New Haven Developer Proposes Tiny Homes for Altoona's Beech Avenue Redevelopment

Roberta Hoskie of RH Realty, a developer from New Haven, Connecticut, told the Redevelopment Authority of Altoona she can deliver tiny homes in the 500- to 650-square-foot range on land supplied by the authority, and presented proposals showing eight units per double lot at a board meeting William Kibler reported Feb. 21, 2026. Authority members “seemed eager to embrace” the collaborative initiative, according to the Altoona Mirror coverage of Hoskie’s presentation.

Hoskie explained why she shifted to a tiny-home model, saying she came to Altoona “Having learned about Altoona through a friend of a friend who ‘raves’ about her native city,” and that she at first hoped to build standard-sized affordable homes but “realized that plan would be economically unfeasible, because Altoona’s low average income wouldn’t allow enough potential buyers to afford mortgages they’d need to pay the cost of construction plus a profit for developers,” Hoskie told the board.

The Redevelopment Authority of Altoona has existing paperwork for the Beech Avenue Development Project that frames a different approach. The RAA’s Request for Proposal and Scope of Work for seven parcels at 201–225 Beech Avenue states its vision is to “invest in the community and provide market rate, single family attached and/or detached housing units,” with units envisioned as two to three bedroom homes. That RFP required five sealed proposals by December 2, 2024, to City of Altoona, 1301 Twelfth Street, Suite 400, Altoona, PA 16601, and asked developers to include a $1,000 check payable to the Redevelopment Authority of Altoona to be deposited into escrow upon selection.

The tiny-home pitch and the Beech Avenue RFP present an explicit divergence in housing type and target market: Hoskie’s 500–650 sq ft, higher-density plan contrasts with the RAA’s written request for market-rate 2–3 bedroom single-family units on the Beech Avenue parcels. The supplied materials do not state whether Hoskie’s presentation specifically targeted the 201–225 Beech Avenue parcels, nor do they record any formal RAA vote or a detailed timeline for Hoskie’s plan.

Regulatory and permitting questions could affect feasibility in Altoona. Commentary from New Haven highlights code debates that may be relevant, noting that “the Code does allow tiny houses” in some jurisdictions while other commentators say state housing codes would need to change to permit micro structures without conventional hookups. The New Haven excerpts also stress that “By law the city building inspector must check out new construction to see that it complies with the Code before issuing it a certificate of occupancy.”

What happens next for the proposal is unresolved: the Altoona Mirror story records the presentation and board enthusiasm but no formal agreement, and the RAA’s Beech Avenue RFP and title-transfer options - including quitclaim deeds, access-before-transfer agreements, or waiting for clean title - remain the authority’s documented framework for developer access. Whether Altoona follows Hoskie’s tiny-home model or proceeds with market-rate 2–3 bedroom units on Beech Avenue will depend on which parcels are designated, how title and escrow are handled, and how permitting and financing questions are resolved.