An eight-month-old fund that has already loaned $1.6 million to nonprofit groups that boost urban areas will dramatically ramp up its lending, officials said yesterday.

That's because PNC Financial Services Group has loaned $5 million to the Urban Economic Loan Fund, part of Landmarks Community Capital Corp. Landmarks plans to quickly turn that money into capital for street-level revitalization.

"We expect to have a good portion of the $5 million [loaned] out in the next 60 days," said Howard B. Slaughter Jr., chief executive officer of Landmarks, which has as its parent organization the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.

The fledgling fund has loaned money to East Liberty Development Inc. for the purchase of dilapidated houses; to Hosanna House in Wilkinsburg to improve its finances; to the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. for the purchase of a nuisance bar; and to Friendship Development Associates to build homes.

"We look for deals that can have a catalystic impact on a community," Mr. Slaughter said.

Loans from the fund are geared toward neighborhoods in communities throughout the Pittsburgh region. PNC's low-interest, five-year loan allows the fund to offer below-market rates and flexible terms, and to back more risky projects than banks would normally accept, Mr. Slaughter said.

Stephanie Cipriani, development adviser for PNC Community Development Banking, said the investment gives PNC a way to back neighborhood projects at an early stage.

"Our bank is only as strong as its communities," she said.

Mr. Slaughter said a hoped-for Hill District supermarket is the kind of project the fund could back, though it isn't certain the fund will be needed. Landmarks has brought grocer Save-A-Lot to the area to consider the Hill.

"In the next three weeks you will definitely be hearing more" about the supermarket effort, Mr. Slaughter said.

Officials lauded the loan in a press release in advance of a 10 a.m. press conference today at PNC Bank on North Homewood Avenue.

"This will be critical for sustainable urban revitalization," said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl in the release.