The Philadelphia Loan Program Transforming the Demographics of Development

A Philadelphia program has helped more than 3,000 citizens — most of whom are Black and female, and almost all of whom are locals — become developers of affordably-priced housing, reports Courtenay Duchene for the Philadelphia Citizen. The program, called Jumpstart, was founded 10 years ago in the Germantown neighborhood by local investor Ken Weinstein and includes training, mentoring and financing. The Citizen’s investigation of the program’s impact reveals that its nearly $60 million of loans have flipped typical developer demographics on their heads. 

“In an industry where 99 percent of real estate firms are White-owned and, as a 2021 Knight Foundation study found, only 2.8 percent are owned by women, Jumpstart tells a very different story: 83 percent of the people who use its loan program are Black, five percent are Hispanic and 51 percent are women,” the article states. What’s more, 20 percent of Jumpstart loans go to developers who live in the same zip code they’re purchasing in. 

In order to qualify, borrowers from the Jumpstart program must rent and resell their properties at an affordable rate — at or below 70 and 90 percent of the area median income (AMI), respectively. 

Since its inception, Jumpstart has spread to other municipalities in Pennsylvania. It is expected to expand to Washington, DC, Indiana, Delaware and beyond in the coming years.