Caster D. Binion

Caster D. Binion has served as the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and Allies and Ross Management & Development Corporation, Inc. and its subsidiaries since February 2013.

As Executive Director, Mr. Binion manages an annual budget of roughly $200 million and is responsible for the operations of roughly 2,600 units of public housing, 6,200 Housing Choice Vouchers and 700 mixed-finance units. Mr. Binion has led several major affordable housing initiatives, including:

• The community-wide Choice Neighborhoods Redevelopment initiative in Larimer/East Liberty, which was funded by a $30 million HUD Choice Neighborhoods grant and generated an additional $140 million in economic activity for the neighborhood;

• The transformation of Addison Terrace to Skyline Terrace;
• The ongoing redevelopment and revitalization of Allegheny Dwellings;

• The development of hundreds of new affordable housing units developed through an innovative gap financing program;

• Implementation of HACP’s Homeownership Program – which has traditionally helped transition roughly 10 families per year from subsidized housing to home ownership – but was expanded to 20 families in 2018;

• The development of hundreds de-centralized Scattered Sites housing units; and,

• The HACP’s implementation of the HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (VASH) – which has successfully housed more than 85 formerly homeless veterans.

In addition to leading HACP’s development efforts, Mr. Binion also leads the agency’s efforts to provide public housing residents with programs and services that provide vocational training, employment assistance, crisis support, quality of life enhancements for senior citizens and education and recreation opportunities for youth.

Throughout Mr. Binion’s tenure, HACP has placed a priority on achieving the minority participation goals of 18% for Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), and 7% for Women Business Enterprises (WBE), as established by the City of Pittsburgh Executive Orders. HACP strives to ensure that small businesses, MBEs, WBEs, local labor surplus businesses and Section 3 eligible businesses and individuals are utilized whenever possible. Over the last five years HACP and its affiliates have proudly exceeded these goals by achieving an MBE participation rate of 27% and WBE participation rate of 15%, in the process, providing small, minority-owned business with the opportunity to work on contracts worth more than $50 million.

Before he began his career in the housing industry, Mr. Binion led a distinguished career as a Paratrooper with the United States Army, serving during Operation Desert Storm and ultimately retiring in 1992.