New home placements in Monessen help address 'dire need' for revitalization

Five houses that could be in place this fall in Monessen may be a harbinger of how Westmoreland County communities can move forward after clearing out abandoned homes.

Westmoreland Community Action is embarking on the project that executive director Mandy Welty Zalich hopes will grow. Both county Commissioner Sean Kertes and Brian Lawrence, director of the county Redevelopment Authority and Land Bank, were excited about how the homes can improve the future of Monessen and other communities dealing with a similar level of dilapidated structures.

“It’s absolutely critical that we’re able to bring another form of investment,” Lawrence said. “Everybody knows that the extent and breadth of blighted properties throughout Monessen was the main hindrance to anything happening.”

“That, to me, just shows how nonprofit agencies and government agencies are working together to help a city that’s in dire need of revitalization,” Kertes said.

Westmoreland Community Action officials announced the project Wednesday that will transform Motheral Avenue. Five prefabricated homes will be placed on empty lots there that once were home to deteriorating structures. First Commonwealth Bank provided $750,000 through a Federal Home Loan Bank affordable housing program.

Not only will the new homes transform the quiet street, but they also will have the potential to change lives.

Daniel Giovannelli, vice president of administration for Westmoreland Community Action, said there will be income guidelines for buyers once the homes get on the market. The funding will help the agency subsidize part of the home’s price, adjusting it based on the income of the buyer.

“Then when somebody buys the house, they immediately have equity for their future,” Welty Zalich said.

People who have a low or moderate income “struggle to find something they can afford and struggle to find something safe and, fingers crossed, this helps move the needle on that,” Giovannelli said. They are targeting potential buyers who would otherwise be unable to qualify for a loan to afford safe housing.

The project is sort of the second step to address blight in Monessen, he said. So far, there have been 101 structures razed in the city through part of a $10.4 million pot of American Rescue Plan funding set aside by Westmoreland County for blight remediation in seven communities. Lawrence said there could be 100 more demolished in Monessen.

Many of the demolitions already completed have resulted in empty lots dotting the seven towns, and the work isn’t over.

“It went from blight, the empty properties … to five houses that will be paying taxes and supporting Monessen City and the school district of Monessen,” Giovannelli said.

Dream Home Sales & Construction of Finleyville is working on the project. Welty Zalich said her agency has applied for funding for 10 more homes and may know later this year if they will get it. Potential buyers can take advantage of credit counseling and first-time home buyer programs through the agency.

“It’s about supporting responsible development,” Giovannelli said. “It’s about helping to stabilize the community.”