Philadelphia City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier announced the unanimous approval of a legislative bill giving a portion of the former site of the University City Townhomes to the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
The bill's approval by the The Committee on Public Property & Public Works — which was announced in a Dec. 3 post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter — will contribute to Gauthier's goal of providing 70 affordable housing units for the West Philadelphia community to replace the Townhomes, which were demolished in March. The bill is the latest piece of legislation that Gauthier, who represents the City Council district that includes Penn, has promoted to address the growing affordable housing crisis in Philadelphia.
"I look forward to the transfer receiving final approval from City Council next week," Gauthier wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian. "Even though true equity would have meant no one got displaced from their home, I fought for and won this piece of the UC Townhomes site to preserve this oasis of affordability in a neighborhood of opportunity. Working families belong in amenity-rich areas; this saga proves that when we stand up for working families, we win."
In February, Gauthier introduced the "Defying Displacement" campaign, a legislative package with the goal of protecting Philadelphia homeowners and renters. It sought to strengthen the City’s Fair Practice Ordinance by allowing the use of housing vouchers, freezing property taxes for low-income homeowners, and reinvesting revenue into neighborhoods.
The most recent legislative bill follows the demolition of the Townhomes this past March, which marked a new chapter in the fight to preserve the housing complex and affordable housing in Philadelphia. The complex was originally constructed in 1983 to provide affordable housing for residents of the neighborhood. In 2021, IBID Associates announced that it would not renew its contract with HUD, 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.
The settlement — which stemmed from a lawsuit filed by IBID Associates in response to Gauthier’s legislation — also called for the arrangement of a fund sponsored by Penn, Drexel University, and other University City institutions to assist displaced residents.
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