On a day when the ground could have broken the ceremonial shovels, officials yesterday started work on nine new homes for families that might otherwise never own one.

Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity chose Martin Luther King Jr. Day to start the largest project in the chapter's 22-year history. When it's done, a woodsy slope between Chessland Street and the Noblestown Road Rite Aid in the Westwood section of the city will host houses owned by low-income families paying off no-interest mortgages.

The homes will represent a group effort between Habitat for Humanity, private donors, companies with muscle and volunteer workers.

Dr. King often asked, "What are you doing for others?" Mayor Luke Ravenstahl noted. "And today's ground-breaking is a prime example of that. All of the organizations here today can hold their heads up high, because they're clearly doing plenty for others."

The homes will be built on a 1.7-acre site donated by business partners Don Landis, Al Cousin and Pete Dozzi. Law firm Rothman Gordon suggested the donation and performed free legal work to make it happen.

Suburban home builder Heartland Homes will construct the first home in early June, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans will finance the second.

The homes, designed by South Side-based Renaissance 3 Architects, will have a variety of floor plans depending on whether they will house large families or small, and whether the buyers have special needs.

"They're all going to be different. It's going to be a fun, nice neighborhood," said Maggie Withrow, executive director of Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity.

The organization uses private donations and volunteer labor to build homes for families living in substandard housing. They must make less than half of the area's median income, but be able to afford to pay off a 30-year, interest-free mortgage. Their "down payment" comes in the form of 350 hours of work.

Habitat will hold a sign-up session for interested families at 11 a.m. Feb. 23 at the First United Presbyterian Church on Stratmore Avenue in Crafton Heights.

The Westwood site, Ms. Withrow said, "is perfect. It's conveniently located near public transportation. It's a transition between the rental property [west of Chessland] and the private, already established neighborhood" around Noblestown.

"This cleans up this stretch of land," said city Councilman Dan Deasy. "It's a wooded piece of litter-strewn land." It also boosts the tax base, he said.

Habitat homes typically cost $60,000 to $80,000 to build, Ms. Withrow said, and their taxable value is usually $100,000 to $120,000.

Pastor Donald Green of Christian Associates of Southwestern Pennsylvania brought a hint of Dr. King's theology to the event.

"From the earliest time of the Hebrew peoples, there was the command to care for the widow, the orphan, the poor and the alien in our midst. Today, we come together to bless this land, to follow that legacy," he said. "Let us grab the shovels."