is going in for the upcoming tax credit round and has not been submitted yet. It is going in. I
believe the deadline is February. It is. So you said that this was built to PHFA standards. The
QAP changed two weeks ago. This is to the current standards. It just got approved. Eugene, are you
able to answer that question? Yes. Based on the information that we have, this is up to the
current standards okay and then who's gonna be the property manager at the
project for the property management most likely we are going to be using CRM
yes yep and have you worked with CRM and your other tax credit properties yes
Yes, so we're actually about to close another tax credit property on 64th Street, and they are going to the property management company there as well.
so we're actually about to close another tax credit property on 64th Street and
I'm assuming this is one that you're acquiring that's already in existence.
Which one?
The other one?
Yeah, the other one is in existence. It received funding.
We're hoping to close next month on it.
Okay, and then a couple questions I have here is like, one, have you pre-scored this tax credit application?
Um, we have, I'm not the one that did the pre-scoring, but yes.
And so you guys are, I guess, pretty confident that this is going to get an award.
All right.
And then how many vouchers have you been approved for from PHA?
So actually, so originally we were, it was, uh, we were approved for the RAD vouchers.
Um, but you know, for all 30 originally, because the RAD vouchers went originally for all 30 units, because the RAD vouchers, you know, suddenly went away.
um we won't have any route vouchers but the building actually works i understand that but
so the included letter from pha is for the previous vouchers that are currently
not applicable to this project for the route vouchers no yeah okay so what is your plan if
you do not get tax credits to build a market rate he said to build it market right to build
market rate yeah we're very highly confident i wouldn't get it um get fun this round um
unfortunately a previous yeah sorry yeah i think my concern is that this is a very big building
this is a lot of units that if it does not get tax credits we would have approved it it could go up
30 units market rate and getting a 30 unit tax credit building is actually really it's incredibly
difficult while it is the minimum it is not typical most typical still senior buildings
in philadelphia are 50 to 60 units and they don't have this many two bedrooms so i would be concerned
about the like what happens if we approve this well yeah well previously that was the number
uh based on you know recent uh how funding works and what construction is units buildings are now
much smaller they are in the 30s the other bills that we have approved is 33 units um a few but
it's still not been typical the other thing that i will point out just as a reminder the buy right
number of units here is 24. so we're not we're not talking about you know 24 versus 50. we're
talking about that delta of six units and we did just by way of background when we originally
applied for this there used to be a discrepancy between some of the funding sources and the
bonus where you were not even allowed to use the bonus in order to get units so that's how we
originally applied fortunately that changed we actually went through the process we went back
incorporated the bonus in just to ensure that in an absolute worst case scenario there'll be six
units that there would still be some affordable units now again this was approved in 2022
they didn't secure funding
and they didn't build it as market rate
I think even just that
shows that they truly
truly want to build this as a
LIHTC project
they've waited a really long
time even having permits
in hand
I will just
add that
and also the 24 units that's also
without green roof
bonus as well
that's correct
right because you removed it that that's correct so so even so with the green roof bonus at that
point you're up another 25 which i i'm horrible at math in my head but that either gets you very
close so um i have a question about the trash so you said that they were going to be dumpsters um
along the the i think it's the rear edge of the building so are the seniors going to come down
five floors or or go down to their from their units to go dump their trash in the dumpsters
or is are the trash rooms on the floors well right now so right so yeah so as of right so
it's an elevator building as of right now we currently have trash being outside we are trying
to incorporate uh trash for the trash should be inside the building um it's just originally when
the originally we got zoning for the building there was no intention for light that was going
to be just a market rate development since then you know we're trying to pivot it towards uh
you know having to be you know light tech and 100 affordable and we're trying to you know have the
second entrance be on the westminster side and you know we it looks like we can probably put in
interior trash pickup even if it happens you know three to three four maybe five times per week so
it's constantly clean. It's just, you know, it's a little bit tight with space.
um it's just you know it's a little bit tight with space so i don't know how you do that and
not in your footprint not change or your unit mix not change if you're trying to do interior trash
shoots or whatever well the trash itself doesn't take up a lot of space um you got to get down
you got to have a place down on the first floor for it to accumulate
yeah i'm not sure we're still working with the architect on it we still don't have we don't have
final plans you know we just have preliminary plans of what we need to submit to phfa and
obviously the zba yeah and typically the way that it works is that you know when they get to the
point that they've secured funding and prior to going to closing a lot of these details get refined
before they even close.
So there's a lot of eyes on these things
before the funding is ever released.
Yeah, I know I've done a gazillion of them.
And those are things that they look at
when they actually submit.
So those are questions that are going to come up
during the review and whether or not.
So whatever, it's an affordable housing project.
And we also work with a third-party
consulting company, Innova.
So they really help us out,
iron all these little details out.
question yes question so it says here that your prior permit in 2022 was amended to remove the
green roof roof deck and pilot house is that still the case or this application was filed without a
green roof and without a double check on the pilot house so the there's no the roof deck here is not
for occupancy by people um there are there are still pilot houses for access but there is at
this point no green roof proposed okay so what are we doing for some sort of outdoor space or
recreation space or besides this so the the property itself is quite large and as you can
see there are open areas that surround the entire property um it's it's actually slightly less
coverage than the code would allow for so uh there there is there is still a bit of open space
surrounding the building um you know gene i i don't know if it's typical that there would be a
roof deck on the building, on a building like this for occupancy by, you know, the residents,
or if that's something that, you know, is typically frowned upon?
