Philadelphia Housing Authority will use eminent domain to redevelop a huge swath of vacant properties in the Sharswood neighborhood.
"The Philadelphia Housing Authority will seize nearly 1,300 properties for a major urban renewal project in the city’s Sharswood neighborhood," according to an article by Emily Washington. "The plan includes the demolition of two of the neighborhood’s three high-rise public housing buildings — the Blumberg towers — that will be replaced with a large mixed-income development. The new buildings will increase the neighborhood population tenfold with the majority of the new units to be affordable housing."
Washington also reports local concerns about the accuracy of the city's figures regarding how many of those properties are actually vacant. Washington's coverage also includes discussion of the Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants that will contribute funding for the project.
An article for Mensah Dean for the Philadelphia Daily News reports that the project has been described as the largest redevelopment project in the history of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. "Plans call for building 1,200 affordable and market-rate rental units and homeowner units; 500,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, renovated school and recreation centers and new athletic fields," according to Dean.
Matt Gelb broke the news about the plans for the project, with in-depth coverage for the Philadelphia Inquirer that includes descriptions of the current conditions in the Sharswood neighborhood in addition to the details of the redevelopment.
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