Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA SPECIAL SESSION ON HOUSING Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, March 24, 2025 10:00 a.m. PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT KENYATTA JOHNSON COUNCILWOMAN NINA AHMAD COUNCILWOMAN CINDY BASS COUNCILWOMAN KENDRA BROOKS COUNCILMAN MICHAEL DRISCOLL COUNCILWOMAN JAMIE GAUTHIER COUNCILWOMAN KATHERINE GILMORE RICHARDSON COUNCILMAN JIM HARRITY COUNCILMAN CURTIS J. JONES, JR. COUNCILWOMAN RUE LANDAU COUNCILWOMAN QUETCY M. LOZADA COUNCILMAN BRIAN J. O'NEILL COUNCILMAN NICOLAS O'ROURKE COUNCILMAN ANTHONY PHILLIPS COUNCILMAN MARK SQUILLA COUNCILMAN ISAIAH THOMAS COUNCILMAN JEFFREY YOUNG, JR. ELIZABETH McCOLLUM NAZARIO, CHIEF CLERK Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025
I want to thank everyone for being here. This is a Special Meeting of City Council and a quorum of the Council is present. All Councilmembers please take your seats. All visitors we're going to ask to retire outside the rails. And before proceeding, I will ask all those present to please set your cell phones to silent or vibrate. I'm going to ask that you take all sidebar conversations outside the Council chambers. To give our opening prayer for this Special Meeting, the Chair recognizes Imam Idris Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Abdul-Zahir, Head of the Masjidullah: Center for Excellence. He is here today as my guest. I will ask all members and guests to please rise. (Councilmembers, guests and visitors rise.)
Let us pray. In the name of God, the merciful benefactor, the merciful redeemer, the source of peace, compassion and wisdom, we gather here today in the spirit of service with hearts committed to the wellbeing of our neighbors and the flourishing of our beloved city. We ask for your guidance as we engage in this special session focused on the H.O.M.E. Initiative, an effort to ensure that every Philadelphian has not just shelter but a place to belong, to be safe and to build a future. In Islam, we are taught Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 that the best among us are those who are most beneficial to others. May this gathering be filled with that spirit of benefit. Grant that our words carry compassion, our choices reflect justice and our purpose remain anchored in service. The Quran reminds us, and God has made for you your home as a place of rest. May our commitment to housing reflect this divine wisdom that a home is not only a structure but a sanctuary of dignity, stability and peace. So bless this leadership of this Council, Mayor Parker and her Administration and every individual and organization contributing to this vision. Unite our hearts and strengthen our resolve so that through collective effort, the promise of Housing Opportunities Made Easy becomes not only an Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 initiative but a lived reality in every neighborhood on every block, for every Philadelphian. Let the people of faith say Ameen. (Ameen.)
The Chair requests that the Sergeant-at-Arms deliver the Special Meeting notice to the Chief Clerk. Will the Chief Clerk please read the special message.
Pursuant to the rules of Council of the City of Philadelphia, the President of City Council has issued a call for a Special Meeting of the Council on Monday, March 24, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 400, City Hall for a presentation of Mayor Parker's housing plan. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025
Thank you very much. We also have with us today joining us the King from Ghana, King Daasebre Kwebu Ewusi VII. Can we give him a round of applause please. (Standing ovation.)
You sharp too. At this time, I'm going to ask for Councilwoman Majority Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Minority Leader Kendra Brooks, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas and Councilmember Cindy Bass to please escort our guests for today into our Council chambers. Today we will embark on a historical City Council session with a presentation from our Mayor, the 100th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, Cherelle L. Parker on her H.O.M.E. Initiative. This is Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 the first such session that has taken place in the history of the City of Philadelphia City Council session. (Madam Mayor Parker escorted in by Councilmembers.)
At this time, the Chair recognizes -(Applause.)
Thank you and good morning, Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Majority Leader Katherine Gilmore Richardson, Majority Whip Isaiah Thomas, Deputy Majority Whip Cindy Bass, Minority Leader Kendra Brooks and Minority Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Whip Nicolas O'Rourke. And I also want to say a special hello and welcome and greetings on behalf of the City of Philadelphia, Council President Johnson, to your guest this morning, King Daasebre Kwebu Ewusi from Ghana. King -- where's the King? King, I want you to know that I am a proud graduate of the Lincoln University that is the alma mater of Ghana's own Kwame Nkrumah, so it is an honor and a privilege to have you here today. Please give the King another round of applause. (Applause.)
For the record, Council President Johnson, I want you to know that my team did some homework in preparation for today. With this in mind, I want the record to reflect that under Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 your leadership of this legislative body it is the first time in the history of our city that the City Council and the Executive branch have come together to produce a Special Session on Housing. Aside from public safety, I truly believe at this time there is no more important issue, single issue, facing our great city of Philadelphia than the issue of access to housing. So I want to personally thank you for your partnership and for understanding the importance of segregating this issue from our traditional budget process so that it gets the attention that it deserves. Council President Johnson, thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
Some may be asking why am I so grateful, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Mr. President. I'm grateful because the people of Philadelphia need more housing and they need it now. They need it now, Mr. President. How do I know? And this is important for me to share, because for almost two years before and during my campaign for Mayor I crisscrossed our city listening to Philadelphians from all neighborhoods and all walks of life share their perspectives about the most pressing issues facing our city. And guess what, housing was always among the top three. So with guidance from the people, our residents and housing experts coupled with my real-life lived experience, I made a concrete promise to the people of our city, that if they gave me an opportunity to lead and become their Mayor, I would work to build, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 preserve and restore 30,000 units of housing that we can quantifiably measure. I took this posture because it was incumbent upon me to give a specific number of housing units that people could hold me accountable for producing and preserving instead of making hollow promises, implying that if elected, I could provide housing for everyone who needs it right away. To me, that sort of political pandering sounds great in a speech, and it is albeit a noble goal. However, it is fiscally irresponsible and disingenuous to promise. And quite frankly, I think Philadelphians are tired of those kind of platitudes and want to know how the programs we develop will directly benefit them in their respective individual lives. So just like it was Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 important for me to specify the amount of housing we would produce, it was also important that I provide a framework for how we would design the criteria for who would be eligible to benefit from the programs that we would continue, expand or create to make our housing goals a reality. Mr. President, I'm here to say that the guardrails governing my thinking and public declaration to the people were and are clear. I am committed to working with our legislative body, this City Council, to put people on a path to self-sufficiency and not engage in policymaking that breeds class contempt by pitting the havenots against those who have just a little. This is not new space for me, Philadelphia. The issue of housing and access is both personal Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 and professional to me. Why, why is housing personally and professionally important to me? It all started with my grandparents who raised me. My grandmother, a domestic worker, and grandfather, a retired Navy veteran, migrated from the South and met and married in North Philadelphia. They moved into Richard Allen Homes public housing. Then they rented a duplex at 7th and Dauphin. When my mother, their single teenage daughter, became pregnant with me, they needed more space and started searching for a house. So it was a super big deal when my grandparents finally became homeowners and moved to a single-family home on a tree-lined block in Northwest Philadelphia where they raised me. That's how homeownership became ingrained in Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 me. So you can all imagine how I felt when I proceeded to follow in my grandparents' footsteps and become a first-time homeowner myself. What should have been a joyous occasion actually became a nightmare. I, along with almost 100 other people, were victims of predatory lending of the worst kind, an unscrupulous developer named John Berg of New Century Homes built houses in both the 4th and 9th Council Districts. Journalists Ernie Young and Paul Davies, they wrote extensively about this predatory lending, and they know this case well. I'm proud to say that all of us who were impacted, we fought back and we protected our properties. But I saw this issue up close and personal.
