PHA’s plan to save public housing | Real Estate Newsletter
And home water features are popular.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority has a $6.3 billion plan to save public housing.
Its proposed strategy of preserving, building, and buying thousands of homes in the coming years is the agency’s most aggressive plan to redevelop and expand its portfolio since at least the ‘60s.
The United States has chronically underfunded public housing. And now’s not exactly a great time for ambition in this space.
Today, we’re taking you inside PHA’s plans and showing you what the agency is up against.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
‘Escape’ at home: Learn about the growing trend of homeowners using water features in their landscaping.
Priced out: See what percentage of local home listings you could afford based on your income.
Coming soon: Learn the best time of year to sell your Philly-area home, according to Zillow. Hint: It’s coming up.
Seeing the vision: Peek inside this historical Montgomery County farmhouse that needed to be brought “back to life.”
📮Does your home have a water feature of some kind? For a chance to be featured in my newsletter, email me.
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Over the next decade, the Philadelphia Housing Authority plans to:
overhaul all 13,000 of its existing properties
build 3,000 new homes
buy 4,000 units in privately held buildings
But the agency is up against hurdles, such as elevated interest rates and construction costs and the Trump administration’s intention to slash both the size of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and programs that PHA relies on.
PHA’s president and CEO, Kelvin Jeremiah, says the agency will adjust based on whatever ends up happening.
One of Jeremiah’s goals is to replace homes that were lost in the ‘90s and ‘00s when PHA tore down many of its unpopular and poorly maintained high-rise apartment towers. Those moves resulted in PHA’s portfolio shrinking from 21,000 housing units to 13,000.
Keep reading to learn about reactions to PHA’s new strategy, the challenges PHA faces, and where the agency would get the money for its $6.3 billion plan.
I love water features. ⛲ They’re unexpected and fun and fancy. And watching and listening to them is calming.
More homeowners have been using them in their landscaping. U.S. demand is expected to reach $1 billion this year. About one in five homeowners who upgrade outdoor features add or upgrade water features, according to one national survey.
Phyllis and Jim Watrous upgraded from a bird bath to a pond with two waterfalls in the backyard of their home in Wynnewood. They like listening to the flowing water and watching the wildlife their pond attracts.
Sharon and Kevin Port in Newtown had tried putting trees and flowers in the middle of their circular driveway, but they weren’t happy with those. Now, they have a fountainscape that lights up at night.
Keep reading to learn about costs and maintenance, get an idea of your options, and see what questions to ask yourself if you think you want a water feature for your home.
The latest news to pay attention to
See what percentage of local home listings you could afford based on your income.
It’s about to be the best time of the year to sell a home in the Philly area.
A Main Line mansion, once part of the Schmidt Brewing Co. estate, is for sale for $3.95 million.
A judge dismissed a lawsuit against OCF Realty and a group of rental property owners that accused them of housing discrimination.
Toll Brothers is planning another 55+ community on Bucks County land it bought for millions of dollars.
Architecture critic Inga Saffron says CHOP’s plan for a thousand-car garage threatens to undermine the transformation of Grays Ferry.
The CEO of a national bus company has offered to turn the Roundhouse into a bus terminal depot.
Philadelphia is one of the best U.S. markets for industrial real estate, a new report says.
House of the week: For $565,000 in Broomall, a five-bedroom home that includes a historic Colonial and a newer addition.
Virginia Corsey had to get her husband, Anthony, on board when they found a farmhouse in Dresher that was built in 1742 and had been added onto several times. They both wanted a historical fixer-upper, but Anthony wasn’t seeing Virginia’s vision for the “hodgepodge” of a house that sat on roughly five acres.
She thought they could bring it back to life. So they bought the home in 2020 and spent the next four years renovating it.
The Corseys freed the original stone that was hidden behind vinyl siding. They added modern windows. They covered support beams with reclaimed wood and uncovered the original fireplace.
They also added a record room with a bar and lounge and a humidor cabinet for Anthony’s cigar collection.
The property’s original barn, which had been renovated by previous owners, sits next to the main house and is where Virginia’s mom now lives.
Peek inside the Corseys’ home, which includes historical artifacts on display and a secret room behind their library’s bookshelf.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Last week’s photo showed Gritty at the new southern section of the Schuylkill River Trail.
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Do you have a fenced yard and want to make some extra money? People across the Philly area are renting out their spaces as private dog parks.
My colleague Erin McCarthy took her pup to visit one recently. You can see cute photos of him and learn more about the app that calls itself Airbnb for dogs by reading her story.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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