New Etna homes will 'push back' on forces making ownership unaffordable, Innamorato says

A trio of new, permanently affordable homes are expected to be completed in Etna by the end of the year.

State, county and local officials gathered April 7 on Locust Street for a groundbreaking ceremony for the homes being built by City of Bridges Community Land Trust and Allegheny County-based Module.

They will be the land trust’s first homes in Etna, made possible by a more than $1 million investment from Allegheny County.

The new modular homes will be assembled where two vacant buildings — one empty for 37 years — were torn down about a decade ago, borough Manager Mary Ellen Ramage said.

“This will help support our business district, churches, all kinds of things,” she said, noting they will be in a walkable community close to the borough’s pool, a playground and routes 8 and 28. “It’s really wonderful.”

The three-story, three- bedroom homes will list for $147,500 each. They will be all-electric with front porches and parking pads.

While the buyers will own their homes, the land will remain with City of Bridges through a 99-year ground lease to ensure they remain affordable, said Casandra Armour, spokeswoman for City of Bridges.

Eligibility is based on having a maximum annual income, before taxes, of 80% of the area median income. Those limits are currently $56,700 for one person, $64,800 for two, $68,300 for three, $72,900 for four and $80,950 for five.

While Etna wants to see redevelopment, they also want to create an intergenerational community, but that is only possible when homes are affordable, said Mayor Robert Tuñón, one of a few borough officials who moved to Etna within the past 10 to 15 years.

“We are only in Etna because it was affordable to us,” he said. “The idea that you could buy a home here on an average income, that’s important.”

But out-of-state corporate investors buying homes is making that more difficult, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said. Citing a report from the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research, she said homes bought by corporate entities are in the short term more likely to see rent increases and evictions.

“In the long term, corporate purchases permanently remove possible home ownership opportunities in the market, and that’s happening here in Etna,” she said.

Since 2020, she said 31% of single-family homes bought in Etna have been purchased by corporate entities, and the median owner-occupied home in Etna has increased in price by 51%.

Where a salary of about $55,000 was once enough to buy the median single-family house in Etna, a $90,000 salary now is needed to be able to afford the same type of home, Innamorato said.

“Prices are increasing and that, coupled with interest rates increasing, home ownership and access to the American dream and access to communities like Etna are becoming out of reach for far too many of our neighbors,” she said. “But there’s good news. Buildings like these push back on these forces. For as long as these homes exist, they will be community controlled, owner occupied and permanently affordable.”

Blighted and abandoned properties are a problem state Sen. Lindsey Williams said she hears about often. While the county removed the empty houses on Locust Street, the land stayed vacant.

“An empty lot doesn’t build community in the way that Etna deserves and the way that Etna focuses on,” Williams said. “An empty lot can’t get your mail when you’re out of town or lend you milk when you run out. It can’t take a minute to catch up with you when you walk outside and see what the latest news is or check on your neighbor next door. Only a neighbor can do that and only community can do those things.

“That’s why I’m so glad that City of Bridges Community Land Trust and Allegheny County are making this investment in Etna,” she said. “Etna has done incredible work over the years to invest in itself and to build community where it is driven from the community.”

Module has its offices in Garfield and its factory in Carnegie. Projects like the one in Etna are “what we get out of bed for,” co-founder and CEO Brian Gaudio said.

“We’re a mission-driven company. We believe everyone deserves to live in a well-designed space they’re proud to call home,” he said.

But it’s more than that.

“Housing development is economic development and it’s workforce development,” Gaudio said. “It’s more than just building houses. Our factory is the only modular factory here in Allegheny County. We’re creating jobs here because of the funders and the developers with vision like City of Bridges.

“This project can be a way to bring people into the construction trades. We talk about how we have a housing crisis. We need more people to get into housing.”