I say that to tell you, I am no Johnny-come Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 lately when it comes to these issues, friends. I have lived and felt it and I have worked on the issue of access to housing as an elected official long before it became a popular thing to do. Mortgage foreclosure protections, the Basic System Home Repair Program, Restore Repair Renew, appraisal bias, I have fought for the basic right to housing long before it became fashionable. E. Plan. This plan is the roadmap to realize our vision for access to quality housing. It is a values-based, data-driven strategy that is aspirational, is rooted in action Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 and is supported by a mandate from your Mayor for the public sector to make housing a priority. This plan also calls for and welcomes the partnership of labor, the philanthropic and private sector community. This is an all-handson-deck moment for Philadelphia, and there is no time to waste. That's why during my budget address, Mr. President, on March 13th I announced that over the course of our Five-Year Plan the Parker Administration will issue a historic and unprecedented $800 million in bonds for housing in Philadelphia. Now, what I'm sharing with you that is new this morning is that these bonds are intended to be part of, drumroll, a $2 billion investment in housing. And did you hear me correctly? You did. ) Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025
It was $2 billion. Let me tell you how we get there. First, nearly $1 billion in funding will be provided by the public sector, which includes the funding from the $800 million in bonds as well as other local funding sources along with state and federal funds, plus another billion in the value of the City's land and assets that will contribute to housing production. Furthermore -- and this I'm excited about -- this $2 billion investment is anticipated to have a significant impact on leveraging the labor, philanthropic and private capital that I previously mentioned. Special thanks to the Building Trades and the philanthropic community for our ongoing dialogue on this issue. I look forward to our continued partnership. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 We will begin by issuing $400 million in bonds in FY26 and we plan on spending that money as quickly as possible. As I said in my Budget address, I want shovels in the ground, I want houses built, preserved and restored. In essence, I want to put the pedal to the metal on the road to 30,000 new and preserved homes for both renters and homebuyers. (Applause.)
Mr. President, the reason why I got so excited in our meetings when talking about this is because after the team did the homework, we realized that this is the largest single investment in housing in Philadelphia history. You have on your desk, members of Council, a handout that puts this spending into context. But to put it into perspective for Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 the public, let me just say that the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative, NTI, was about $300 million at the time but would be about $540 million in today's dollars, adjusting for inflation. Then our beloved Neighborhood Preservation Initiative, NPI, was $400 million when it was created by our then and one of my teachers, our teachers, Council President Clarke, and the City Council of Philadelphia in 2021. And speaking of NPI, Council President Johnson, as I have said in our meetings I heard you loud and clear, and I am proud to say that I have kept true to my word that this $800 million will not only continue some of the programs we know and love that are funded through NPI, it will even expand some of those programs, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 because don't forget, Mr. President, I put the tough votes up too so NPI is my baby as well. And I'm really excited about ensuring that we keep all of the programs that we possibly can going. We in essence are going to focus on the mission and accomplish the goal for all Philadelphians. But, people, they are expecting government to work slowly, as we've been known to do. We will move quickly but at all times responsibly. Your tax dollars will be spent in a way that is both effective and efficient, and we will show you the program evaluations and the data dashboards, which also has never happened before in our city, so that you can see the impacts of our investments. Now, the question Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 everyone has been asking and they continue to ask is, Where'd you get that 30,000 units number? Philadelphia's housing stock has grown over the last few years, but it has not grown to meet the market needs across all neighborhoods and income levels, both for those who wish to own and for those who wish to rent. In fact, much of the growth has been clustered in a few places and is only attainable by Philadelphians with a higher income. Recent housing data shows that for certain market segments we actually have more units than we need, but these units are intended for higher-income households that can pay more. Some of these units are even sitting empty because they are too expensive for working-class or middle-class residents. So even though we have some expensive units Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 sitting vacant, the market has not produced enough homes to own or rent for people of modest or average means. At the same time as we're seeing a need for the new production of housing, specifically for certain types of homeowners and renters, we're also seeing a great need for the preservation of existing homes, again both for owners and renters. This plan, Mr. President, proposes the production of 13,500 new homes and the preservation of 16,500 existing homes for our great city of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Now, if somebody is out of the city of Philadelphia and they're trying to understand our housing landscape, let me just give you a brief Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 overview: When non-Philadelphians think about our city, they often think of Center City with its gleaming skyscrapers or our gigantic City Hall in the middle of Downtown or tourist attractions like the Liberty Bell. But as you all know, the city of Philadelphia is geographically very large and as we like to say, it's a city of neighborhoods. And I firmly believe that these neighborhoods are made stronger and more vibrant by their residents. Like every city around the country, Philadelphia has seen a slow and steady decline in homeownership rates over the past few decades. We now stand at this point: Just over half, about 52%, of Philadelphians are homeowners. And while that percentage is high compared to many cities in the Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 MidAtlantic and Northeast and has remained stable for nearly a decade, my hope is that this new plan can continue to stabilize or even grow our homeownership rates. Grow homeownership rates, grow homeownership rates, Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Now, there are several factors that are impacting our Philadelphia housing landscape. The Councilmembers I served with, you heard me say this in Council over and over again. First, an aging housing stock with many households facing critical repair needs. 40,000 vacant lots in Philadelphia, with approximately three-quarters of this inventory privately-owned. Zoning and land use policies that can slow investments in and development of multi-family housing. Sometimes some community Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 opposition to housing production and preservation can be a barrier, and a declining housing supply in terms of vacant homes that could be bought or rented. We've also seen, and this was interesting to me, a change in household size with an increase in smaller-sized households. Housing affordability issues mostly driven by low incomes, inflation, rising rents, increasing home prices and a prominence of cost-burdened or financially-stressed households. Other factors impacting our local housing landscape include, and we know these well, barriers to homeownership, issues with the cost and availability of property insurance, inequitable housing gaps, meaning that housing challenges such as our aging housing stock they tend to disproportionately occur, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 specifically in neighborhoods with higher poverty rates. A high reliance on small landlords. People are shocked every time that we say that, you know, that we have a high reliance on small landlords in the city of Philadelphia. And we define small landlords as those who own less than five properties. An increase in construction costs, inequitable access to housing, whether we're talking about appraisals, mortgages or obtaining quality units, and an increase -- and this is what frustrates your Mayor a whole lot. So if you want to know something that ticks me off, this is one of them: An increase in investorowned properties, which is often when out-of-state investment funds from places like New York start buying up lots of homes in our city. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 What we're talking about here on today, Philadelphia, is a vision for the future. I described our current housing landscape. Now, I want you just to imagine with me for a moment. 5 million people begins to grow again based on our policies, what this Executive branch and this City Council do, creating a safer, cleaner and greener city with economic opportunity for all. Imagine if, by working together, we create a housing supply that meets the demand for housing, listen, at all income levels. Imagine if the housing programs we know and love have been continued and expanded and we have successfully launched pilot programs and new programs to reach and serve more Philadelphians. Imagine if we Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 successfully create workforce housing that attracts the next generation of teachers, police officers, firefighters, correctional officers, sanitation workers, social workers and members of the Building Trades who actually want to live here and work for and in the city of Philadelphia. Wow. Imagine if these workers -- and I want you to visually travel there with me. Imagine if these workers could live where the Police Roundhouse currently stands, and a new development of mixed-use homes and it rises with affordable housing mixed in with market rate development. I want you to think about and imagine if the same kinds of innovations and new construction also happens where the old Holmesburg Prison sits today. Folks, colleagues and Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 friends, I'm saying imagine if, but all of this is possible if we work together on an issue that touches most everyday Philadelphians, and that is access to housing. How will we get there? Well, an overview of our Home Executive Order that the Parker Administration produced.
