Residents and Officials Celebrate Opening of North Hills Highlands

Peggy and Mickey Scherer were only just starting to think about moving out of their Butler County home because it was becoming too much work when they walked into North Hills Highlands earlier this year.

“When he showed us the apartment, we said this is it,” said Peggy Scherer, 74. “Then we had to sell the house.”

The couple moved into one of the six two-bedroom apartments offered at the 97-unit complex at 110 McIntyre Road, which was officially dedicated by Allegheny County officials Monday afternoon. The $23.1 million affordable housing project offers a place to live for seniors 62 or older with incomes between 20 percent and 60 percent of the median income -- or those with annual incomes between $8,900 and $26,500.

North Hills Highlands was finished in two phases of renovation of the John J. Kane Regional Center in Ross. The first involved the renovation of the fourth floor of the existing Regional Center, which created 37 units that opened in December 2010. Construction of an additional building next door added another 60 -- all featuring a full kitchen, dining area, bedroom and bathroom. Apartments rent for up to $595 for a one-bedroom and up to $707 for a two-bedroom.

The 60-unit building opened in March. As of this month, all of the units in both phases of the project were occupied and more than 215 people are on a waiting list, said Dan Hillegas, the assistant property manager.

“I feel we’re very lucky to get in,” said Mickey Scherer, 78.

Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, as well as officials from Ross Township and Kane Regional Centers, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

Onorato, who is leaving office in January at the end of his second term, said his priority when he took office in 2007 was to reduce costs and streamline government services. Allegheny County’s Kane Regional Centers, which consisted of four nursing home campuses, were losing $10 million a year.  

“There was a darker moment in time when it looked like this wasn’t going to happen,” Onorato said, adding that instead of adding living spaces and services, they talked about closing two of the campuses.

“We were out of money,” he said. “We laid off 500 employees that first year in office, a lot from Kane.”

He was persuaded instead to give a 27-member committee, the Health Care Summit Committee, a chance to propose a solution. They brought back a plan to tweak services and change the model from serving as a pure nursing home to one that mixed spaces and addressed a variety of senior needs, including independent living, while providing supportive services.

He said the center in Ross is now a national model, with a planned feature in Affordable Housing Finance Magazine and the subject of calls from other county executives.

Ralph Falbo, chairman and chief executive officer of Ralph A. Falbo Inc., one half of the development team which also included Pennrose Properties LLC, said his team crunched numbers “beyond belief” but that Onorato’s leadership and ability to draw local and federal housing dollars to the project made it work.

“Dan was the only one willing to take it by the neck and bring it across the finish line,” Falbo said. “I’m so sorry he won’t be around to go to for money in the future.”

Kane Regional Centers Director Dennis Biondo said there was a lot of anxiety and fear about the changes. Now, “I couldn’t be happier, couldn’t be prouder of what we have.”

Ross Township Commissioner Grace Stanko also attended Monday’s ribbon-cutting. Her mother-in-law is moving in at the end of the month.

“This is the only place we considered,” she said. “We live a mile and a half from here.”

Charlotte Smail, 68, moved in six weeks ago. She said she’s hopeful her husband, John, 70, can be transferred soon from the Scott Township Kane Regional Center. They’ve been apart since December and it costs her $50 a month to go see him.

“I love it here,” she said. “It’s the best place I’ve ever lived in Pittsburgh. It’s freedom.”