Mayor Cherelle Parker said her administration hopes to leverage a $2 billion investment in housing under an “aspirational” proposal to expand the city’s supply of market-rate and affordable units amid an ongoing crisis. “There is no more important issue — single issue — facing our great city of Philadelphia than the issue of access to housing,” Parker said. The administration’s plan calls on the city to borrow $800 million in bonds, an unprecedented amount the administration plans to build on by bringing in public dollars and trading on the value of city land and assets: a list that could include Holmesburg Prison and the Roundhouse. Parker’s multifaceted housing proposal, which must be approved by council, is centered on creating or preserving 30,000 units of housing during her time in office. Under the plan, 13,500 units would be newly constructed and 16,500 would be preserved. The administration wants the overwhelming majority of those units to be below market-rate, including more than 20,000 units for residents earning 50% or less of area median income. Read more here.
Source: PlanPhilly; 3/24/2025