Listen, it's had us hard at work on this critical issue since day 1. And we can as a result of it never be accused of not being inclusive along this journey. I want to take you back for a minute. Starting in 2023, the Parker mayoral transition collaborated with over 550 stakeholders across 13 subcommittees. Our Housing Planning and Development Transition Team alone included more than 60 housing experts. Over the past year we Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 mobilized experts, analyzed data and researched best practices in housing nationwide. E. Initiative, for short. The Executive Order has set several important steps into motion, most notably about 25 City departments and offices. They were given an explicit charge to make housing one of their top priorities. They had 30 days to come up with recommendations and produce a report on how they can streamline processes, cut red tape and make regulatory and legislative changes that will facilitate the faster production and restoration of housing without sacrificing health and safety. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 On this morning, I am happy to announce this report has been in my hands as of last week. I want to thank you, Jesse Lawrence, for getting this done in 30 days. )
And they say be careful what you ask for because our departments have provided me over 100 recommendations. At the same time, we have had an ongoing engagement process with both an advisory group as well as dozens of external stakeholders. Now, the advisory group consists of over 50 organizations such as private developers, nonprofit developers and CDCs and minority developers, partners like PHA, PHFA, Philadelphia Works and PHDC, and groups such as the BIA, GBCA and the Building and Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Construction Trades Council and the Carpenters. And we will, this is important to note, continue that engagement as we refine the plan, map out how we put it into action and roll out key initiatives. This proposed plan -and this is important to say too. This proposed plan is not the end of the process for us. The stakeholders don't go away. The Advisory Council doesn't go away, but it was just an important step along the journey. And this housing plan, for members of Council in particular, it is just that, a proposed housing plan. I view it the same way that I view our budget process. The housing plan will need to be vetted and approved by this City Council. The proposed housing plan will also move concurrently with our proposed FY26 budget, with Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 both to be adopted at the same time ensuring that there is a funding mechanism to implement the plan. So, City Council of Philadelphia and Mr. President, did the Mayor present to you today a housing proposal that was already baked? Absolutely not. We provided you with the proposal and I just want that to be stated for the record because we will have to work together in partnership to produce what we all think together is in the best interest of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Thank you. Now, to develop this housing plan, my team was led -- and they did an amazing job and I want you to know I'm so grateful for each of you. The team was led by my Chief of Staff Tiffany Thurman, Planning and Development Director Jesse Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Lawrence, Chief Housing and Urban Development Officer Angela Brooks, and John Mondlak, Octavia Howell, Mark Dodds, the venerable Dave Thomas, Kathleen Grady, Emily Persico, Paula Brumbelow, Michael Gall, Karen Guss, Jamila Davis, Greg Kingery, Rachel Meadows, Andre Del Valle and others who have been working furiously around the clock. Can you please give my team a huge round of applause. (Applause.)
I'm grateful, grateful. I'm grateful to each of you. Thank you. Thank you. We have -- And, Philadelphia, I want you to listen here because we've been intentional in everything that we've done. We have received significant support from I want to talk about Ira Goldstein, Reinvestment Fund. Please stand and remain standing, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Ira. (Applause.)
Greg and Ali from Guidehouse. Greg and Ali, please stand. (Applause.)
I want to thank you for your support, but I want you to remain standing because I'm also excited about this next one. I just don't know if she made it through traffic and was able to get in the room, but we have also received expert guidance from the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge, who is here today. (Applause.)
And I would be remiss if I did not personally call her out and thank her for all that she has done. (Applause.)
Kelvin Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Jeremiah, trying to find you right now. Okay, there he is. And as a former U.S. HUD Secretary, Marcia Fudge has the institutional knowledge needed and is exactly the kind of person you want in your corner as you launch a historic housing plan as bold and ambitious as our plan is. Reinvestment Fund, Ira, you've been working with us on every consumer protection financial development effort I've ever been a part of and also in this city in general. And, Greg, I was so excited to find out that you were at Guidehouse, because half of the programs we're talking about today you led the effort to get them established and implemented. You and Ali have done an amazing job. And I just want to again thank you all for your unwavering support for Philadelphia and our Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Administration. (Applause.)
In addition to all the activities outlined in the Executive Order, this team has done a thorough landscape analysis to identify every housing program we currently have, who is served by that program and more analysis to understand the effectiveness of each of those programs. I want to acknowledge, because sometimes we don't think about the big picture, I want to acknowledge that we already have some of the best housing programs in the country. We do already right now, right here in the city of Philadelphia. We don't give ourselves enough credit. (Applause.)
I'm going to highlight some of them in a Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 moment. But as part of their analysis, my team has come up with a list of about 50 programs. And I am proud to say that many of these will be new programs that we will either pilot or recommend to launch in FY26 and beyond. Now, before I get into the details of which programs we are proposing to be continued, invested in and/or expanded or introduced, I want to highlight the guiding principles which serve as what we refer to as the seven north stars for this plan. Those principles include so that everyone knows where we start: Preserving our homes, making our homes more affordable, building more housing, making the city work better for the people, preventing housing instability and homelessness, making our homes and communities resilient and reducing Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 blight and vacancy and improving our communities. The recommendations of this plan will be focused on preservation, tackling critical repairs and maintenance needs for an aging housing stock; production, developing a variety of housing types and options across every income ban in every neighborhood; stabilization, prioritizing housing stability and homelessness prevention measures, including rental assistance and eviction diversion; incentives, promoting homeownership opportunities to foster thriving communities and generational wealth. In order for us to stay focused on those north stars and those four buckets, we have to talk about our existing housing programs. I want to emphasize here because we get criticized so much. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 We are starting from a position of strength. This plan will build on what we know already works, identify gaps where new programs and approaches are needed and invest in new programs that we can scale. It is important to note our successes while never being satisfied with the outcomes until we have truly achieved our mission of quality, affordable, safe and healthy housing for all. That is ultimately our goal and we shouldn't rest, Philadelphia, until we get that accomplished. (Applause.)
