Desperate Philadelphia Landlords Turn to Housing Authority

Weary, debt-ridden multifamily landlords in Philadelphia are casting hopeful glances towards the city’s housing authority.

The Philadelphia Housing Authority is fielding an unprecedented level of interest from property owners looking to sell apartment buildings, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported. Landlords are approaching PHA as loan maturities loom.

PHA chief executive officer Kelvin Jeremiah said the agency was being approached “now more than ever.”

“Folks are calling us literally from Center City to Wynnefield,” Jeremiah added. “Every neighborhood in the city, I have probably looked at properties.”

Since the start of last year, the PHA has purchased nearly 1,100 units through its $6.3 billion Opening Doors initiative, centered on the preservation, acquisition and creation of 20,000 affordable housing units over the next eight years. In the next two years, the authority aims to acquire 4,000 units and is focusing its acquisition efforts in neighborhoods where it has historically had a limited presence.

In total, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker is looking to preserve and create 30,000 affordable housing units across the city in the coming years.

For the PHA, acquiring and preserving units is more cost-efficient than building housing, especially if tariffs upend construction costs. Jeremiah estimated it cost $225,000 per unit to acquire versus $550,000 per unit to build.

And the PHA has been putting money where its mouth is. Last month, it acquired a 381-unit multifamily portfolio in Germantown for $75.9 million, a deal that came in below the agency’s per-unit projection. The authority’s recent purchases also include a $51 million acquisition for a 233-unit property in West Philadelphia and several other smaller buys.

One factor that could slow the PHA’s acquisition onslaught is a gap in funding, particularly from the cost-conscious federal government. Jeremiah walked away from a recent meeting with HUD Secretary Scott Turner feeling “cautiously optimistic” about continued federal support for the authority.

— Holden Walter-Warner