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<\/p>\nA vacant public housing complex overlooking West Philadelphia is one stop closer to coming back online after a large-scale redevelopment project commenced Monday morning.<\/p>\n
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\n Bisnow\/Noah Zucker\n <\/p>\n
\n The Philadelphia Housing Authority celebrated the beginning of its Westpark Apartments redevelopment.\n <\/p>\n
The Philadelphia Housing Authority<\/a> broke ground on the entirely affordable, 327-unit\u00a0first phase of its Westpark Apartments redevelopment<\/a>. This phase is expected to cost $205M.\u00a0<\/p>\n The overall\u00a0plan calls for\u00a01,000 mixed-income units at the corner of Market and 44th streets available to rent by 2030, PHA CEO Kelvin Jeremiah<\/a> said.<\/p>\n Of the initial 327 units, 140 units are earmarked for former residents of the now-vacant complex.<\/p>\n Those residents\u00a0include Angela Foster, who was the last to leave in 2022 and plans to be the first to return when units come online next year.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a whole list of people that\u2019s ready to come back,\u201d Foster, who arrived in 1979 and raised her two kids there, said at the groundbreaking event.\u00a0<\/p>\n Foster said she was at one point barred from Philadelphia City Council<\/a> meetings due to her vociferous advocacy for residents of the derelict complex. But on Monday, an array of elected officials, including Mayor Cherelle Parker<\/a> and Gov. Josh Shapiro<\/a>, came to celebrate her work.<\/p>\n The design for the first phase of the project \u2014 a partnership between PHA,\u00a0L+M Development Partners and MSquared<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 will include new retail, one acre of green space and a community center with social services for residents.<\/p>\n Tenants are also slated to benefit from connections with the surrounding neighborhood, including an\u00a0Aldi<\/a> and the 46th Street Market-Frankford Line stop.<\/p>\n \u201cThe development will be integrated back into the city streetscape,\u201d PHA’s Jeremiah said of the plans, which include the adaptive reuse<\/a> of three looming towers on the site. \u201cNo longer will it be an urban enclave, a super block.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Bisnow\/Noah Zucker\n <\/p>\n \n Angela Foster, Philadelphia Housing Authority CEO Kelvin Jeremiah, Gov. Josh Shapiro, Mayor Cherelle Parker and Pennsylvania Sen. Vincent Hughes\n <\/p>\n Parker said the affordable and market-rate units will be comparable and distributed evenly across the community. PHA will retain a ground lease at the property, which is set to be managed by Greystar<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are doubling the amount of deed-restricted affordable housing units on this site,\u201d said Councilmember Jamie Gauthier<\/a>, who represents the neighborhood.<\/p>\n The first phase’s $205M price tag includes $21M in federal funds, $7M from the state and $3M from the city\u2019s Division of Housing and Community Development. The project is expected to create 1,500 union construction jobs.<\/p>\n The groundbreaking followed the introduction of Shapiro’s $1B statewide housing plan<\/a>\u00a0last month. Without action, he said Pennsylvania is set to have a 185,000-unit shortage by 2035.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n