Now, let's walk through the programs that we are proposing to be continued, expanded or introduced using the seven north stars that I just mentioned: North Star 1, preserving Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 our homes. One of the north star goals of our plan is to preserve our homes. First, I am going to highlight some of our existing housing preservation programs. Preservation is critical in our city where the majority of our housing was built prior to 1960 and about 85% was built before 1980. It is my belief that the home you are already in, that you currently live in, it is often the most affordable. I also want to remind folks that preservation programs actually reduce housing instability and homelessness and keep neighborhoods stable. One of the preservation programs that we are proposing to expand and increase the eligibility guidelines for is our Basic Systems Repair Program. (Applause.)
Some Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 people may not know this, but our BSRP program offers free emergency repairs to fix roofing and major home systems. This decades-old program is one of the most popular and oversubscribed programs in the city of Philadelphia. Let me give you a quick example of how BSRP works for Philadelphians. Say, for example, that Mr. Brown who lives in an older brick and stone home, he's owned his home for decades in East Mount Airy. Now, Mr. Brown is retired living on a fixed income and his wife passed away. He had a good government job so he has a pension, and he receives his Social Security. When you drive by, his home may look nice on the outside. But on the inside, his ceiling is stressed and his floors are cracking and buckling. But right now, guess Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 what? Mr. Brown makes a nickel over the current income eligibility guidelines. He needs BSRP but he's not eligible. It is our job to make sure that he qualifies for this worthy program and that is our charge. (Applause.)
Mr. President, I hate to call them out, but I've got to state for the record Councilmembers Driscoll, Jones and O'Neill and of course, Councilmember Phillips, those who represent areas that you heard me reference in this Council as middle neighborhoods, most significant contributors to Philadelphia's tax base, but because we in essence created class contempt, they were never eligible for the programs that they're very tax dollars like in the 52nd Ward, Councilmember Gilmore Richardson, they're not Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 eligible for the very programs that they help support in this city. We hope to change that here. Other preservation programs that we are going to continue include our Adaptive Modification Program. Free, yes -(Applause.)
Free adaptions to give people with disabilities easier access and mobility within the home. (Applause.)
The Heater Hotline, free emergency repairs to heaters. The next one, Restore, Repair, Renew, it helps -(Applause.)
Yes. Thank you, Councilwoman. This helps homeowners access low-interest loans to invest in their properties. Now, this program is one of my babies that I Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 helped to create while I was a member of this Council to support those middle neighborhoods where those residents make too much for most government-funded home repair programs. But guess what? They often can't get a loan, a prime loan from a bank. So RRR loans, they can go up to $50,000 and they are eligible for households earning up to 120% of the AMI. And listen to this, especially in this market right now, and I love this underwriting criteria. We know it by heart because we helped to put it together. Listen to this: Imagine borrowing the $50,000 and having 10 years to pay it back with a 3% fixed interest rate. (Applause.)
Additionally, you can have a credit score as low as 580 and still be Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 eligible for this program. (Applause.)
I am also very happy to share with Restore, Repair, Renew in mind that my Administration is working very closely -- and, Mr. President, you and I have talked about this one -they're working very closely with our city depositories. So I just want you to imagine this: You know how we read those articles about the number of Philadelphians who get denied for home equity lines of credit or home repair loans? Think about this: Imagine if the Philadelphians who don't qualify for those prime private loans, imagine when they were denied, they were immediately directed to our Restore, Repair, Renew program and we can work with them to see if they qualify for our program. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 (Applause.)
That's the partnership we're working on building up to the entire team, and Treasury, Rob And Sabrina, thank you. I also want to highlight a new preservation program that we are going to be launching, and that is the Home Service Clearinghouse and Concierge. It sounds real fancy, doesn't it. Listen to this program. This program will help Philadelphians find prequalified contractors, whether it's for plumbing or electrical. This is how we can prevent our seniors from getting scammed. I also want -(Applause.)
Listen, yes, it's true. I also want to take this a step further and I want to help Philadelphians gain access to essentials for their homes, like Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 furniture and appliances. So let's just think about this. The City of Philadelphia builds a list where qualified and reputable contractors are there. So when people call and say who can I call to fix this or that, we have a place that we know we can send them where they won't get scammed. In addition to that while we are building these houses and improving the houses, we're leveraging Philadelphia's brand by saying Home Depot, Lowe's or whatever the furniture store is, if you sign up to be a part of our preferred list, we want you as long as you guarantee people in our programs a 15% discount when they're buying appliances and furniture and the likes from your establishments. Guess what, Philadelphia? We've never tried to leverage our buying power and/or Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 our financial stability as a way to do that. And to me, that also represents One Philly. So our hope is that the private sector will want to work and join us, and what we create can become a model for the nation. (Applause.)
North Star No. 2, Making our homes more affordable. The goal of our plan is to make our homes more affordable so I'm going to share some of our existing programs that we're going to be proposing to continue or expand. Now, as everyone knows we have very established, successful programs when it comes to making and keeping our homes affordable. Now, what do they include, and no other city in the nation has this robust network: Housing counseling, free counseling Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 to help prepare people to buy your home. (Applause.)
For example, we learned this and we talked about this with people trying to get approved for Turn the Key. Our housing counseling agencies can help people not only buy your home but help them repair their credit or just become more financially astute. Our network of housing counseling agencies, one of the best in the country, again from experience, it was Northwest Counseling Services and Michelle Lewis who helped me. They have been invaluable when it comes to implementing our Mortgage and Tax Foreclosure Diversion programs. (Applause.)
They have been essential. This program provides free housing counseling Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 and legal aid to help residents facing the loss of their home due to mortgage or tax foreclosure. Then there -- where's Squilla? Councilmember Squilla, Philly First Home provides downpayment and closing cost assistance for firsttime homebuyers in the city of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
And just like BSRP, we can't keep enough money in the pot to keep that program going. Then we have our Utility Emergency Services Fund. This is funding that provides assistance to low-income individuals and families who need help paying their utility bills. And next, the Shallow Rent program. It provides rent assistance for tenants living in affordable housing developments who are cost-burdened and who are at Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 risk of being evicted. In other words -- and this is important because when we do this, we think people understand it and they get it. In other words, Philadelphia, this program helps people pay their rent so that they can in essence stay where they are. I am also -- and this is important for me to affirm, proud to announce that we are going to be piloting a new version of the Shallow Rent program that will help middle-income families, essential workers, think about those teachers and those nurses, to move into already-built development. You heard me mention the Roundhouse and Holmesburg. But what can we do right now? Right now we can help those essential workers when they are trying to move into new developments that are currently Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 sitting empty in neighborhoods where rental properties were overbuilt. Another new program that we will use to help make our homes more affordable and we plan on launching and that I am absolutely giddy about, and I don't know if Council President -- former Council President Clarke is here, but this one is important and I want you all to remember that we announced it on this day. This is what it would have been amazing for us to have when we first announced Turn the Key, and this is our One Philly Mortgage program. This is an innovative program which will help to reduce the cost of mortgages, actual mortgages. It will make mortgages more available and accessible to ensure that more Philadelphians in essence are able to become homeowners. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 What will it provide? It will provide an actual 30-year fixed rate loan, mortgage loan with the 3% downpayment and competitive interest rates and it will remove the need for private mortgage insurance, the PMI. (Applause.)
