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2004 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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

FHLBANK OF PITTSBURGH AWARDS $1.6 MILLION IN GRANTS
FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

PITTSBURGH, PA, June 18, 2004 — The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Pittsburgh approved $1.6 million in grants under its Affordable Housing Program (AHP) to help fund eight housing initiatives in western Pennsylvania, having total development costs of $30.1 million. The initiatives will create 480 affordable housing units in Aliquippa, Freedom, Homestead, Midland, Pittsburgh, New Castle, Rochester and White Township.

A leading provider of financial assistance for affordable housing and economic development, the FHLBank of Pittsburgh approved a cumulative total of $4.8 million in affordable housing grants in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, helping to finance $67.4 million in total development costs for 33 housing initiatives that will create 765 housing units.

"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.

The FHLBank received 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.

The eight projects approved for funding in western Pennsylvania are:

Project: 2004 Rehabilitation Program
Member Bank: Mars National Bank
Project Sponsor: Hosanna Industries, Inc.
Project Description: $100,000 to renovate 120 older single-family homes in the Rochester area for sale to lower-income homebuyers

Project: Dale Country Estates
Member Bank: First Commonwealth Bank
Project Sponsors: Housing Authority of the County of Lawrence,
Human Services Center
Project Description: $168,000 to develop 30 affordable housing units in New Castle designated for very-low- and low-income families and homeless individuals

Project: Freedom Rentals
Member Bank: Mars National Bank
Project Sponsor: Hosanna Industries, Inc.
Project Description: $50,000 to renovate a two-building six-unit rental facility in Freedom housing physically and mentally disabled individuals

Project: Goosby/Harris
Member Bank: First National Bank of Pennsylvania
Project Sponsor: Habitat for Humanity of Beaver County
Project Description: $20,000 to construct a new home in White Township for the Goosby family and rehabilitate the Harris family home in Aliquippa

Project: Homestead Apartments
Member Bank: PNC Bank, NA
Project Sponsors: Three Rivers Communities, Inc., TREK Development Group, Inc.
Project Description: $250,000 to reconfigure the floor plan for the two-tower facility in Homestead to house 120 units and rehabilitate 24 units targeted to the frail elderly

Project: Liberty Housing Initiative
Member Bank: ESB Bank, FSB
Project Sponsors: Life and Liberty, Inc., Mark E. James
Project Description: $200,000 to construct 10 single-family homes targeting very-low- to moderate-income households in Midland Borough

Project: Penn Manor
Member Bank: PNC Bank, NA
Project Sponsor: The Community Builders
Project Description: $357,500 to rehabilitate 55 rental units in three deteriorating properties in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood

Project: Riverview Towers Apartments Phase II
Member Bank: National City Bank of Pennsylvania
Project Sponsor: Riverview Towers Apartments, Inc.
Project Description: $500,000 to rehabilitate 137 apartments in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood housing residents with hearing, vision, balance or mobility challenges

For details on these projects, click here.

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 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.