Good Neighbor
New public housing boosts property values in Philly. The Philadelphia Housing Authority must be one of the most popular neighbors in the City of Brotherly Love. Two new studies show that the housing authority’s multi-year real estate development program is dramatically increasing property values in formerly distressed neighborhoods.
From 1999 to 2004, property values around six PHA sites grew by 142 percent, more than 2.5 times the citywide rate of 55 percent, according to studies by Applied Real Estate Analysis and Econsult Corp. In sharp contrast, property values fell in neighborhoods surrounding three older PHA developments included in the studies.
“This whole study just turned conventional thinking on its ear because public housing is not something that people think of as building value,” says Kirk Dorn, the housing authority’s general manager, communications.
Econsult estimates that property values around the six PHA sites rose by more than $200 million over the five-year period, generating an additional $4 million a year in property taxes.
The sites studied include Richard Allen Homes and Cambridge Homes in North Philadelphia; Courtyard at Riverview in Queen Village; Martin Luther King Homes south of Center City; Falls Ridge in East Falls; and Greater Grays Ferry Estates in South Philadelphia. (For more on the Grays Ferry project, please see page 98.)
The housing authority will present the data to Congress and financial supporters. “In order to continue building more housing, we have to prove to our funders that we are making an impact on the city,” says Dorn.
–Rachel Z. Azoff