Our next North Star 3, Build new housing. The goal of this plan is to build more. One of our most existing successful programs in this area is Turn the Key, which is helping working families become first-time homeowners. Residents are buying brand new homes and creating generational wealth for fewer dollars per month than they were spending on the rent that they just -- the rental that they just left behind. Now, here's how Turn the Key works for those watching in the Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 viewing public. We keep construction costs down by in essence assembling parcels of publicly-owned vacant land for the homes to be built on. We further reduce the cost to the homebuyer with mortgage assistance and downpayment assistance that can total up to $85,000, and then we partner with preferred lenders, thank you, who often provide additional financial assistance. And then we partner with our Turn the Key developers who are agreeing to use high-quality fixtures and finishes, what I call affordable luxury amenities. Turn the Key is demonstrating that affordable housing can and should be beautiful. And I want to say this, Philadelphia. We can't snub our nose when we mention the word affordable and housing in the same Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 sentence because if we pass this plan and we implement it in the city, you won't know if you're looking at an affordable house, a market-rate house because the quality of the amenities across the board they will be esthetically appealing and provide the dignity that all Philadelphians deserve no matter their socioeconomic status. (Applause.)
Why would you want to invest in it more, Turn the Key that is? Because it's working. Since its exception in 2021, we've already developed and sold 195 homes to new homeowners. (Applause.)
In addition, another 590 homes are either under agreement to be sold, under construction or approved for development. The program's goal is 1000 homes. And we will get their, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 colleagues and members of City Council, who helped to create this program. We will put Turn the Key on steroids. I also want to remind people of this because I've heard this as I traveled the city. Turn the Key is for everyone. I'm unapologetic about working hard to market the tool to our City workers. And I'm always bullish about this because we have a residency requirement here in the city of Philadelphia. And to have a residency requirement but not have quality affordable housing for the very workforce that we're saying we want you to work for us and we want you to live here, that doesn't make good sense. But I want to make it clear for those who may not understand that it is not just for City workers. It is for all Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 Philadelphians. (Applause.)
Council President Johnson, our former President and good friend, teacher and mentor, Council President Clarke who created the Turn the Key program, he was beyond his thinking. I'm thinking about Mike Koontz and Herb Wetzel, and what we did as a part of the NPI with this City Council, and I'm telling you all, we started something good. One more funding item that I want to call special attention to, it's been a long time coming and it will help us to not only build more housing but in some cases preserve treasured community gardens and green spaces. We plan on using some of the bond proceeds to finally purchase the remaining US Bank liens. (Applause.) Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025
We're really excited about that. It happened I think we were in the 1990s, and here we are in 2025 trying to make something good out of a decision made back during that time. Another new program that we will be launching that will help us to build new housing is the Contractor Training program. Now, we want to support our local workforce to develop our housing and this program will provide training for contractors to support development projects in need of additional staffing. This plan will allow us to ensure that this production and preservation of housing also become a vital part of our workforce development tools for the next generation of Philadelphia skilled trades union members. We're going Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 to grow the pipeline. (Applause.)
How are you going to make it happen? We're working closely with the Building Trades and Carpenters and our City College for Municipal Employment to cement this partnership. We will fund the apprenticeship and preapprenticeship training programs and we will have the Building Trades as instructors so that we can strengthen our workforce and quite frankly build the next generation from the School District and across the city that will be our future pipeline for skilled trades, men and women in the city of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
Building Trades and Carpenters, I want to thank you. We couldn't do this without you. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 I am also excited to announce that we are creating a new fund that will provide -- and it just took me back to I said this to John Christmas, Mr. President, Della Clark's meeting with small contractors when we were working on Rebuild. We will provide access to bonding for contractors, something that I know has long been needed. Whenever you talk to contractors, particularly those who are small MBE and WBEs, and you say what's the barrier to entry to your being able to grow and expand your firm. They talk about two things. They talk about bonding and insurance. And we'll start a fund right here with this plan, and I'm proud of that. (Applause.)
Next, we want to make the City work better for the people. As a city, we want Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 to provide exceptional customer service, quick response times, easy-to-locate support options, clear communication about the programs and city offerings and top-quality services. To that end, the fourth north star goal of this plan is to make the City work better for the people. So this plan will fund both a Land Bank operational assessment and an operational and programmatic efficiency assessment. Now, what do these two things mean? First, the Land Bank operational assessment will evaluate the process to track and manage properties for affordable housing opportunities. Through this assessment, the City can also evaluate the process to claim repossessed property via public auctions for redevelopment properties that in essence Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 revitalize our communities. Now, we're already making headway on this. You all read the news articles. I'm proud to announce that we have finally reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sheriff's Office that will permit the Land Bank to acquire tax-delinquent vacant property at sheriff's sales in order to transform these properties from vacant lots to new housing. The Land Bank led by Herb Wetzel had a special board meeting this past Saturday to ratify and sign that agreement. So I want to thank the Land Bank and the Sheriff and her office. Please give them a round of applause. (Applause.)
We're also going to very shortly, and I was excited about this, we're going Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 to very shortly and today is Monday so check back on maybe about Friday. We'll be releasing or making live a brand new website that will simplify the process for acquiring property through the Land Bank. I want you to stay tuned and I want to give a special shoutout to Melissa Scott and her team at OIT and Angel Rodriguez and his team at the Land Bank for working overtime to make this possible. (Applause.)
Listen, Philadelphia, imagine not needing the hookup and you can just go find out how the process works directly on our website. And I'm really grateful for that. The operational and programmatic efficiency assessment, essentially this one, this means that we're going to look wholesale Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 at our structures and our processes and importantly, our technology, to ensure that we have the best. This will help us achieve our bold vision to increase the number of lots and properties that can be used for housing. And we want to ensure -and he's over here to my left -Kelvin Jeremiah and PHA have as much land and property as they possibly can in order to create more of their high-quality, affordable luxury housing. Thank you, Kelvin Jeremiah and PHA. We want that land going to PHA. (Applause.)
Our next north star goal of this housing plan is to prevent housing instability and homelessness. Philadelphia, if we don't tackle this issue and we continue to ignore that we're not seeing what Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 we're actually seeing, we'll be doing our city a disservice. Here again we already have some excellent programs which this plan continues. The first one I want to highlight is the City's Eviction Diversion Program or EDP, which helps keep people in their homes. I also want to highlight the Philadelphia Eviction Prevention Program or PEPP and the Right to Counsel which gives tenants free legal representation in court when they are facing eviction proceedings. Now, it's important for us to note here that related we also have the EDP Targeted Financial Assistance Program, which provides a one-time payment to the landlord to cover a tenant's rent arrears if a tenant and a landlord are eligible and participate in EDP in what we call good faith. This Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 program has been recognized repeatedly as a national model and it will only continue under this housing plan. And I'm super proud of that, City Council of Philadelphia. (Applause.)
