RHLS Supervising Attorney, Raina Mehta, and Staff Attorney, Kathryn Robinson, closed the deal on a new affordable housing development with New Kensington CDC (NKCDC). Ruth Street Civic House, a $21.5MM LIHTC development, will add 44 affordable homes to Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood.
Construction is underway, as of this blog post, the crew has begun the excavation, laid the perimeter foundations, made the base of the parking lots, the elevator tower is nearly complete, and the underground plumbing is in progress. The slab will be poured later this month, October, and the framing is expected to begin in late October or early November. The construction is expected to take 18 months to complete and the building should open in November 2025.
Once constructed, Ruth Street Civic House, adjacent to the site of NKCDC’s Orinoka Civic House and NKCDC’s headquarters, will consist of a newly constructed building containing 44 apartment homes. The apartments will be a mix of 32 one-bedrooms and 12 two-bedrooms. Of these, there will 6 new homes offering accessibility to residents who are physically limited, as well as some units that will be accessible for residents with hearing and vision impairment.
The apartment’s rent will be restricted and affordable. 11 units are reserved for households earning 20% or less of the area median income (AMI= $114,00 in Philadelphia), 11 units are reserved for households earning 30% or less of AMI (=$34,000), and 22 units are reserved for households earning 50% (=$57,000) or less of AMI. In addition, there will be 5 units to be set aside for homeless individuals and all units will receive Project-Based Rental Assistance Demonstration (“RAD”) for a minimum term of 15 years.
The building will include a lobby, property management office, social worker office, bike room, maintenance shop, utility room, and trash room with a compactor, in addition to individual trash rooms on each floor with a trash chute, and laundry rooms on the second through fourth floors. It will be located on currently vacant land in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, an area that has inarguably faced many challenges.
RHLS played a central role throughout this transaction. Our involvement covered the entire transaction process, including investor and lender negotiations, entity formation, deal structuring, and contract review and analysis. We advised on tax credit compliance, addressed tenant protections, navigated title and land use restrictions, and facilitated the final closing. Through our comprehensive support, RHLS helped ensure the project remained fully aligned with NKCDC’s mission and positioned to serve the community for years to come. The development has equity financing from Raymond James, as well as funding from TD Bank, PHDC, and PHFA. The Architect is Nancy Bastian and her team at CBP and the General contractor is Caritas Construction. RHLS was fortunate to also work with Project Consultant Angela Steele of Stone Sherrick.