Pennrose Properties has dramatically revamped its plans for a highly visible site at 8th and Vine streets in Philadelphia’s Chinatown neighborhood after plans for the development of an Equal Justice Center fell through.
The Philadelphia real estate company is now exploring developing an affordable senior housing project on a portion of what is now a surface parking lot.
“Pennrose notified us that they are no longer moving forward with their project and so PRA canceled all of their rights and reservations to the site,” said Jamila Davis, a spokeswoman for the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, or PRA. “Pennrose has been working with the community on a proposal to build a standalone affordable senior housing building on part of the site, utilizing their recent tax credit award.”
The redevelopment authority board would need to approve a new redevelopment agreement for the smaller project on just a portion of the parcel, Davis said. “For the remainder of the site, PRA is not planning to put out another RFP at this time because the community stakeholders requested that we work with them on a community-driven planning process,” she said.
Pennrose didn’t respond to requests for comment. The company did receive $1 million out of a $1.5 million request from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program for the development of the Equal Justice Center.
Those funds will go to the financial support of an Equal Justice Center but not in the new development of a building, said Jessica Hilburn-Holmes, executive director of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, the Philadelphia Bar Association’s philanthropic arm.
With those additional funds, a total of $5.5 million has been raised in RACP funds since 2015 for the endeavor, she said. So long as the foundation keeps the state updated on its plans, it can seek and receive extensions on the use of those funds, Hilburn-Holmes said.
“There’s a lot of activity at the Equal Justice Center that isn’t construction related,” Hilburn-Holmes said. “We pivoted from a physical manifestation of this goal to more virtual.”
In September, 14 civil legal aid agencies and social-service nonprofits, which were going to anchor the Equal Justice Center at 8th and Vine streets, decided to pull out of the project, citing the effect of the pandemic. The project was initially planned in 2017 as a $40 million, 160,000-square-foot mixed-use development.
In addition to the Equal Justice Center, the development called for 55 affordable housing units for senior citizens, another building containing market rate rentals, a small hotel, retail space and 181-space parking area.
The selection of Pennrose and the Equal Justice Center was controversial and pit two competing development teams and projects against each other.
The redevelopment authority request for proposals for the site in 2016. A team consisting of the Philadelphia Bar Association along with Pennrose and EZ Park put forward its proposal. Another venture involving Parkway Corp., Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. and Presbys Inspired Life, had proposed a mixed-use development consisting of 60 affordable senior housing units, 120 family housing units and 29,000 square feet of streetfront retail space reserved for small businesses, including a supermarket.
The redevelopment authority ultimately selected in 2017 the Pennrose team.
The bar foundation is pursuing several different fronts in keeping with its mission and pursuit of an Equal Justice Center. For example, it is going to do a data assessment of legal aid providers to find ways to improve the efficiency and collaboration. It wants to begin to enlist “Community Justice Navigators,” which other cities have to help guide someone through an issue before it reaches court. The organization would also like to establish a legal incubator that takes newly minted lawyers who have passed the bar and train them in the business of law to help small and micro businesses.
The foundation is also focused on establishing mobile units akin to a blood or book mobile that visit neighborhoods and provide services to residents. “The impetus for the project is to improve access to justice for Philadelphians,” she said. “There is a call for better access.”
That said, there are ongoing discussions about finding a location to house legal services, Hilburn-Holmes said. With the office market in flux, more options in existing buildings may come available that might work for the center.
“It’s still our goal in the end to have a physical location,” she said.
*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal
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