Hazelwood Green’s first residential development will break ground next year, bringing 50 units to the 178-acre riverfront property.But development partners like Diamonte Walker, CEO of the Pittsburgh Scholar House, say they’re not investing in a building or Pittsburgh’s next hot neighborhood. Instead, they’re investing in people.“We’ve been having a conversation in Pittsburgh over the last decade about equitable development: What does it mean to develop places in a way … that honors what has already happened there, and allows people to be a part of the development versus the development simply happening to them?” Walker says. “It’s a planning process. If you think about people first — you think about the human beings at the intersection of what is happening — you get a different housing type.”The apartment building will go up on Lytle Street directly across from The Plaza Park at Hazelwood Green. Of the 33 one-bedroom and 17 two-bedroom units, a respective 26 and 14 units are designated “affordable” — their rent will not exceed 30% of the household’s income.The corner of Lytle and Eliza Streets in Hazelwood in November 2020. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.The remaining seven one-bedroom units and three two-bedroom units will be market rate. On Zillow, monthly rents in Hazelwood currently range from $1,000 to $1,300 for one-bedroom units.Additionally, 13 of the 14 two-bedroom units will be available exclusively to single parents through the Pittsburgh Scholar House’s Housing Program. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh offers more information and resources on affordable housing to the general populace.The Hazelwood Green site is owned by Almono Limited Partnership — created by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Heinz Endowments and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.Amid the 2018 release of the project’s preliminary land development plan, ReMAKE Group’s Rebecca Flora — who served as the group’s project manager for Hazelwood Green — guessed that as many as 3,500 units might be built on the land. In 2022, New York City-based developer Tishman Speyer was named the site’s development partner. Bud Perrone, a spokesperson for Tishman Speyer, confirmed the site’s master plan still calls for between 3,000 and 4,000 housing units. The plan still estimates that Hazelwood Green will be fully complete just before 2040.Local real estate development and management firm TREK Development is leading the project, which is expected to cost $24 million.The Pittsburgh Scholar House intentionally sought out a partnership with TREK, known for its mixed-use developments, to provide more housing for single parents simultaneously pursuing college degrees and raising children.“We have been working to build a pipeline of 100 units of affordability due to come online by 2028,” Walker says. “We began that work in the middle of 2022 and, to date, we have secured nearly 60 units of housing … and we have a few others on the horizon.”The Scholar House’s 47 other units will be at 120 Cecil Way — the former Pittsburgh Allegheny County Thermal building — which will be converted into apartments.Walker hopes the Scholar House has a presence in as many neighborhoods as possible while ensuring that future developments don’t replace current communities, but honor and build upon them.In Hazelwood, Walker is glad to have found partners who share that value.“This is a conversation,” Walker says. “It’s something that I’ve been talking about for years. It is amazing to have development partners who want to engage in that dialogue and are putting their money and their practice where those intentions are.”Construction is expected to start next year and will be ready for tenants in early 2027.The post Hazelwood Green’s new apartment development will open in 2027, prioritizing single parents appeared first on NEXTpittsburgh.