{"id":91987,"date":"2026-01-20T21:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/91987\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T21:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:37:16","slug":"pha-gets-50-million-building-trades-loan-for-brith-sholom-rehab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/91987\/","title":{"rendered":"PHA gets $50 million Building Trades loan for Brith Sholom rehab"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jack Tomczuk<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia Housing Authority<\/a> is preparing to move forward with an extensive rehabilitation of a low-income senior housing building in Wynnefield Heights, thanks to a $50 million loan from a coalition of construction unions, officials announced Tuesday.<\/p>\n

PHA acquired the Brith Sholom House for $24 million in 2024<\/a>, in response to tenant advocacy over deteriorating conditions in the 12-story complex and threats of utility shutoffs. Residents documented leaks, rodent infestations and other issues.<\/p>\n

Soon after taking control of the building, the housing authority relocated the remaining tenants \u2013 more than 100 older adults<\/a> \u2013 when inspectors realized the extent of the repairs needed.<\/p>\n

Kelvin Jeremiah, PHA\u2019s president and CEO, said the organization is set to embark on a $99.6 million \u201cgut rehab\u201d in an effort to reopen 336 units. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2026 and take 20 months, he added.<\/p>\n

Once completed, one- and two-bedroom apartments will once again be available for people ages 55 and older who meet income guidelines, officials said. The building, at\u00a0 3939 Conshohocken Ave.,\u00a0 will have a new health care center, community room and other amenities, according to PHA.<\/p>\n

More than half of the renovation cost will be covered through a loan from the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council<\/a> pension fund, to be paid over 15 years at a 4.5% interest rate. Payments will be guaranteed by the municipal government, city officials added.<\/p>\n

The remaining funding will come from a mix of city, state, federal and PHA dollars, Jeremiah said.<\/p>\n

He told reporters that, if PHA had borrowed the money through a bank or other conventional means, the interest rate would have been in the 6 to 7% range.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe deal is unprecedented,\u201d Mayor Cherelle Parker\u2019s finance director, Rob Dubow, said. \u201cWe have not had this type of partnership ever before in Philadelphia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker hinted at forthcoming collaborations involving the Building and Construction Trades Council, with additional announcements as soon as this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t an investment for the Building Trades,\u201d the organization\u2019s business manager, Ryan Boyer, added. \u201cIt\u2019s a downpayment on our city\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor touted the Brith Sholom plan in the context of her broader Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative, which aims to preserve or create 30,000 units of affordable housing. PHA has its own, similar plan, with a goal of 20,000 homes, and Parker spoke of a joint effort to hit 50,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working in tandem with the city,\u201d Jeremiah said at a City Hall news conference. \u201cPHA’s plan has been incorporated into the city’s plan. It’s one plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\tKeywords<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tAffordable housing,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Philadelphia Housing Authority,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Brith Sholom House,\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t Building Trades Council\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jack Tomczuk The Philadelphia Housing Authority is preparing to move forward with an extensive rehabilitation of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2313,45356,12557,69,71,23730,70],"class_list":["post-91987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-affordable-housing","tag-brith-sholom-house","tag-building-trades-council","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-housing-authority","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91987","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=91987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}