{"id":186742,"date":"2026-05-08T01:10:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/186742\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T01:10:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T01:10:07","slug":"philadelphia-housing-tenants-fight-to-preserve-affordable-units","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/186742\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia housing: Tenants fight to preserve affordable units"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have a question about Philly\u2019s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send us a story idea you think we should cover.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Housing advocates in West Philadelphia are urging the city to take on nearly 1,000 privately held rental units so they can remain affordable into the future.\n<\/p>\n

The portfolio of properties is home to roughly 3,000 tenants, who fear they\u2019ll be displaced if the city doesn\u2019t strike a deal and the subsidized units become market-rate under new ownership.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to become homeless,\u201d said longtime tenant Carlos Boothe during a Thursday afternoon rally<\/a> in Kingsessing. \u201cLet\u2019s keep it affordable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

For now, developer Neighborhood Restorations controls the portfolio, which comprises 925 units scattered across about a dozen neighborhoods, including areas where property values are rising. The list includes Powelton Village, Cedar Park, Walnut Hill and Overbrook, as well as neighborhoods in Southwest Philadelphia like Cobbs Creek<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

The properties are all backed by tax credits with expiring affordability restrictions<\/a>. Most of them are single-family homes, and many tenants have rented the same apartment for years.\n<\/p>\n

Advocates are pushing the city to reach a deal while it has the ability to put forth a priority bid to buy the units. Under city law<\/a>, that window ends in early July. After that, Neighborhood Restorations can start marketing these homes to the general public, which could translate to higher rents that current tenants can\u2019t afford.\n<\/p>\n

Kingsessing block captain April Turner has rented a four-bedroom home from Neighborhood Restorations for more than 20 years. She shares it with her six children and said the city owes it to her and her neighbors to keep their homes affordable \u2014 and to give tenants the opportunity to buy them where possible.\n<\/p>\n

\u201c[Mayor Cherelle] Parker said when she ran, \u2018I\u2019m going to support homeownership and affordable homes.\u2019 Now we\u2019re saying, \u2018You said it. Let\u2019s prove it,\u2019\u201d said Turner outside an apartment complex on Chester Avenue, where dozens gathered on the sidewalk.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have a question about Philly\u2019s neighborhoods or the systems that shape them? PlanPhilly reporters want to hear from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186743,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2313,69,71,70,2312,877],"class_list":["post-186742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-affordable-housing","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-planphilly","tag-west-philadelphia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}