We relocated our workforce development at that school. Also, we have various partnerships with
Temple and other community organizations to provide really wraparound services to the
residents of the neighborhood. As I said, we also acquired the Reynolds School that is currently
under construction that will be developed into senior veteran housing. So you can see we are
well under our initiative. To date, we've probably either have under construction or planned over 50
percent of the units towards our 1200 goal. In addition, as the name implies, this is a choice
grant. So the whole purpose of choice is really to create a neighborhood of choice. So this overall
transformation plan is just not rental. It is a combination of both rental housing, home ownership
housing. Also, it needs to be a mixture of both market rate affordable housing, as well as market
rate housing. So future phases, we will have both market rate home ownership, affordable home
ownership, market rate housing, and affordable housing. And I apologize if that was way more
information than that was required. No, that was great, Nick. You actually covered a couple
questions I was going to have later on. So after the transformation plan was developed,
what what was the next step then that that ultimately brought you to now the implementation
phase was there additional community involvement with that how how did that implementation phase
come to be it's really so once we had the transformation plan that was really our path
forward so really it then becomes how do we then begin implementing that transformation plan
because we worked with everybody to get to a point that we all agreed this is what we should
do in this transformation plan. So I think I described a lot of the steps that we took
in kind of really kicking off the transformation plan. Normally most housing authorities will not
start their implementation until they receive an implementation grant because as you know the
development of 1,200 units plus commercial plus redoing some schools for the neighborhood
is a huge financial commitment. However, from PHA's perspective, this is the top priority at PHA,
and there was a decision that we were going to implement this plan, whether or not we receive
the choice implementation grant, whether or not we actually receive that or not. What makes this
really spectacular receiving this grant. And by the way, this is the second grant that the housing
authority has received. And we are only one of a few across the country that actually has a second
choice implementation grant. But what it really does, it really energizes
choice implementation grant. But what it really does, it really energizes this plan and it can
really speed up the timing that we can actually accomplish this plan. Thank you. Now you alluded
to the fact that these many of these lots if not all of these lots were either publicly owned or
were acquired through the condemnation process. Is it accurate that the land condemnation process
started via the filing of a Notice of Condemnation on October 5th, 2015.
That is correct.
And that notice is accurately reflected in the packet at Exhibit 15.
I'm sorry, yes, that is correct.
Thank you.
now the board can see a full executive summary of the implementation plan the implementation phase
grant at exhibit 21 uh but i did again put some snapshots up on the screen that highlight the
main goals of the plan now nick is it also accurate that as a part of this implementation
phase, that a specific housing plan strategy and a specific neighborhood strategy were both
developed based on the lengthy transformation plan goals? That is correct. And as I said,
the choice application process for housing authorities across the country is an extremely
competitive process. Normally, they only award either two, three, or four implementation
when there is funding available. I think we know that there are thousands of housing authorities
across the country, so this is extremely competitive. And one of the things that they
really look for is that your vision is consistent with the transformation plan. So the reason that
we really believe that we were successful were for a couple reasons. If you look at our
transformation plan, it really aligns to the actual development that we're doing. Second,
we demonstrated that we had the ability to do this comprehensive plan. Three, our track record
of completing a prior choice implementation plan. And then also they were really impressed
with our neighborhood and people as well, you know, given the resources that we've committed
to date, I think all of those factors made us a lead contender to receive this second choice
implementation grant. Thank you. Now, the board can refer to the full housing plan. It's included
at exhibit 23 but um nick just just generally can you just very very briefly summarize the
the housing plan uh sure so the housing plan is a sub component of our 1200.
so for the purposes of the choice application because they're only funding a specific housing
plan and there's a lot of requirements that go in what housing counts towards the housing plan
but basically our housing plan under the choice implementation is to develop 697 units
and that's broken down approximately 450 rental units and about 250 home ownership units.
In addition, this is not all being developed by the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
Another requirement that Choice likes to see is that we actually have housing partners
and really more private developer partners because, again, we want to create this neighborhood of choice.
