'm grateful to our member institutions and community partners for continuing to open doors to safe, affordable housing for the region's lower-income individuals and families."

The AHP provides FHLBank member financial institutions with grants and below-market-rate loans that are then distributed to qualified project developers and sponsors. AHP financing is combined with other funding sources to create homeownership and rental housing for lower-income families and individuals.

"Together with our members and partners, we've been able to maximize AHP dollars in ways that bring wide-ranging and far-reaching benefits to individuals, families, neighborhoods and communities all around our region," said John J. Bendel, director of Community Investment at the FHLBank.

Since the AHP began in 1990, the FHLBank of Pittsburgh has awarded $121 million in housing grants for projects in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Of that total, $104.9 million was awarded through the AHP funding rounds and $16.1 million through the Home Buyer Equity Fund (HBEF), the FHLBank's program that assists first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing costs. AHP funding, leveraged with funding from other sources, has resulted in more than $1.7 billion in total development, representing more than 19,000 affordable housing units.

The FHLBank received approximately 80 applications in the 2004 funding round. All applications were submitted through AHP Online, the program's paperless electronic application submission process. Project applications must meet certain criteria to compete for funding, and are scored based on a system developed by the FHLBank, its Board of Directors and its Affordable Housing Advisory Council.

For details on these projects, click here.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, with assets of more than
$57 billion, serves nearly 350 financial institution members in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is one of twelve FHLBanks, all private cooperatively owned banks that provide wholesale housing finance, community lending and correspondent banking services to member banks, savings institutions, credit unions and insurance companies.