$84 million reboot: PHA seeks to transform vacant Germantown properties into 121 affordable rentals

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The Philadelphia Housing Authority is slated to spend $84 million to overhaul more than two dozen blighted properties in Germantown.

The work, set to start by spring 2027, is expected to yield 121 affordable rental units scattered across the Northwest Philadelphia neighborhood.

“It feels like we’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” City Councilmember Cindy Bass said at a community meeting this week.

PHA took ownership of the 28 properties in October. The agency acquired them through the Philadelphia Land Bank as part of a broader initiative to remake and expand its sizable real estate portfolio.

The neglected properties — a mix including townhomes, rowhouses and apartment buildings — are vacant. The housing authority is currently in the design phase of the project, but expects to offer units ranging from one to five bedrooms. They will all be deeply affordable, available to households earning at or below 30% of area median income, or $35,820 for a family of four.

The portfolio includes the historic Hamill Mill Apartments and Blakemore Apartments.

“None of its final. It’s all preliminary,” said PHA President Kelvin Jeremiah of the proposal.

Until 2020, the properties were tied to a group of companies controlled by Emanuel Freeman, who led social services agency Germantown Settlement for more than two decades before a bankruptcy judge ordered the politically connected nonprofit to liquidate in 2010.

The once heralded organization was dismantled after Freeman mismanaged millions of taxpayer dollars. But even after the scandal, Freeman continued to claim legal ownership of dozens of properties that had been part of the Settlement empire, collecting rent from tenants while ignoring their requests for basic maintenance.

Some buildings had unreliable heat and water. At other locations, trash piled up in common areas.

After a lengthy court battle, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority effectively seized 45 properties from Freeman, an exceedingly rare move that saw the agency walk away from collecting $9 million tied to federal loans awarded to Settlement to develop low-income housing in Germantown.

PRA took Freeman to court after residents derailed a deal that would have saved Freeman nearly $6 million in interest and penalties on those loans. Under the proposal, Freeman would retain control of the properties if he agreed to fix them up and pay back the principal on the loans.

The friendly offer disappeared after the deplorable condition of these properties came to light. A group of dedicated neighbors spent weeks photographing and documenting Freeman’s negligence, then presented their findings to the authority.

“We inherited property that is currently uninhabitable,” Jeremiah said.

The housing authority expects to spend this year preparing for construction. That includes lining up financing, which the agency expects to include low-income housing tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.

Jeremiah has said it would take about 18 months to complete the renovations. As part of the plan, the agency has also proposed building a new rental property in East Mount Airy to replace a vacant structure the city recently demolished because it was deemed unsafe.