For this particular initiative, our housing partner is a joint venture of Penrose Property,
who is a local affordable housing developer and the hunt companies which is a top five
affordable housing developer in the country and and the neighborhood plan generally speaking that
reflects a lot of the goals that you've already talked about such as a combination of the different
housing units the inclusion of the commercial is that generally accurate that is true so for
example as you said well how are you getting to 1200 units if you're just developing 697
that is in our housing plan but within our neighborhood plan there is additional housing
that will be part of the neighborhood plan an example of that is the mixed use retail center
that I described that currently includes 100 units of mixed income housing and that will count
of mixed income housing and that will count towards our goal as well as our recommendations
towards our goal.
within the housing within the neighborhood plan. Now you mentioned this but were conceptual plans
developed during the transformation phase and or the implementation phase? Yes that is a requirement
So the choice, really, their view of their money is that your plan is ready to go, but
for you need this money.
This is not, they're not looking for kind of pie in the sky or just an early vision.
They want to make sure that if they provide you with the $30 million, you can immediately
get into your plan and your development strategy.
So we had to get into a lot of detail about where we are proposing to develop and where exactly our 697 units within the Choice Housing Plan would be located.
And these plans were used during the vigorous community engagement process, correct?
and is the conceptual phase for a site plan that i have up on the screen right now
this is also included at exhibit 25 is this the conceptual plan that was presented throughout the
process uh yes and included in the choice application and this is with some limited
exception largely consistent with what is proposed before the board today correct
Now, before I turn to the project, I just want to quickly touch on three remaining issues.
First is the affordability aspect of the project. Now, aside from PHA's core mission concerning
affordable residences, what other aspects of this project dictate the fact that it must be
affordable housing on these lots? It is really driven by the financing that will be used to
develop this. As you indicated, this will be a low-income housing tax credit. They have
affordable restrictions that they will require. PHA will be using a substantial amount of its own
money, which also dictates affordability requirements. We will also have choice
funding in this development that also has affordability requirements as well.
And there are also restrictive covenants that are on the property. Is that correct?
That's right. All of the funding that I described, each one of those funders, including the PHA funding, will all have their own restrictive covenant that will ensure long-term affordability.
The most restrictive is the tax credit program that will require affordability for 40 years.
and just for the board's purpose those hud restrictive covenants are both recorded and
are shown in exhibits 16 and 17 and and nick how long are those covenants uh valid for is that
am i correct that it's 40 years uh that's right that's why i said the the most restrictive will
be the low-income housing tax credit restrictive covenant and that does require affordability for
a 40-year period. Thank you. Now as the board will learn, a few of the lots did receive refusals for
lack of commercial space. You have referenced this quite a few times, but can you just summarize
as a part of the neighborhood plan that was developed, which I have up on the screen here,
where is the commercial component of this plan intended for? So as part of the planning process,
one of the things that we heard was, at one time, Ridge Avenue was a major commercial corridor.
Obviously, over time, that has really become blighted and vacant, and there was a strong
emphasis to really bring back Ridge Avenue, and I would say the Ridge Avenue corridor is
probably from College Avenue all the way up to Cecil B. Moore, so that is where our intention
is that we want to really bring that commercial carter to really bring it back to what it was
as a vibrant commercial carter. One of the things that we really understand is that retail is a
different world today. So we are really being strategic in how we approach the retail development
along Ridge Avenue. We need to make sure that we don't cannibalize ourselves and just build out
the retail, but we don't really get occupancies. So we've been really strategic. An example of
what the neighborhood has said and how we have responded, this is a food desert. There is no
grocer near this particular neighborhood. That was another concern that we had, that can we bring a
That was another concern that we had, that can we bring a supermarket to this location?
supermarket?
Obviously, it is really tough to work with supermarkets because they basically run demographic and income analysis.
And given the blight that is in this neighborhood, you know, it was really tough to find a grocer who would make a commitment and be a pioneer.
And that is the reason why PHA initially built its headquarters building here.
we wanted to be the pioneer bring people to this location because if you're going to have
successful retail you need to have people and we're really proud that our mixed use retail
we actually have a grocer under lease we also have an urgent care under lease we also have a
bank which was another concern that there are no banks in this area we are able to sign a lease
with a local bank. In addition, we also have a restaurant, and we purposely left some retail
vacant that as construction really gets underway, we will be aggressively marking the remaining
square footage. But of the 44,000 square feet, we only have about 8,000 square feet that is not
currently under contract. Thank you, Nick. Stick around. At this point, before we move into the
specific details of each lot and the refusals. I do want to just quickly address several refusals
we received concerning proposed lot size. Okay, I have a question. Are any of these refusals
duplicative? They are, and I'm going to try and handle the groupings of them as best I can.
