Great news for the Frankford neighborhood in Philadelphia! Frankford House, developed by a partnership between the Frankford Community Development Corporation, Telesis Corporation, and Wasserman Properties, will bring new affordable housing to the area. RHLS Staff Attorney Joe Jampel represented Frankford CDC on the construction financing for the project. Now that this transaction is complete, the construction of Frankford House can move forward.
Frankford House will house seniors in a new 42-unit affordable development. The affordability of the housing is supported by a Section 8 voucher subsidy. The future tenants will not pay more than 30% of their income. The apartments will be rented out using income level, with six units for persons who earn 20% of Area Median Income (AMI); at least 26 units for persons making 50% of AMI, and 10 units for individuals with income no greater than 60% AMI. In addition to these affordability protections, six of the apartments will be fully accessible.
A key feature of this development is the level of community involvement. RHLS assisted Frankford CDC in entering into an agreement with the other partners that guaranteed that the development would be responsive to community concerns, be marketed to seniors in the community, and would provide employment opportunities to local residents.
Frankford House is just one part of Frankford CDC’s development strategy in the Frankford community. After the success of Frankford House, Frankford CDC is now exploring several other residential and commercial development opportunities that would bring additional affordable housing and workforce opportunities to the neighborhood. In addition to its development work, Frankford CDC offers technical support to area businesses and provides workforce assistance to job seekers. They work with the community in a variety of ways, RHLS is very proud to partner with them in this vital work.