Planning the Lower Schuylkill, Agassi funds reuse for charter school, PHA owes HUD $700k, Center City’s long-term strength tied to schools

The Lower Schuylkill Master Plan aims to reexamine the 4,100-acre industrial landscape gracing the east and west banks of the Schuylkill, home to the majority of the city’s underused industrial properties. Christine Fisher reports for PlanPhilly on the plan and two open houses hosted by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, Commerce Department, and the Planning Commission to gather input on the plan’s objectives for industrial growth and recreational opportunities.

Andre Agassi is on a mission to put successful charter schools into sustainable, often adaptively reused, buildings. Thanks to the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, KIPP Philadelphia Elementary Academy has a new home in a converted warehouse on W. Westmoreland Street in Tioga, reports the Inquirer. The official celebration opening the school takes place today, and marks the completion of the Agassi Fund’s first Philly project.

HUD wants the Philadelphia Housing Authority to give back $726,400 in federal money used to pay for legal fees during a federal audit of the authority, reports the Inquirer. PHA’s extraordinary spending on outside legal services was the subject of a HUD audit.

Center City’s rebound has been tied to young professionals with growing families putting down roots in the city’s core, but The Philly Post wonders how fleeting that progress might be given the School District’s dire straits. Joel Mathis writes that he loves living in Fitler Square but concludes, “I’m not willing to sacrifice my son’s education and well-being just because I like being in walking distance of Rittenhouse Square.”

The Buzz is Eyes on the Street’s morning news digest.