The closing date to settle the redevelopment of Steel City Terrace, Farrell, has been pushed back from July 7 to July 26.

L. DeWitt Boosel, executive director of Mercer County Housing Authority, said the sheer volume of material that had to be submitted to the federal government for the so-called HOPE VI project made it impossible for the authority and developers to have it prepared in time.

But the 38 agreements between the authority and developer and informational documents -- collectively called the Developer Agreement -- have been submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for review.

"It's been a flurry of activity on our part the last couple of months," Boosel said of preparing the 6-inch-thick stack of material. "The burden has shifted to HUD."

HUD has 45 days from the day they get the information, which likely was early this week, to review the material and respond to it.

Boosel said HUD has already seen drafts of key agreements and made comments.

"We don't expect major changes, but there could be some," he said.

The closing date could change again if HUD does not respond quickly enough, or asks for changes.

The closing would settle all elements and budget of the project with HUD, the authority and developers Falbo/PennRose Joint Partnership, Pittsburgh.

In what will likely be five phases of construction, the authority and Falbo/PennRose plan to build 74 public housing units, 45 apartments rented at closer to the market rate and 26 homes for sale on current Steel City property and in the surrounding neighborhood.

The initial phase plan is to demolish the current 100 public housing apartments of Steel City and replace them with 37 public housing units and 16 apartments for rent at closer to the market rate.

Authority board member the Rev. Robert Chavers asked about the authority losing its authority over the new apartments.

"I like my title and I don't want no one taking it away from me," he quipped.

Boosel explained that while the authority will not own the new buildings or have day-to-day management responsibilities over the apartments, it still will have a measure of control.

The authority will own the ground on which the buildings are built and will have to make sure the developer is living up to requirements set forth in the Developer Agreement.

"We manage the people who are managing it," Boosel said, adding the authority will approve Falbo/PennRose's annual budget.

No authority staffers will lose their jobs, and the board will continue to function as it has, Boosel said.

The authority also will retain some of the federal subsidy it now receives to manage the apartments.

The authority gets $233 a unit a month from the federal government to manage Steel City. Once the new apartments are built, Falbo/PennRose will get $187 of that and the authority will keep the rest for staff time spent on oversight.

Boosel said the developer will not require the same level of subsidy because the apartments will be new, requiring less maintenance, and more energy efficient.

The developer also will have less "social cost" because of the Community Support Services offered to Steel City residents to help them become more self-sufficient, he said.

Most of the policies set by the authority for public housing residents will be followed by Falbo/PennRose, Boosel said.

While no building construction can be started until the closing, HUD has already approved demolition of the existing buildings, which has been under way since May 14.

Monday, HUD approved the beginning of some preparatory land work, such as excavation and installing main sanitary sewer lines and catch basins, said Frank Gargiulo, the authority's Hope VI coordinator.

The first construction phase must be completed by December 2003 under guidelines set by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, which issued tax credits for the project.

National City Bank bought the tax credits, and the proceeds provided the bulk of the first phase's $9 million construction budget.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Joe Pinchot at

jpinchot@sharon-herald.com