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2005 Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Neil Cotiaux, FHLBank of Pittsburgh: 412-288-2851; cell: 330-703-0753

FHLBANK OF PITTSBURGH AWARDS $3.26 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

PITTSBURGH, PA, June 17, 2005 — The Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Pittsburgh approved more than $3.26 million in grants under its Affordable Housing Program (AHP) to help finance twelve housing initiatives in eastern Pennsylvania having total development costs of $60.42 million. The initiatives will create a total of 378 housing units throughout Philadelphia and in Bloomsburg, Coatesville, Hanover and Lancaster.

The FHLBank received 84 applications in this single funding round. 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 twelve projects approved for funding in eastern Pennsylvania are:

Project: Central Court Apartments
Member Bank: Columbia County Farmers National Bank
Project Sponsors: Columbia County Housing Corporation, Mullin and    Lonergan Associates
Project Description: $169,196 to build an eight-unit complex in Bloomsburg for victims of domestic abuse and/or first-time, at-risk mothers and special-needs families

Project: ChesPenn Senior Housing
Member Bank: First Financial Bank
Project Sponsors: Brandywine Health and Wellness Foundation,
Cansler Investment Group
Project Description: $300,000 to construct 20 apartments in a secure, three-story facility in Coatesville for low- and very-low-income elderly

Project: Clearfield Place Transitional Housing
Member Bank: Sovereign Bank
Project Sponsors: Gaudenzia Foundation, Inc., Sherick Project Management, Inc.
Project Description: $300,000 to build 30 single-occupancy rooms in North Philadelphia for homeless adult men recently discharged from county jail and recovering from substance abuse or co-disorders

Project: Cloisters III
Member Bank: Sovereign Bank
Project Sponsor: Peoples Emergency Center Community Development Corporation
Project Description: $309,555 to transform vacant property in Philadelphia's Mantua neighborhood into 50 affordable rental units for low- and very-low-income families

Project: Cross/Greenwich Street
Member Bank: Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania
Project Sponsor: Universal Community Homes
Project Description: $90,000 to construct and rehabilitate nine homes along Cross and Greenwich streets in the Point Breeze section of south Philadelphia for sale to very-low- to moderate-income, first-time homebuyers

Project: Hanover Lutheran
Member Bank: Sovereign Bank
Project Sponsors: Lutheran Social Services of South Central Pennsylvania, A+E Group
Project Description: $190,000 to develop 19 units in Hanover serving the ill, frail, low-income and healthy elderly of western York County and adjacent areas

Project: Hunter School Homeownership Project
Member Bank: Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania
Project Sponsor: Norris Square Civic Association
Project Description: $500,000 to develop 60 townhomes for sale to very-low-income to market-rate homebuyers in North Philadelphia's Norris Square neighborhood

Project: Inglis Gardens at Germantown
Member Bank: Sovereign Bank
Project Sponsors: Inglis Housing Corporation, Diamond and Associates
Project Description: $75,000 to construct a new 15-unit complex in northwest Philadelphia's Germantown neighborhood designed for individuals with severe mobility impairments who wish to live independently

Project: Norris Street Home Rehabilitation Project
Member Bank: PNC Bank
Project Sponsor: Asociacion de Puertorriqueños en Marcha, Inc.
Project Description: $34,000 to renovate four vacant structures along West Norris Street in Philadelphia for sale to moderate-income, first-time homebuyers

Project: St. Elizabeth's Homeownership Phase V
Member Bank: PNC Bank
Project Sponsor: Project HOME Community Development Corporation
Project Description: $340,000 to renovate 16 houses along North 23rd Street in northcentral Philadelphia for sale to very-low- to moderate-income, first-time homebuyers

Project: Union Hill Homes
Member Bank: Sovereign Bank
Project Sponsors: Homeownership Developers, Sherick Project Management, Inc., Union Hill Community Developers, Inc.
Project Description: $457,655 to renovate 52 units for sale to low- to moderate-income homebuyers in West Philadelphia's Mantua neighborhood

Project: Water Street Rescue Mission Renovation
Member Bank: Bank of Lancaster County
Project Sponsors: Water Street Rescue Mission, Foster and Associates
Project Description: $500,000 to renovate 85 existing units and create ten new units to house homeless single men, homeless single women with children and homeless intact families in Lancaster

For details on these projects, click here.

Since the AHP began in 1990, the FHLBank of Pittsburgh has awarded $130 million in housing grants for projects in Delaware, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Of that total, $104 million was awarded through AHP funding rounds and $14.5 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 20,000 affordable housing units.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, with $61 billion in assets, serves nearly 340 member financial institutions 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.