Okay, great. So with that, like I mentioned, a few of the lots did receive refusals for the lot size.
proposed. Now, as Nick mentioned, the lots were all acquired through the condemnation process.
When this occurred, many of the lots were consolidated, not formally through L&I,
but they were consolidated with the OPA simply out of convenience of including many lots together
on a single survey when they do the condemnations. So as a result of that, when we submitted for
zoning, several of the development sites include subdivisions. Now if you refer to Exhibit 3,
which I do have up on the screen, you'll see the current OPA map. You can see that, and you'll be
able to see this more with the detail of each lot, but you can see that all of these individual lots
exist and they, if there is a subdivision as a part of the application, it's simply returning
the lot back to the condition that it already was in before PHA condemned them. So the subdivisions
are a mere formality. All right, at this time if the administrator can unmute Chris Stigler.
Mr. Stigler, you are free to unmute yourself. Please wait for the chair.
Frank or Madam Vice Chair?
Yes. Mr. Stigler, can you hear me?
Okay. Can you put your name on the record and please spell your last name?
Certainly. Christopher Stigler, S-T-I-G-L-E-R, Principal at Black and Hayes Architects.
Thank you. Do you swear for him to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
Okay, you may proceed.
Chris, I want to walk you through the development sites here and address some of the small dimensional refusals that we received.
Now, as I walk through the developments, I will bring up photos of the existing sites and snapshots of the plans.
Full plans and elevations are included in the exhibits at tab five.
Now, Chris, before we get into the details of each individual development site, can you just briefly summarize for the board the varying types of units that are included with this development?
So, for example, the range of number of bedrooms, the range of unit sizes, things of that nature.
Absolutely.
The development is primarily a mixture of what I would call, in other instances, single-family rentals, townhouse-style rentals, if you will.
That's the majority of the development, ranging from two to five bedrooms.
There are a couple of instances of duplex units that are included as well.
And the range of unit sizes?
Unit sizes will range from 600 square feet for the smaller, 650 for the smaller one bedrooms which are accessible units in the duplexes to upwards of close to 2000 square feet for the five bedroom unit.
Unit sizes will range from 600 square feet for the smaller...
Thank you. Full floor plans are included in the exhibits at tab 8.
Now let's start with 2301 Master Street.
This particular development spans nearly the entire block from North 23rd Street all the way to North 24th Street, from Master Street to Harlan Street, excluding just a few lots on North 23rd Street. Is that generally correct, Chris?
Yes, it is.
And what is the proposal for this site?
This site's proposed to have 18 townhouse style residential units. You can see them on the screen
there along Master Street and along 24th Street and then at the corner there would be a community
center building constructed as well. 15 of the units will be three-story, three-bedroom units.
They're approximately 1,700 square feet in size and the end of the units, the ends of those runs
are three-story four-bedroom units that are about 1,875 square feet. The community center at the
corner is about 2,775 square feet in total. Also includes a leasing office as well as the community
center space that's required by the LIHTC funding. At the rear along Harlan Street, you'll see that
there is an off-street parking lot that is accessed off of Harlan and that will provide 16 spaces for
the residents to use. Now, effectively, these are single-family homes, but because they sit on one
lot, they're classified as multifamily? Yes, that's correct. It's all one lot, so it's not
being subdivided by individual units. It's rentals. So concerning the bicycle refusal,
and we'll treat your testimony about the bicycle refusal on this lot as the same as any other lots
that received the same refusal. The refusal notes that zero spaces are provided, but there are
actually bicycle spaces provided. Isn't that correct? So what we've done is at the rear of
every unit, there's a storage room that is accessed from the exterior of the unit. And this is more
than sufficient space to store a bicycle within that secure location. And we feel that it provides
a more residential feel, as well as a more secure storage solution to an open bike rack.
Actually improves upon the zoning requirements in that sense.
Thank you. And the code would require 10% interior landscaping parking for this lot, correct?
That is true, yes.
And how much is actually provided?
We're providing perimeter landscaping. So the interior landscaping is basically
requirement to put islands into large parking lot areas. It's our thought that this particular
parking at 16 spaces just crosses the threshold of requiring it, but that the intent is for
larger multi-aisle lots that are basically asphalt, seas of asphalt, that the interior
landscaping is put in there to break up that continuous asphalt, and that the intent of the
requirement is met by the perimeter landscape and buffer. And if you were to comply, how many
parking spaces would be lost here? We would probably lose at least two, if not three, spaces.