With Point Breeze and Newbold bustling with new
development on the west side of the city, and with East Passyunk experiencing
the same directly to the east, it’s surprising that a corridor as large as
South Broad Street has only recently drawn interest from large Philadelphia
developers.
Beyond early investments such as Carl Dranoff’s 777 South
Broad apartments in 2010 and Southstar Lofts in 2014, the South Philadelphia
boulevard otherwise has remained home to gas stations and drive-through
restaurants, empty lots, and spotty, smaller developments.
But developers have taken more interest recently: Two
large, mixed-use projects are moving ahead at Broad Street and Washington
Avenue. One, called Lincoln Square, by Alterra Property Group and MIS Capital,
is slated to bring more than 300 apartments, restaurants, and a Target store to
the intersection sometime this year. Across the street, developer Bart
Blatstein last month closed on a vacant lot, and is considering a 34-story
retail and residential tower.
Already, the increased interest in South Broad has stoked
concerns and questions among residents: How much will projects like these
change Broad Street? Will longtime neighbors be displaced?
To help address at least some of that concern, one plan
is emerging along the South Philadelphia corridor to help a population facing a
housing dilemma: Philadelphia’s lower-income seniors.
At South Broad and Ellsworth Streets, next to the
National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia, plans are moving forward for a
five-story building that would offer 46 one-bedroom apartments for
income-qualified senior citizens. On the ground floor, the design includes more
than 7,000 square feet of conference rooms, offices, a kitchen, and communal
spaces for the church’s Cascia Center, a “center for peace and justice” to serve
the community and the many pilgrims who visit the shrine each day to pay homage
to St. Rita.
“It’s a great thing for this neighborhood and for
affordable housing, and having it right on Broad Street is great — it’s a great
gesture for the city,” said Nancy Bastian, a partner at Cecil Baker + Partners,
the Philadelphia architecture firm that designed the property. “There’s just
not a lot of affordable housing in that area.”
Camera icon Jessica Griffin
Before plans for senior housing were made for the empty
site, a previous plan for a one-story prefabricated building was put forth. It
drew widespread resistance.
The design is quite a change for the space, which today
is a parking lot across from a diner, corner stores, and bars. Three years ago,
renderings for the site were put forward by Robert W. McCauley of Strada
Architecture L.L.C in Philadelphia, planning for a one-story, prefabricated
$2.5 million shedlike structure. Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron
called it “one step up from a tent,” arguing that greater density was needed at
such a prime location. Community pushback followed, despite explanations from
the pastor and former shrine director, the Rev. Joseph Genito, that it was all
St. Rita’s could afford.
Those plans fizzled, and the St. Rita’s site began
drawing interest from developers, many of whom had different residential and
commercial mixed-use plans. Finally, one developer and one plan won out:
affordable senior housing, to be developed by Catholic Health Care Services of
the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
“It’s supportive senior housing at an address on South
Broad Street for people who have lived in this community for years,” said John
Wagner, CEO of Catholic Health Care Services. “This development represents an
opportunity to provide balanced development … in one of the hottest
neighborhoods in Philadelphia.”
Across the region and the nation, senior citizens are
facing a housing dilemma: As Americans are living longer, many seniors want to
age at home. But locally, with half of Philadelphia’s houses estimated to be
more than 60 years old, many properties are not equipped for the features
seniors need, such as handrails and first-floor bedrooms, minimal stairs, and
wheelchair-accessible bathrooms.
For many seniors, moving is necessary. And though 55-plus
luxury retirement complexes, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities
abound, options for lower-income seniors are more limited. Today, about
one-third of adults 50 and older are estimated to be “cost-burdened” because
they spend 30 percent of their income on housing. Nearly a quarter spend more
than 50 percent.
The Philadelphia Housing Authority supports more than a
dozen affordable senior-only housing communities across the city, and private
developers offer affordable options, too. Yet most the housing authority’s
developments are far from Center City, concentrated in the Northeast, West
Philadelphia, the Strawberry Mansion area, and the Southwest. Only one, the
Gladys B. Jacobs Manor at Fairmount Avenue and 11th Street in the West Poplar
neighborhood, is close to the center of Philadelphia.
More and more, affordable-housing advocates nationwide
have been pushing for increasing integration of affordable housing into
wealthier communities. Building low-income housing in more impoverished areas,
they argue, makes it more difficult for residents to get richer.
Placing an affordable-housing community in a prominent
Center City spot was part of the strategy behind Catholic Health Care Services’
planned development.
“I can step outside and wave to City Hall,” said Chesley
Turner, the shrine director for the parish who will lead the Cascia Center once
it is built. “We want to leverage this position to be more of a part of our
community and help it.”
Camera icon Jessica Griffin
The South Broad Street location is within sight of City
Hall, which is in the background.
“This is a society that tucks our seniors away,” Turner
said. “But having them right on Broad Street says we don’t forget about our
seniors.”
The senior-housing plan received zoning approval in
December, and Catholic Health Care Services is now working on amassing city,
state, and federal funding for the $17.3 million project. The project has
received a $1.4 million commitment from the Augustinian Friars, and the
development group is applying for nearly $12 million in low-income housing tax
credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. There is no cost for the
land, which is owned by the St. Rita of Cascia Shrine and the archdiocese.
The group is aiming for a 2020 opening.
To qualify for the housing, seniors must be 62 or older,
and rent will be based on a sliding scale. No senior will pay more than 30
percent of his or her income, said Suzanne O’Grady Laurito, assistant director
of development at Catholic Health Care Services. Only a person who makes 60
percent or less of the area median income can qualify — $34,980 for a single
person, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s
2017 estimates.
Bastian said the architecture firm designed the
apartments with accessibility in mind. They include open kitchens with
appliances at wheelchair level, walk-in showers, and lower-to-the-ground
windows. A plaza and open spaces for seniors to gather will be situated
outside.
For the Cascia Center on the ground floor, Bastian said,
the firm designed an all-glass facade to show the center’s openness to the
community. And though its opening is
years away, Turner said, she was exploring programs the center could offer,
such as counseling and meditation, services for victims of violence, and panels
to promote interfaith understanding.
Source: Philly.com
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