The sixth north star of this housing plan is to make our homes and communities resilient. In late 2023, HUD approved the City's plan for $163 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds to support long-term recovery efforts following the impacts of Hurricane Ida. Again, I want to say thank you, Secretary Fudge, for helping to make this happen for our city. These funds are going towards a home repair program which helps provide safe and decent housing opportunities for low- to Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 moderate-income and vulnerable households impacted by Hurricane Ida and a rental repair rehabilitation and construction program along with, and this is important, a hazard mitigation program that will strengthen facilities, structures and communities to make them less vulnerable to future disaster impacts. And, Philadelphia, we've had some crises lately, and I know we usually see weather-related events take place in other places. Now, we never know what is going to happen. So this is extremely important for us. In addition to these federal dollars, I want you to know that many of our existing preservation and production programs have environmental resiliency at the front. After Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 all, a home with a secure roof and foundation, more water-resistant materials with pointed bricks and stone and the like, they are more likely to withstand extreme storms and other weather-related events. So we're excited about this from an environmental protection perspective. Additionally, the City will continue to partner with entities like the Energy Coordinating Agency, which administers the Philadelphia Weatherization Assistance Program and the Philadelphia Energy Authority, which has its Built to Last program that helps ensure that resiliency and energy conservation are layered into existing home repair programs. And I'm biased. I think Emily does an amazing job. Give them a huge round of applause please. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 (Applause.)
Our final north star is to reduce blight and vacancy and to improve our communities. Listen, investing in our communities has been shown to have a positive effect on all aspects of life, from mental health to safety to building neighborhood connections. With this data in mind, we must focus on beautifying our communities to help strengthen communities social fabrics while preserving housing stock and property values. Today is about the housing plan, but I have to mention that we can't talk about this without mentioning our Clean and Green Initiative led by Director Carlton Williams and everything that it is doing to clean and beautify our neighborhoods. It's all related, colleagues. And I Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 think he's here somewhere. Can we give Carlton Williams a huge round of applause. (Applause.)
Next -and we want to make sure we do this -- our goal is to reduce blight and vacancy and improve our communities. I am very excited to announce two new programs. And I mentioned Director Carlton Williams because I was with he and Crystal, Councilmember Landau and Councilmember O'Rourke. We went to Philadelphia more Beautiful event this past weekend. And the director stood up and said, there are more small grants available for block captains to beautify their block. So I learned about this program where blocks can earn up to $500 to improve their blocks. I said, you can't make this up. We are proposing in this Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 plan a brand new curbside appeal program. And this is a program that I have dreamed about since I was a member of City Council and I got engaged with the nationwide Middle Neighborhoods Coalition. And we can model this off of several of the City's successful programs. This program will provide matching grants for blocks that wish to provide what we call curbside appeal improvements to the front of their houses. I don't know if you all remember. I'm going back to Strawberry Mansion. You remember blocks were so organized that they all had the same kind of planters or they had flags across the street, but the block would get together as a group and they would do this and somebody is saying, well, this is not a lot of money. It is enough to help homeowners to Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 get started and lead in their own right to improve their neighborhoods. So I am excited about that. When we participated in the Philadelphia More Beautiful event with some of the best people our city has to offer, and that is our block captains, the block captains who are doing -(Applause.)
Yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. The block captains that are doing the best work, they receive small grants to support them in a vital community work and our new curbside appeal program will both supplement and amplify that already amazing work. So thank you again. We appreciate you. (Applause.)
Next is the Facade Improvement Program. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 This is a program that will provide one-time funding for the repair of housing facade work such as weatherization improvements, again like that brick pointing. I say that for somebody who's watching and they're saying, this is the second time she's mentioned that in the speech. You just heard me talk about earlier the age of Philadelphia's housing stock and most of our properties are built with brick and/or stone. So it's, you know, you can say, okay, I'm not shocked to learn that the concrete is actually dwindling away. So this will help us with that brick point. In addition to the seven north stars and the programs that fall under them, some programs are focused on providing financing to developers, landlords, homeowners Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 and renters. This plan proposes to invest in several established programs with funds that will support our housing goals. So, for example, let's think about this: Our Rental Improvement Fund. It offers forgivable and no-interest loans to those small landlords. I defined them for you. How many properties do they own? Five or less. Well, this would be small loans to those landlords to help fix up their rental units. In exchange, these landlords commit to keeping their rent affordable. Next, Councilwoman Gilmore Richardson, Majority Leader is, the Tangled Title Fund. Free legal assistance for homeowners to resolve problems proving ownership, which is a critical issue in many neighborhoods, because you know you have to have a deed. But if you Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 haven't done it over the years, many don't have it, and that is something that we need to be investing in. Next is affordable housing preservation and production funds. For the developers I want you to listen. This funding will provide gap financing for LIHTC development projects. This plan is also proposing the creation of yet a new fund, the Land Bank Acquisition Fund, which will help the Land Bank acquire repossessed property at public auction to increase the supply of affordable units. Now, you've heard me mention a whole lot, somebody sitting here saying, all of that was great but how in the world are we going to be paying for this home plan and how are we going to execute and implementing it? It's Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 a very good question. How are we going to pay for the $800 million in bonds? When considering such an ambitious bond amount, I knew that we would need to raise revenue in order to pay the bonds down over time. That's why I propose raising the realty transfer tax just a little bit. It's a small increase, but it will generate $173 million over the Five-Year Plan and even more after that. And I also want to be clear about this: This small increase in the realty transfer tax will not have a large impact on individuals when they are buying or selling a home. The cost of the increase in the realty transfer tax will be much larger for commercial and industrial transactions. Let me give you an example. For the purchase of a Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 commercial property valued at $50 million, the increase would be more than $150,000 at the time of sale. I also want to remind folks that in my FY26 budget I propose repealing the construction impact tax. That put a 1% tax on construction and improvements over a certain threshold in the city. 5 million a year for the General Fund, and yet it was a large burden on the very industry that we are asking to help us build new homes right now.
