Brandywine Realty Trust making $5.6M investment in West Philadelphia

An ambitious, innovative $3.5 billion mixed-use project, called Schuylkill Yards, will get an injection of $5.6 million toward job creation and community engagement, developer Brandywine Realty Trust announced today.

Brandywine’s Neighborhood Engagement Initiative, the company announced, is designed to support local and minority businesses; employ local workers; provide job training and workforce advancement; preserve and add to the housing stock for all income levels; and encourage community organizations to fully engage in all aspects of their neighborhood development.

The monster development on land owned by Drexel University and Brandywine will take between 15 and 20 years to complete and transform a huge swath of West Philadelphia.

“A key component of Brandywine’s mission is active support of the communities in which we operate,” said Jerry Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine Realty Trust, “It’s important that our projects not only serve our investors and partners, but also the communities that house them. This initiative emphasizes Brandywine’s commitment to working closely with community stakeholders to improve Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, and ensure Schuylkill Yards serves as a bridge to West Philadelphia communities.”

There will be a press conference at 3 p.m. at City Hall to delineate the details of the Neighborhood Engagement. Speakers will include Sweeney, Mayor Jim Kenney, City Council President Darrell Clarke, Business Manager John Dougherty of the Philadelphia Building Trades Council and others.

Brandywine has five areas it wants to address with the initiative:

Small, local, and minority business development

job creation and career advancement

affordable housing and housing preservation

community organization capacity building

educational support.

“The Brandywine Realty Trust initiative has the power to enact real change for minority small businesses,” said Della Clark, president of The Enterprise Center, which promotes minority business opportunities. “When our local minority businesses have access to both capital and procurement opportunities, it drives growth and helps create local jobs. …This model demonstrates how developers can approach their partnerships with institutions, the community, and small businesses by working together to create impact through diversity and inclusion.”

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal