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February 2026 community meeting: New study explores affordable housing potential in Hazelwood | The Homepage
- jmartinez5135
- Feb 27
- 6 min read
Also: RIC update; new development on Hazelwood Green on track to break ground in fall
By Managing Editor Juliet Martinez
The Feb. 10 Greater Hazelwood monthly hybrid community meeting saw a robust turnout. Neighbors gathered to hear about the next housing development coming to Hazelwood Green and events planned on the plaza this year. Remember the bus shelters with a migratory theme? They are getting closer to landing. But first, attendees heard about housing study findings that may shape affordable housing development in the neighborhood for years to come.
Housing needs
The study includes a housing needs assessment conducted over the past year. It looked at the housing situation in Hazelwood and what residents need. It measured this against the goals in the 2020 Greater Hazelwood Housing and Business District Action Plan.
Rothschild Doyno Collaborative conducted the study for Hazelwood Initiative Inc. (publisher of The Homepage) and Rising Tide Partners. Both nonprofits own significant amounts of property in the neighborhood.
The study results are meant to help steer how the two nonprofits develop land they own. They can also help identify development opportunities for publicly-owned or vacant properties.
Architect Kate Tunney from Rothschild Doyno Collaborative presented the results. They revealed key details of Hazelwood’s housing picture. Roughly 60% of neighborhood residents are renters, and 40% are homeowners. About 75% of households are living on less than the 2025 area median income of $107,300 for a household of four.
Affordability is a concern for both homeowners and renters. In total, 42% of residents are spending at least a third of their income on housing-related expenses. This is what housing policy experts call being “cost burdened.”
The 2020 plan listed as a goal the establishment of 900 affordable housing units. The study found that 214 affordable units, mostly apartments, are currently in process. Ms. Tunney said 370 parcels in Hazelwood are publicly owned in some way. That includes those owned by the City of Pittsburgh, Rising Tide Partners or Hazelwood Initiative Inc.
“If we were to reach the 900 goal, it’s likely that some higher-density home types are going to be necessary, even though we know that there’s a desire for larger three- and four-bedroom homes,” Ms. Tunney said.
The vast majority of the homes in the neighborhood are detached or attached single-family units, she said.
One complaint often heard about Hazelwood’s housing stock is the need for more three-bedroom units. But the study found a lot of three-bedroom units. Homeowners occupy 373 three-bedroom homes, while renters occupy 484 of them. Meanwhile, 757 households have only one person.
“You have a lot of single-person households likely in three-bedroom homes, and there could be many reasons for that,” Ms. Tunney said. “That could be folks who maybe have their grandkids living with them, or have multi-generation households, or it could be a single person who just wants to live in a larger home, and Hazelwood’s an affordable place to be able to do that.”
Much of the neighborhood’s zoning is for single-family homes. A zoning change allowing more duplexes and multi-family homes might help reach the goal of 900 affordable units.
Housing types with “-plex” at the end are sometimes referred to as missing middle housing. Ms. Tunney said this means housing bigger than single-family homes but smaller than apartment buildings. It could include duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, courtyard buildings and townhomes.
“So stuff that would allow for maybe a six-unit building, or maybe support intergenerational living, or different household types,” she explained. Promoting these kinds of housing might need zoning changes, she added.
To learn more about Hazelwood Initiative Inc.’s real estate programs, email Nancy Noszka at nnoszka@hazelwoodinitiative.org. To learn more about Rising Tide Partners’ real estate programs, email kendall.pelling@risingtidepartners.org.
Robotics center now open
The Robotic Innovation Center on Hazelwood Green is now complete. Chelsea Blackburn-Cohen manages strategic initiatives and external engagements for Carnegie Mellon University. She said the Robotics Innovation Center is often shortened to RIC and pronounced “Rick.” The facility will have lab space but not classrooms or offices. Researchers will put robots through their paces in a fenced-in “running room,” an aquatic testing area and a high bay for aerial drone experimentation.
Three permanent exhibits will be on display. Part 1 is indoors near the entrance. It tells the story of the location, starting with the indigenous inhabitants of the land through to the present. Part 2, in the gallery near the event space, tells about the steel industry. Part 3 runs along the indoor lobby and outdoor fence of the running room. It focuses on robotics.
A March 16 open house will give Hazelwood residents a chance to see inside. See the ad on Page 6 for details.
Trek housing Phase 2
Development activities meeting
The first phase of Trek Development’s apartment complex on Hazelwood Green is under construction on Blair Street. At the Feb. 10 meeting, residents got an update on Phase 2 during a development activities meeting.
Janelle Kemerer is a project manager with Trek Development. She said the building planned for Lytle Street will have 46 total units. The developer plans to prioritize 34 of those for people already living in Hazelwood. Housing and Urban Development has yet to sign off on the way that preference is written.
Of the 46 units, 29 will be one-bedroom, two will be two-bedroom and three will be three-bedroom. The remaining 12 units will be set aside for the Scholar House residential program. Eight of these will be two-bedroom, and four will be three-bedroom units.
The nonprofit Scholar House Pittsburgh supports single-parent households where the parent is working toward a two- or four-year degree. The Scholar House units will have affordable-housing vouchers attached to them.
The entire development will have 32 parking spaces, eight EV charging stations and ample bike storage, Ms. Kemerer said.
The developer expects to get Planning Commission approval for the final land use plan in March and break ground in the fall. Occupancy is projected for 2028.
Hazelwood Local
Nikki Martin, event planner for Hazelwood Local, reported on 2025 activities on and off Hazelwood Green. Roughly 7,500 people attended Hazelwood Local’s 24 events in 2025. New initiatives included the Hazelwood Hands-On workshops and Electric Playground on Oct. 4. Electric Playground was a technology- and innovation-themed program developed with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center. It was the year’s most well-attended event with more than 800 participants.
Also on Hazelwood Green last year were the Wednesday “Grub on the Green” food truck events. Weekly free yoga classes at the Roundhouse brought people together. And University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie-Mellon University did a range of outreach activities.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Hazelwood Local hosted Black History Bingo at Spartan Community Center. The Hands-On series and Hazelwood Pride were at Hazelwood Brew House. The Summer Shandy Launch at Hazel Grove Brewing. An Earth Day Clean-Up, the fifth annual Fall Mini-Fest, and Light-Up First Friday brought seasonal fun.
Hazelwood Local will partner with CMU for its Robotics Innovation Center open house this month (see ad on Page 6). Watch Hazelwood Local’s ad in each issue of The Homepage for event details each month.
To learn more about having a public event on Hazelwood Green, email hazelwoodlocal@gmail.com.
Bus shelters
Four long-awaited bus shelters will be installed soon. Two are planned for Blair Street on Hazelwood Green, and two for Second Avenue at Tecumseh Street. In each location, the pair of shelters will sit on opposite sides of the street and serve opposite-direction buses.
The shelter project is titled “Strategies for Migrating Species.” Artists Carin Mincemoyer and Alisha Wormsley came to a Greater Hazelwood community meeting in 2023 for public input on it. The project first planned to build shelters only on Hazelwood Green. Organizers added two on Second Avenue in response to community feedback.
Sallyann Kluz is executive director of the Office of Public Art. She said the permits have been secured and fabrication of the shelters will happen soon. Installation is expected in the spring.
Ms. Kluz learned at the meeting that the shelter in front of Hazelwood Towers on Second Avenue was damaged and removed. She promised to see that the shelter for that location is installed first.
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