Brad Pitt’s Foundation to Transform School into Affordable Housing

A foundation started by actor Brad Pitt to help rebuild New Orleans after the 2007 flooding is now planning to convert a closed school in an economically depressed neighborhood in Kansas City, Mo., into affordable housing and a community center.

The recently announced $14 million project would renovate a long-closed school with the help of Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation and BNIM Architects, a Kansas City firm that was part of the foundation’s efforts in New Orleans. It calls for making the 103-year-old brick school building into 29 affordable apartments with a community center on the main floor.

The project’s funding includes federal historic tax credits, state low-income housing tax credits, state charitable contribution tax credits, and $2.3 million from the Make It Right Foundation. Rents will range from $470 a month for a one-bedroom apartment to $695 for a three-bedroom.