Philadelphia's city budget was revised to include $14 million for the redevelopment of the demolished UC Townhomes.
Credit: Sydney CurranPhiladelphia's upcoming city budget will include $14 million for redeveloping the former site of the University City Townhomes — a former affordable housing development near Penn’s campus.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s initial budget proposal initially excluded funding for the site, but community members, including City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, advocated for and ultimately secured the funds.
“After years of hard work, we won a historic settlement agreement that included IBID donating about 20% of the UC Townhomes site to the City of Philadelphia," Gauthier wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
She also expressed her dedication to securing the funding necessary for the project in the City’s 2025 fiscal year budget. During this year's negotiations, Gauthier emphasized the City’s commitment to developing affordable housing.
Parker herself also emphasized the importance of the funding for the West Philadelphia site, sharing that “It’s extremely important to us because we needed to drive those dollars to that project for the preservation of affordable housing,” in a news conference last week.
The Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes expressed disappointment on social media at the initial lack of funding in the city’s budget, writing “Shame on Mayor Parker” in a post. They stressed the importance of restoring housing in an area that offers essential services such as “grocery stores, schools, hospitals, and public transportation.”
The UC Townhomes were originally constructed in 1983 to provide affordable housing for residents of the neighborhood — several years after the destruction of West Philadelphia’s Black Bottom in the 1960s. In 2021, IBID Associates announced that it would not renew its contract with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, putting nearly 70 families at risk of displacement.
The ensuing legal fight included multiple deferrals of the deadline for residents to vacate the Townhomes. Gauthier proposed a bill in late 2021, which the City of Philadelphia passed in March 2022, that prohibited any demolition of the site for 12 months. After the prohibition expired, the City issued a demolition permit in December 2023.
In April 2023, IBID Associates and the City of Philadelphia reached a settlement agreement that required the company to transfer nearly 24,000 square feet of land to the City for the future development of 70 permanent affordable housing units.
Demolition began at the site in March.
The redevelopment of the UC Townhomes is one of several key projects funded in the new $6.37 billion budget, along with upgrades to recreation centers, libraries, expanded paid parental leave for city employees, and various programs subsidizing gender equity causes.
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