St. Joseph Apartments

Several dedicated members of CIAC dreamed of acquiring an acre of blighted, vacant land (which was at one time the old St. Joseph Society site) to build a sparkling new apartment building that they and the rest of the community could be proud of. Today that dream is a reality, but achieving that dream took a lot of hard work, plenty of perseverance, and the cooperation of Compass Federal Savings and Loan Association (Later to become Compass Savings Bank), the Borough of Wilmerding, Allegheny County, and the Mon Valley Initiative, along with many others.

How could a group of seemingly ordinary citizens, working to make their community a better place to live, put together a successful real estate development project, consisting of eighteen, two-bedroom apartments at a cost of 1.2 million dollars? The answer to this question involved many meetings, countless hours of hard work (without pay), and a cooperative “can do” attitude.

In addition, a small pre-development grant from the Mon Valley Initiative enabled the CIAC to conduct the necessary pre-development work. This included preparation of surveys, soil studies, architectural plans and specifications, etc. Mon Valley Initiative also provided assistance and guidance through the financing planning and development process.

CIAC developed St. Joseph Apartments and formed St. Joseph Development Corporation, a Federal 501-c3. The St. Joseph Development Corporation is the General Partner of St. Joseph Apartment Associates, a legal Pennsylvania Limited Partnership, which actually owns the property. St. Joseph Apartment Associates also has two limited partners – Compass Federal Savings and Loan Association (Compass Savings Bank) and the Pennsylvania Housing Opportunity Fund, which is a pool formed and consisting of corporate investors.

It is especially important to note, that while it took much hard work to make this dream a reality, no single individual receives any profit from this building. Any profit that is made will be reinvested in the property. St. Joseph Development Corporation’s sole mission is to ensure the financial wellbeing and long-term viability of St. Joseph Apartments.