Yeah, not really. It's, you know, it's usually frowned upon. But also, you know,
in our original application, a big reason why we didn't have the green roof is we were going to
have solar on the roof. The funding that, you know, the government had for solar is no longer
available. So now there's a high probability we'll be able to do a green roof
you know regardless what's the plan for stormwater management if there is no green roof
uh just a regular roof tpo but most likely it will most likely have a green roof
yeah and the property is only 7 500 square feet so it does not trigger it yeah it doesn't it
doesn't trigger it for this size of a lot okay questions from our attorney um i just want to
clarify, we do have the letter that you showed from the RCO. Is that the RCO? I just want to
clarify, because we had something written down, West Belmont Civic Association. That is not the
RCO. We had the one that you're talking about. We called it affected RCO. I just want to clarify
for the record. There are two RCOs in this area, and I think the council office sort of switches
back and forth. The last time the project was heard, it was before West Belmont. This time,
it was assigned to belmont alliance civic which is the letter you have oh we have that okay thank
you questions or comments from the virtual audience not at this time chair planning commission
not a cemetery planning commission staff comprehensive plan recommends a change in
zoning from the existing rm1 residential multifamily to rsa5 residential single family
the proposal of 30 units is an overuse of the property and there are no unique physical
conditions or circumstances of the property that will prevent conformance with the code for minimum
front setback planning commission recommends the board deny the requested variance for 30 dwelling
units and minimum front setback so mi2026 002 451 896 north 41st street i vote yes with proviso
per amended refusal dated july 23rd 2026. michael johnson voted yes with proviso
Cheryl Gaston, my vote is yes with Proviso
Tanetta Graham, my vote is yes with Proviso
Ryan McAdams, my vote is yes with Proviso
ryan mcadams my vote is yes with proviso tie a win my vote is yes with proviso
Tyia Nguyen, my vote is yes with Proviso
thank you council congratulations on your new associate
three weeks in she's doing great i should i should have put her up here
thank you thank you all right
33 okay here we go so mi 2026 002 835 1833 south 18th street gabrielle fellis is the attorney
good afternoon mr good afternoon could you please state your name it's spelled for the stenographer
yeah that's uh gabriel fellis g-a-b-r-i-e-l last name is fellas f as in frank e-l-l-u-s
you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth
i do did you identify your client and relationship to this property yeah my client is gabrielle
ditchy and she's the owner of the property and the applicant our vice chair has a few questions
good afternoon have you submitted your documents and exhibits 14 days in advance of this hearing
i have and do you weigh the reading of your refusal to stipulate to its accuracy i do i think you can
see your screen and begin your case and you also have a letter of support from point bree cdc
yeah so unfortunately for this uh zoom it's uh it's coming in a little bit
strange and i'm not able to share my screen um
okay um it's not it's just not giving me the option
the way hold on let's ian do we have this on back there
hi chair it's ian uh mr fellas do you are you promoted to panelists already
now i am and now it allows me to thank you for that okay thank you great so do you guys see my
screen now yes great sorry about that uh so we're here today seeking approval for you the property
for visitor accommodations uh miss that she was already granted a visitor accommodations permit
in 2023 for this property uh so she's been actively operating it as an airbnb for the last
three years we're here today just because the permit had a three-year expiration date that
ended earlier this summer so we're just looking to renew that permit that's already been in place
this is our refusal for visitor accommodations which is prohibited in the arm one zoning district
so like i said my client was granted variance for visitor accommodations in 2023
and this is the permit that was issued in june of that year which expired in july
uh so here i have the airbnb listing that um that miss that she set up for the property
uh the property is configured as a four bedroom home with three and a half baths
a backyard and a roof deck throughout our time operating as an airbnb to our knowledge there's
never been any issues or complaints with any neighbors stemming from airbnb guests
she also uh maintained nearly nearly universal positive reviews from the guests who stayed there
she currently has a 4.97 rating out of five fives across the board for cleanliness uh really the
only thing that prevented her from a perfect rating was because of the location in relation
to center city a few more views here
we have some more detailed uh photos of the property from the full listing again the property
is set up as a four bedroom three and a half bath with backyard and roof deck you can see it's very
well maintained by miss ditchy fully furnished uh the upkeep obviously reflected in those positive
reviews from her guests
go through these a little quickly
and this is just one unit am i correct uh yes correct one unit
so here we have some floor plans of property uh get you a little bit of a sense of the dimensions
and the layout i also want to point out no basement bedroom spaces the basement is just a
bathroom and a rec room this is our zoning map again property is zoned rm1 so visitor
accommodation is prohibited in this district um however um
in the stocks so on these two pages everyone these price buttons are home and everyone
so on these two pages uh every one of these price buttons are home and everyone the green dots are
The green dots are also home.
also home same this page uh so we're looking at nearly 20 airbnb's within a quarter mile radius
in pointe breeze and this is the property itself i've turned to our community outreach efforts
we met with the point breeze cdc on july 7th on zoom this is the notification letter that
our office sent out to nearby neighbors and then this is the letter of support that we received
from the rco and its director albert litter page
um essentially also was extremely diligent and trying to engage neighbors
to discuss the project before that here that that hit that uh meeting with the
community um again she's operated it uh the last
three years without any complaints she got 10 centers of support before that
meeting including the two neighboring homes at 1831
and 1835 south 19th here is the deed to the property uh showing gabby taking title in march of 2018
this is our application for appeal
and product information form
here we have our statement of real estate tax compliance as well as the zba posters
notifying the community of the hearing here today
and lastly these are the certificates of mailing for the notification letters that we sent out
in advance of that july hearing i'm sorry the july meeting with the rco
so with that i'd like to bring my client uh gabrielle ditchey on to adopt my testimony
just just confirming audio
yep we hear you gabby i could you please state and spell your name for the stenographer
absolutely it's gabrielle ditchey g-a-b-r-i-e-l-l-e and last name is ditchy d-i-t-c-h-e-y