Woda Cooper secures $4.85M in URA funding for its next downtown Pittsburgh residential conversion

PITTSBURGH — With construction underway by the company on its 4 Smithfield affordable housing redevelopment, Columbus-based Woda Cooper Cos. Inc. is gearing up to pursue its second downtown Pittsburgh project, fortified by a 10-layer capital stack and ample support from the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh.

At the September board meeting of the URA, Woda Cooper affiliate Ross Lofts LP received votes of approval for the authority to enter loan agreements for a total of $4.85 million to support the developer’s proposal to convert a mature seven-story office building at 100 Ross Street downtown into 46 apartments, 39 of them expected to meet standards of affordability and seven to be market rate, according to agenda materials.

The affordable development company, which has developed 350 affordable housing projects in 18 states, applied for a 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) in March of 2025, a time frame the firm then hoped would enable it to start the build out on the office building conversion this summer.