PHA acquires 381 homes in Germantown for $75.9 million
The acquisition is part of a larger strategy, where PHA is seeking to buy units that are increasingly too expensive to build itself.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority acquired four properties totaling 381 units of housing in Germantown, part of a larger plan to acquire private-sector buildings across the city.
“These are strategic investments to provide more housing options for PHA-assisted residents, and we get to do that in an area of Germantown that is quickly becoming gentrified,” said Kelvin Jeremiah, CEO of the housing authority.
PHA purchased the four properties known as the Greene Manor Apartments Group for $75.9 million from private sellers. The agency would not reveal the names of the property owners.
The four properties PHA just acquired in Germantown are:
67 units at The Fairmount (357 W. Johnson St.)
56 units at The Gardens (6439 Greene St.)
91 units at The Tudors (259 W. Johnson St.)
167 units at The Vue (6350 Greene St.)
“The units are spectacular, having just been renovated,” said Jeremiah. “They’re in a good area.”
All the buildings host one-bedroom units or studio apartments, but unlike many newly built multifamily buildings they also have a large selection of two-bedroom units. The Tudors even includes eight three-bedrooms, which are rarely built.
Jeremiah said the buildings would be using project- and tenant-based rental assistance programs to ensure that lower-income residents could afford the newly acquired buildings.
This is part of a larger strategy from PHA, which has found that buying private-sector housing is much cheaper than building new homes, especially in the midst of an apartment glut in some areas of the city.
Earlier this year, the agency announced that they would be acquiring 2,000 units of private-sector housing in corners of the city where lower-income Philadelphians increasingly struggle to afford rent. Jeremiah says that buying a unit costs around $300,000 while building a new one can cost up to $600,000.
“For every unit we build, we could buy two,” said Jeremiah. “So it makes financial and fiscal sense for us.”
Jeremiah emphasized that PHA’s plans would accord with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s push to build or rehabilitate 30,000 units of housing during her tenure, which was the subject of a major speech earlier this week.
“I applaud PHA for continuing its complementary effort to expand and preserve its housing portfolio,” said Parker in a statement. “Having been born and raised in the city’s Northwest, I’m particularly thrilled for the Germantown community, which — like many Philadelphia neighborhoods — has a tremendous need for affordable housing.”
Last year, PHA also acquired the largely abandoned properties of Germantown Settlement, a politically connected affordable housing developer that collapsed in 2020.
The agency acquired 116 housing units that way — only 16 were still occupied — and Jeremiah said that they are still in the midst of an environmental review with HUD — the federal housing agency — before they can move forward with rehabilitation.