Proven Investments
Under Greene’s leadership, PHA’s capital strategy has changed as significantly as its operations. Through the innovative use of mixed financing, which allows housing authorities to combine capital grants with other public or private money, the agency has been able to overhaul the city’s most distressed projects. (For more information on mixed financing, see “Joint Forces,” Multifamily Executive, September 2005, page 98.)
“Our traditional budget might have been $300 million in capital [over a five-year period], but we have done well over $1 billion in capital development because we have managed to leverage what we raise and raise additional dollars through the low-income housing tax credit program, capital revenue bonds, the historic tax credit program, city capital, and state capital,” says Greene, who has landed more than $155 million in private investment for the PHA since 1999.
Take Greater Grays Ferry Estates, the $162 million redevelopment of Tasker Homes, a 1,077-unit, barrack-style, pre-World War II community that was demolished and now features 554 modern low-rise homes and apartments. The complex financial package included $95 million in general purpose government bonds; $55 million in private activity bonds with 4 percent low-income housing tax credits; and bonds secured by future allocation of capital funds ($12 million annually for 20 years, coming from HUD).
The strategy worked so well that the agency raised more money than it needed for Greater Grays Ferry Estates, giving it the opportunity to build an additional 211 units of affordable housing in other locations.
Greene’s cooperative financial approach scores high remarks from his peers. “As we look at an environment with very significant budget pressures and federal resource pressures, the need to develop these partnerships and look for ways of leveraging what you have with other resources is critical. Carl has done a terrific job,” says Sunia Zaterman, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Council of Large Public Housing Authorities.
Just as importantly in public housing, Greene also knows how to work with elected officials and local leaders. “I have been in this business a long time, and I know the people in charge of these agencies at the state and federal level,” says Greene. “People have trusted in me and invested in me because I have delivered over time.”
Neighborhood Rebirth
Nowhere is this more visible than in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Over the last seven years, PHA has invested about $1.2 billion to transform some of the most notorious addresses into properties that look and feel like market-rate housing. “Carl has done a phenomenal job of taking what were some of the most blighted areas of the city and turning them into some of the best and brightest neighborhoods in the city,” says John Westrum, CEO of Westrum Development Co., a private developer based in Fort Washington, Pa.
Beyond Greater Grays Ferry Estates, other notable transformations include the Lucien E. Blackwell Homes, which replaced three dilapidated 17-story towers with 120 townhomes (80 rentals and 40 for-sale units), and Richard Allen Homes, the childhood home of comedian Bill Cosby and perhaps PHA’s most infamous property, which now offers a mix of 408 two- and three-story townhouses, twins, and duplexes.
These garden-style developments each feature a different look: Richard Allen boasts a primarily brick façade, while just across the street Cambridge Plaza features a beige and yellow stucco exterior. But all of these low-rise, suburban-style PHA communities do adhere to several key design principles, such as traditional street grids, off-street parking, front and back yards, and clearly defined public and private spaces. These properties also offer a wide range of social programs to residents, from onsite health centers to job training and financial planning classes.
The city is certainly taking note of these projects. A recent study conducted by real estate research firm Applied Real Estate Analysis showed that neighborhoods surrounding PHA redeveloped sites grew in property value by 142 percent from 1999 to 2004, compared to a citywide average of 55 percent growth. “There used to be a time when nobody wanted public housing in their neighborhood,” says Greene. “Now I have every district council person who wants me to build a project in their community.”
Private firms are also lining up. Westrum Development plans to build a large for-sale multifamily property next to PHA’s affordable Falls Ridge community in Philly’s East Falls section. “The area is really going to be an example for the country of how to have mixed-income levels of housing sitting side by side,” Westrum says.
And there is, of course, an extremely long list of people who want to move into PHA’s newly redeveloped communities. Nearly 80,000 residents live in Philadelphia public housing, which has a waiting list of 100,000 people. While the agency’s new lower-density housing model has its fans, the Philadelphia press criticized PHA for reducing the number of available public housing units and instituting new eligibility policies that potentially hurt the poorest families seeking housing. Over the last decade, the number of public housing units has fallen from 21,000 to fewer than 15,700, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer (which has also applauded the agency’s efforts).
But PHA backs up its housing policies with a strong argument. “If we were to follow [our critics’] prescription, we would return to communities comprising high concentrations of poor people,” says Greene. “We saw the results of that mentality in the old-style public housing projects, which were breeding grounds for crime and other anti-social behavior.”
Instead, Greene has chosen a different approach, transforming his agency, the city’s urban landscape, and just as importantly, the experience of thousands of Philadelphia public housing residents, whose children can now play outside, safely, in their new yards.