So repealing the construction impact tax is just one example of how a policy measure can have a major impact on reducing costs and increasing opportunities for greater housing supply and construction, which in turn will Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 stimulate job growth and economic opportunity. I also want to give you another example as we seek more ways to encourage further development of more housing for Philadelphians. We will consider every option at our disposal and, that is, including tax abatements targeted to neighborhoods most in need of housing. )
We will propose working with this City Council of Philadelphia to target census tracts where we can most use the abatement to incentivize developers to not overlook those neighborhoods, but to choose those neighborhoods. And for anyone who just shrugs it off and says, no, they shouldn't even consider bringing the tax abatement back. If you really knew about Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 the extent of this housing crisis, you know very much like public safety, we need to use every tool in the tool box to ensure that we make the creation and preservation of housing in the city of Philadelphia a reality. And so, my FY26 proposed budget it also calls for $11 million in operating funds over the Five-Year Plan to hire 32 new employees and provide ongoing consulting support for our H.O.M.E. Initiative. I know that we need good staff to execute all of these programs and we intend to hire the best. My proposed budget also calls for increasing the recording fee to raise an additional $300,000 a year for our tangled title efforts. Additionally, we plan to soon launch -- and I see our Police Commissioner Bethel here -- we will Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 soon launch a residential security camera program through our Philadelphia Police Department where 1000 participating households will get a camera, and we'll use data to identify high-crime areas and determine which homes will get a camera. I need to give a special shout-out to State Senator and Appropriations Chairman Vincent Hughes and former State Senator Jimmy Dillon for making this a priority in last year's state budget. Without their advocacy, that funding would not be possible. Please give them a huge round of applause. (Applause.)
Now, I have mostly shared details about existing and new programs that we're going to continue to expand or introduce as a part of this Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 plan, and I have also shared details about how we're going to pay for it. I now have in hand recommendations from over 25 departments for how we can streamline processes, cut red tape and make changes that will facilitate the faster production and restoration of housing without sacrificing health and safety of course. I plan on putting these recommendations into action as soon as possible. And my team has already begun working on legislation, some of which has to be transmitted to the City Council of Philadelphia, and we will do so in the coming weeks. But early priorities under this plan do include cleaning up the zoning code, addressing zoning inconsistencies, to reduce the need Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 for exemptions and expanding development opportunities in transit-oriented overlays. I have said repeatedly that I want the money from these bond proceeds out the door as quickly as possible, and I firmly believe that the City of Philadelphia should be able to do big things in a short period of time. If we succeed, it will be seen as a huge win for the city in the eyes of the public, developers, our government funding partners because they told us that they're watching what we're doing, and the philanthropic communities, both inside and outside of Philadelphia. I say all of this because I'm about to acknowledge the elephant in the room: Councilmanic prerogative. E. Executive Order that I am not trying in any way, shape or form to go to war with councilmanic prerogative. E. Initiative, I am proposing a new framework for how the disposition of municipally-owned land could work as it relates to the home bond proceeds. So I am proposing that Angel and the Land Bank and Herb, they work directly in partnership with the City Councilmembers to preauthorize the sale, donation or transfer of all municipally-owned real estate for the purpose of constructing new housing under this new program. Now, stay with me please. This will only apply to smaller parcels of land. For example, where a single family or a few single family homes, duplexes, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 triplexes and quadplexes can be built. Now, in practice this will apply of course to many of the Turn the Key projects. Now, for the purposes of these bond dollars we need to develop an expedited process where it doesn't take a piece of legislation to move land out of our Land Bank. Now, just keep in mind that land can get held up for months, particularly when Council is out of session during the summer. But I want to say and this is where I want to go back -that's why your lived life experience is important -- I was a District Councilmember and I understand how important it is to ensure that you have responsible developers working on projects in your District and that what is getting built actually fits into Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 the quality and the character of the neighborhood. That is why I am also proposing that my Administration, Jesse Lawrence and Planning and Development work directly with City Council to create a preapproved list of developers. So first, we have a preauthorized list of land. Then we could have a preapproved list of developers. Furthermore, we can build out this list even more with recommendations from our advisory group and our stakeholders, all of those who we are engaging in this process. What does this mean? I got to put a point here. I'm going back to when we were talking about Rebuild and other programs and doing business with the city and how we wanted to grow these small, you know, minority business and women enterprises. And we would Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 often talk about debundling.
I can see Blondell Reynolds Brown right now talking about the debundling of contracts so that they were small enough for the smaller contractors to get approved for them. Well, if we put together this preapproved list of developers, developers can in essence tell us what kind of projects that they are interested in building. For example, if it was affordable housing or Turn the Key, and then let's not forget that these small developers, again who we have all said we want to have access to economic opportunity, they will no longer be working in a box of I want this developer to work on this project in my Council District. Now, if it's five or less properties or if it's Turn the Key, they can actually go on a list Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 where they're not limited to one area. They can do business in neighborhoods across the city of Philadelphia. Now, to me this is how we can in fact -- and I want to say it again -- debundle these development opportunities and make them available for small developers to be able to build citywide. This preapproved list of developers will essentially create what I have referenced with my team as a new pool of developers so that when a project is competitively bid out, we'll be able to choose a developer who comes directly from that pool, and nobody will be able to criticize us or say that we're trying to engage in any kind of nefarious activity because we have all recommended people to go on that list. They could have been recommended by stakeholders or they could have just applied on their Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 own, but they are vetted by Planning and Development and no one gets on that list without them being vetted and approved by the Council, along with that preauthorization of land disposition between the Land Bank and the Council. Why is this important? Because I want to reassure my former City Council colleagues that we will make sure that each parcel of land will be developed in conformity with a design standard created by the Department of Planning and Development to ensure that construction is consistent and complementary with the block. Mr. President, you laughed at me yesterday talking about, yeah, I remember you in front of the bulldozer. I did that, so I understand how important this work is that you are doing. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 In addition to that, the Department of Planning and Development will sit down, Jesse Lawrence, Angela, his team, John Mondlak, they will sit down with each District Councilmember to discuss the issue, specific needs and wants for their District. The feedback will be taken into account when producing the housing in that Council District. And then I want you to think about this: We have a preauthorized list of land that you work with the Land Bank to develop. Immediately you can begin to share that list with the RCOs in your District so the RCOs get a heads-up in advance, that at this piece of land they're going to build a triplex or duplex. If you have people who are interested in moving into this kind of housing, you can tell them that they can go to this Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 place to go and get help. It just takes a little bit more coordination and quite frankly the T word, trust, trust in our ability to get it done. So what I'm suggesting, and I said this yesterday, we have about -- Jesse, I think you told me a little over 4000 properties. Imagine if -- I'll go back to imagining. Imagine if we started with just 1000 properties, 1000 properties citywide that Councilmembers worked with Angel and the Land Bank, and you worked with them and you all developed this preauthorized list. When the list was developed and the developers -remember, now we have a preapproved developer list and we know what developers are going where and what they're building.
