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Kenyatta Johnson's new approach to affordable housing in Point Breeze
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Kenyatta Johnson's new approach to affordable housing in Point Breeze
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Last week at City Council, as Councilman Kenyatta Johnson got some media attention for jumping into the fray over AVI, another resolution he had sponsored was passed virtually unnoticed. The legislation would enable the Second District Councilman to steer $2.2 million in leftover Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) dollars toward renovating vacant city-owned structures in the Point Breeze neighborhood.
The move is indicative of a new strategy for Johnson, who caught flak from developers and constituents last year for pushing forward a plan to have the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) seize 17 privately held lots for development into affordable housing in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. That move was described as an effort to consolidate the lots with city-owned lots to allow for larger-scale development to take place.
The action spurred intense criticism from the public, led by developer/neighborhood gadfly Ori Feibush, who alleged that privately held properties were being condemned in spite of active plans for redevelopment. The affair aroused wider criticism of land-use policy due to the condition of the 311 properties the city already owns in the vicinity, many of which are ill maintained and have sat unused for years.
“We thought it would be a better idea to find city-owned shells in our district and rehab them instead of taking more properties onto the city inventory,” said Johnson’s legislative aide, Steven Cobb, explaining the new plan.
Johnson already controls the $2.2 million through a fund called the Qualified Redevelopment Bond (QRB), which is essentially a pool of unused cash from former Mayor John Street's controversial urban renewal scheme, NTI. Each district councilmember gets access to a limited amount of QRB money, but there are strings attached. As its name implies, QRB money can’t be used for new construction, only for land acquisition and rehabilitation of existing structures. Johnson’s portion had been designated for acquisition, reflecting the Councilman’s initial focus on acquiring more land for future development.
“All [the resolution] does is change the categorization of this money from acquisition to rehabilitation,” said Cobb.
Cobb says the money will then be used to rehab up to 11 existing shells in the neighborhood, after the PRA consolidates ownership of the properties which are currently controlled by a variety of city agencies. However, he cautioned the deterioration of many city-owned buildings in Point Breeze may reduce that number after upcoming inspections determine the viability of redevelopment.
“Unfortunately, a lot of [the buildings] are in a dilapidated condition,” said Cobb, who added that the Councilman would have liked to rehab more buildings. “The problem is, there’s not that many shells,” he said, referring to larger portfolio of city land in Point Breeze, which is mostly comprised of vacant lots.
One of the PRA properties Johnson had the city acquire last November is being targeted for rehabilitation.
The city will release an RFP in the coming weeks for development of the structures into new housing that will be priced “well within the affordable range”.
Cobb says the plan has been the works since last spring. “The steps of the process take a little bit longer than we would like,” he said. “I don’t have an exact date, but we’re hoping to have shovels in the ground by early summer.
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