Braddock Church Residences
Mon Valley Initiative’s Braddock Church Residences $2.9 million project will bring eight units of mixed-income housing to Braddock and restore a church built in 1893. The eight apartments will include one- and two-bedroom units, six of which will be reserved for individuals or families at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) and two of which will be market rate.
LATEST PROJECT UPDATES
Mon Valley Initiative’s Braddock Church Residences $2.9 million project will bring eight units of mixed-income housing to Braddock and restore a church built in 1893. The eight apartments will include one- and two-bedroom units, six of which will be reserved for individuals or families at or below 80% of Area Median Income (AMI) and two of which will be market rate.
The interiors are nearly complete, with updated kitchen and bathroom appliances installed and original features preserved including original chandeliers, several stained-glass windows, and the pipe organ, which will be preserved but decommissioned.
MVI's real estate director Mark Child said of the project, “The completion of the Braddock Church Residences will be the culmination of years of hard work by MVI and our partners. The church leadership of First United Presbyterian Church of Braddock trusted us to preserve this historic building as their congregation dwindled, and I think everyone is going to be extremely proud of the result. It was important to continue MVI’s investment in this area of Braddock, having built houses for home ownership in recent years, and follow the incredible refurbishment that Carnegie One library has undergone. We’ve overcome numerous challenges to this project, but we can’t wait to welcome our new tenants.”
We are pleased to confirm that our occupancy permit was granted in January 2026. We are now carrying out the last of our site construction activities and working with the State Historic Preservation Office and National Park Service to obtain our Historic Tax Credit approval prior to leasing the apartments. MVI expects to begin leasing in Late Fall 2026.
This project highlights MVI's commitment to breathing new life into the Mon Valley's historic buildings, creating lasting affordable housing that serves the entire community.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
In 1893, it was surely no accident that the congregation of the First United Presbyterian Church of Braddock built a new church next door to the Carnegie Free Library of Braddock, the crown jewel of the community, which was undergoing substantial expansion the same year.
Presbyterianism in Pennsylvania was strongly associated with families of Scottish origin who sought freedom from religious persecution in the United States. With such deep roots in the Scottish community, the United Presbyterian denomination had special status in Braddock, a community built on the investments of Andrew Carnegie.
The prestige of Carnegie’s gift would have equaled or elevated the church’s own. In fact, the two buildings shared a direct connection to Carnegie: the 1964 church history records that its pipe organ was a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Carnegie, who also placed one in the Braddock Library music hall the same year. The church remained in use by the First United Presbyterian congregation until 2017.
Once the congregation of the First United Presbyterian Church of Braddock dwindled to only a dozen people, church leadership asked MVI to acquire their lovingly maintained property to ensure it would be preserved. It has a prominent location in the community next to the first Carnegie Free Library of Braddock, which was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 2012.
Funding for Braddock Church Residences is being provided by First National Bank through tax credit investments, with additional financial support from Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s Keystone Communities Program and Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, United States National Parks Service Historic Preservation Tax Credits, Krupp Family Foundation, Allegheny Foundation, Dollar Bank Foundation, Hillman Foundation, and Mon Valley Initiative.