Imagine, Councilmembers, being able to call Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 every RCO that represents the area where the duplex or the house is going to be built, and you call them all to a meeting. Now, I'm putting on my hat thinking about how I would have done it, Anthony, if I was still sitting in your seat. And I would call all of our RCOs together in that area and say, hey, this is coming, because you are the RCO leaders in our area, you get a heads-up, right, on this. Because that's the challenge sometimes. People in the community, they get angry. They see this development happening in their neighborhoods. They don't know anything about it. They don't know who's building it. They don't know how to access it. What if they want to move or live there, they want to take advantage of these new opportunities? We ensure that the Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 community leaders, the leaders of our RCOS have access to that information. So I am proposing this as a framework. Mr. President, I know we have to sit down, we have to talk. Councilmembers have to talk. Our staffs, our teams, you know, Greg and Ali from Guidehouse, Ira and Reinvestment Fund, you know, get the former Secretary's cell number and call her and ask her whether or not these programs were in existence in other cities and how fortunate we are to have them moving in the city of Philadelphia. But I beg of you, City Council of Philadelphia, let's prove people wrong who say that we can't work together to make this process work. That's why I'm saying it's 4000, we can't do them all at one time. Let's start with 1000 and develop the model and see Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 how it works. And then if there's anything wrong, we can adjust the model. We can make improvements. And I was thinking about this because I thought about Turn the Key, I thought about Restore, Repair, Renew. Neither of those programs today are functioning exactly as they were when they were started. Both of those programs have constantly improved and been improved because when you stand up a program, you identify what works, what doesn't work. You make tweaks here, you make tweaks there and then you get the model that you want. I'm asking you, Council President Johnson, leaders of City Council and members of City Council, let's take a shot at it. If we get together, we can do it. It has taken us time, it has taken Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 us work and it has taken much thought to get us to this moment. But guess what? We got here following what I like to call the Parker Process. This is what my team did to even get us to this moment. First, we study the problem and we study it rigorously. Then you surround yourself with the best and the brightest subject matter experts. You bring in external stakeholders and you button up and do a whole lot of listening to their ideas. You gather the best talent in city government and engage and listen. You hear their ideas too, because you'll be surprised what recommendations and ideas come out of our government. Then you propose your plan and then you act with urgency and transparency. Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 We are ready now. We have $800 million in public financing under this housing plan. We will use it to strategically leverage the $2 billion housing plan overall. Why are we doing it? Because the people of the city of Philadelphia deserve this plan, because our people deserve more housing and they need it now. And it is all of our jobs to work together to deliver it for them. I want to thank you, Mr. President, members of Council. Thank you all. And I can't leave without doing this. If you're watching at home, everybody who's here put your 1s in the air please. Thank you, Council, for your partnership. Nice. This is what we're trying to do, have One Philly, a United City.
And now, we're using this housing plan to get it done. Let me hear you all Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 repeat after me and say, One Philly. (One Philly)
Now, that time I was terrible. Put your 1s back up. (Laughter.)
Let me have you all repeat after me and say, One Philly. (One Philly)
We can do this, Mr. President and Council. Let's go. (Applause.) (Council at ease.)
Members of City Council, Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 we still have to adjourn. That concludes our special meeting. The Chair recognizes Majority Leader Gilmore Richardson for a motion to recess.
Thank you, Mr. President. I move that this Special Meeting of Council will stand in recess until called by the Chair. (Duly seconded.)
The ayes have it and the motion carries. Thank you all very much. ) Special Session on Housing 03/24/2025 C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. m. E. S. 31:12 80:3,4 60:10 lined ty 36:3 33:1 transact 13:21 8:12 tools ultimate 51:8 ions 59:22 triplex ly unpreced 58:16 77:22 top 90:21 40:14 ented 59:7 10:16 transfer triplexe unapolog 16:15 74:8 30:15 77:9, s unscrupu 77:7 etic 16,20 85:1 78:3 top- 57:9 lous 84:16 83:11 quality true understa 14:11 93:23 62:6 transfor 19:19 unwaveri nd 94:24 m 47:21 ng total 22:23 97:8 63:11 55:9 trust 37:10 36:23 times Transfor 91:4 52:4 Urban touches 20:15 29:3 mation 57:23 34:1 tuned 62:2 19:2 85:20 35:16 tough 64:8 tired transit- 89:23 20:2 turn urgency 11:19 oriented 50:7 understa 95:23 tourist title 83:3 53:15 nding 23:6 utility 75:19 transiti 54:14, 9:15 51:15, track 80:21 on 23 63:7 19 62:17 today 29:17, 55:14, underwri tracts 21 17 3:3,13 ting V 79:16 56:13 6:3,17, transmit 45:14 trades 57:3,7 vacancy ted union 17:20 58:7 39:1 8:15,23 82:18 59:24 28:7 78:24 70:4 27:2 32:1 transpar Unite 71:8 28:23 85:3 59:24 ency 4:20 33:6 87:13, vacant 60:6, 95:24 United 35:17 23 94:6 22:1 36:18 12,18, travel 96:22 24:17 tweaks 64:1 22 28:12 97:4,6, 25:4 94:15, 70:16 traditio traveled 15,17 55:4 94:9 nal 57:7 units 63:10, types 9:17 treasure 11:1,7 12 today's 22:8 d 21:3, Valle 19:5 traffic 39:9 58:19 17,18, 34:9 told 35:12 20,24 83:16 valued 26:14 Special Session on Housing 29 03/24/2025 78:1 visitors WBES wife 87:20 64:12 values 2:13 61:13 42:16 89:24 79:14 70:15 3:7 wealth Williams 90:15 82:16 visually 39:18 70:21 93:20, 85:22 values28:12 54:18 71:2,11 21 87:18 based 94:15 working15:22 vital weather- win 95:1 class variety 59:21 related 83:13 96:11 21:22 39:8 73:16 68:14 wisdom 69:6 worked works venerabl votes 3:12 15:3 31:22 20:3 weatheri 4:12 e 91:14, zation 40:3 34:4 vulnerab withstan 15 69:15 42:9 version le d 74:4 worker 54:24 52:12 68:1,10 69:5 13:6 64:18 website women veteran workers 94:1,14 W 64:4,19 60:18 13:8 28:6, world week 86:24 vetted walk 11,13 76:21 40:19 31:3 word 32:20 52:15, worst 89:1,4 weekend 19:20 22 walks 14:11 71:16 55:23 57:11, vibrant 10:12 91:4 worthy 23:14 weeks 24 wanted 43:6 86:22 30:4 words workforc vibrate Wow 82:20 4:5 e 2:18 war 28:9 welcomes 52:2,5 28:1 victims 84:4 16:4 work 57:17 wrong 14:10 Ward 93:19 well- 10:24 59:13, view 43:23 94:3 3:14 20:12 21 32:18 waste 28:8 60:13 wrote 16:9 Wetzel viewing 29:2,10 working 14:16 58:10 55:1 watching 33:12 12:15 63:15 VII 54:24 38:21 27:14 Y 74:6 Where'd 46:22 6:5 34:10 year 83:17 21:2 49:5 Vincent 36:11 29:24 96:17 Whip 57:18 46:6,9 81:11 78:14 water- 7:22,23 61:23 47:3 vision 80:21 8:1 62:9 54:15 4:19 resistan 73:15, year's t wholesal 56:15 15:20 17,20 81:14 69:2 e 57:9 27:3 74:3 years 64:24 60:5 65:5 ways 84:10, 10:8 61:7 79:5 13 86:6 Special Session on Housing 30 03/24/2025 21:5 45:19 76:1 yesterda y 89:20 91:7 York 26:22 Young 14:15 Z zoning 24:20 82:22,