ELDI and East Liberty have come a long way in the last two decades. With the neighborhood’s community plans almost fully realized, we have begun to look beyond the borders of East Liberty to see how our experience and expertise can benefit other communities.
This vision was initiated by our executive director, Maelene Myers, who has always cultivated the potential of ELDI staff members so that eventually they can fly the nest and do great things throughout Pittsburgh and elsewhere.
To this end, the first ELDI spin-off, Catapult Greater Pittsburgh (formerly Circles Greater Pittsburgh), was launched five years ago by Tammy Thompson and has grown rapidly to offer a wide range of programs that help disenfranchised communities become self-sufficient and build generational wealth—through homeownership, entrepreneurship, financial counseling, and more.
In 2020, the second ELDI spin-off, Rising Tide Partners, led by former ELDI Director of Land Recycling Kendall Pelling, first spread its wings. As a regional land recycling nonprofit, Rising Tide helps communities acquire the real estate to realize their community visions and plans. So far, it has helped communities across Pittsburgh acquire more than 343 properties and protected 120 families from displacement.
Announcing Main + Elm Development Company
Now, we are pleased to announce the third piece of the puzzle: Main + Elm Development Company, a real estate project management company that launched in January 2024. Main + Elm helps communities do the nitty gritty work of actually building their community visions. With a pipeline of homebuyers from Catapult and a pipeline of properties from Rising Tide, they partner with these organizations and others across the area to develop the properties needed to address the city’s homeownership and blight crisis.
As reported by Pittsburgh Quarterly, the city of Pittsburgh has nearly 24,000 vacant properties, including 12,000 – 15,000 vacant residential structures and lots. Meanwhile, the two published City of Pittsburgh Housing Needs Assessments show a homeownership supply gap of 5,000 units at 100% Area Median Income (AMI) or below, with some due to homeowners’ overburdened with housing expenses and a portion due to anticipated population growth over the next 20 years. To address the scale of the problem, the City needs to build an estimated 250 homes a year over the next 20 years.
Main + Elm aims to bring many of these vacant properties back into productive use and help fill this supply gap by supporting communities to leverage private and public funds, including New Markets Tax Credits, Federal Home Loan Bank grants, and other sources. With these funds, they will enable neighborhoods to bring both the homeownership and Main Street components of their community plans to life, developing all price points of homeownership and salvaging Main Street buildings to create apartments over retail space.
Main + Elm has set an initial goal of building 15-20 homes per year and is committed to working with partners across the city to reach the larger goal of around 250 homes a year. For context, Pittsburgh CDCs currently only build around 25-50 homes a year collectively.
The organization is run and led by Jonathan Huck (former ELDI Director of Real Estate Development), Shivam Mathur (former ELDI Project Manager), and Don McCartan (former ELDI Construction Manager), all of which bring a combined 55 years of real estate development experience and expertise. Main + Elm is a completely separate entity from ELDI.
“The skills and experience Jonathan, Shivam, and Don gained building for-sale homes in East Liberty uniquely positions Main + Elm to work with other housing developers in the East End and greater Pittsburgh region,” said the late ELDI Deputy Director Skip Schwab.
When reflecting on the opportunities and work ahead, Huck shared:
“Our region is full of neighborhoods with deep history, wonderful personalities, beautiful spaces, and unrealized potential. We will connect with local government and community leaders to learn their goals for the future of their community. Drawing on our experience and connections, we will then help make their plans into a reality that honors the community’s past, celebrates its current residents, and establishes a bright future for the next generation.”
What’s in a name?
The name Main + Elm sums up the organization’s mission. With “Main” representing the Main Street programs that have helped revitalize downtowns and neighborhood business districts across the United States since the early 80s and “Elm” representing the accompanying Elm Street programs in Pennsylvania that channel investment into older residential areas bordering Main Streets and neighborhood business districts. The idea is that every community needs both housing and business opportunities, the two working in concert to create a thriving neighborhood.
As Main + Elm builds momentum, they are focusing their attention on affordable rehabs in East Liberty and Larimer, including renovations in Enright Court and on Rural Street. In addition, they are partnering with Rising Tide on the rehab of seven homes in four different neighborhoods, as well as the predevelopment of other homeownership projects.
With so much in store, the Main + Elm team are excited about the opportunities ahead.
“Through collaboration, transparency, and a commitment to social and environmental responsibility, we strive to build a future where every community can shape its destiny and thrive in diverse, resilient, and self-determined neighborhoods,” Mathur said.