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PITTSBURGH-The board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh has approved approximately $8.9 million in grants to help finance 30 affordable housing projects in six states. The projects have an aggregate of 987 residences, including both rental and owner-occupied units, at a total development cost of more than $157 million.

The funding comes from FHLBank's Affordable Housing Program, and it takes the locally based wholesale bank's total 2007 AHP funding to nearly $18 million. The bank uses private capital, not taxpayer funds, and distributes the funds through its member financial institutions to community sponsors and developers.

Project beneficiaries in this round of funding are located in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Kentucky, New Jersey, Rhode Island and West Virginia. Eight projects in Philadelphia alone will create 230 units. The largest among them is St. John Neumann Place, an 87,000-sf former school building, which is being renovated into 75 apartments for low-income seniors at a cost of approximately $17.2 million.