South Philly Review

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Wires interfered with the flight of balloons on 13th and Fitzwater streets June 30, but Michael Kelly smiled anyway. 


“That’s a great sign; they’re staying in the neighborhood,” the administrative receiver with the Philadelphia Housing Authority said after snipping a ribbon at the completion ceremony for the redevelopment of Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza. 


A 12-year endeavor, the revamping has made its originators eager to attract people with as much desire to settle in the Hawthorne section, stretching from 11th to Broad streets and from Washington Avenue to South Street, as the aerial objects. 


The initial speaker, Kelly lauded the four-phase redevelopment as “a mission accomplished.” The project comprises 245 low-rise homes, with 109 owner-occupied units and 136 rented spots. Last week’s festivities centered on 19 homeownership quarters on Clymer, Fitzwater and 13th streets, the final completed residences. 


The three-bedroom dwellings reflect PHA’s affinity for promoting New Urbanism, a design movement advocating walkable neighborhoods with diverse housing options and proximity to jobs. With the Avenue of the Arts as an added perk, Kelly and the other visionaries hope the mixed-income turf will continue its transformation from a troubled tract into a strong stretch.


“Today gives us proof of how strategic government investment can pay dividends,” Estelle Richman, a PHA board member and the chief operating officer for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, said. 


The federal government awarded PHA more than $25 million in 1998 through HOPE VI, a program crafted from recommendations by the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing. The grant called for Hawthorne to undergo revitalization in addressing resident needs through social and community services and management and physical improvements. The 74-year-old PHA, the nation’s fourth largest housing authority, partnered with Universal Companies, 800 S. 15th St., to maximize the endowment. 


“People are afraid of change,” Rahim Islam, the South of South establishment’s president and chief executive officer, said of hostility toward modifying Hawthorne’s identity. 


Even though opposition mounted, Islam and other believers persisted. Their dedication has led to investments totaling $81 million in the area, with private equity in the form of Low Income Housing Tax Credits and PHA home sales generating nearly 60 percent of the sum. 


“I’ll take that whooping anytime if we can have neighborhoods that look like this,” Islam said. “I kept hope in HOPE VI and am proud of the design.” 


The full plaza contains two- and three-story townhouses, duplexes and two small apartment buildings. Examples of Victorian architecture, the homes possess high-efficiency central air and heating along with wall-to-wall carpeting. 


“Hawthorne is not a gentrified area where the old guard is pushed out,” Patricia Bullard, president of the Hawthorne Empowerment Coalition, said. “We have something for everybody.” 



The city constructed the original four-tower plaza with 576 units in ’60, but blight, crime and social ills necessitated its implosion in ’99. Having received the HOPE VI funds the year before the destruction, PHA began the development in 2001 and situated more than half of the new work on the demolition site. The work has proven successful, as the plaza has become PHA’s most decorated development over the last decade, capturing, among other triumphs, a ’06 honor from the National Homebuilders Association as the Best Affordable Apartment Community. 


“We have 11 homes under agreement, and five of the buyers have settled,” Greg Hampson, PHA’s executive general manager of development, said of the 19 residences from within the model unit at 739A S. 13th St. 


Courtesy of their offering short treks to Center City and the aforementioned Avenue of the Arts, which covers Lombard to Locust streets on Broad Street, the homes go for $285,000, though Hampson stated that figure is certainly not the highest in the surrounding area. 


“We are selling to a certain income bracket, but the price is definitely comparable to others around here,” he said. 


Interested individuals must meet a list of requirements to be eligible for the homes. Full-time employment and a salary between $62,240 and $77,800 head the requisites. Upon acceptance, they would find themselves residing in some of the 7,600 units PHA has built or renovated over the last 10 years and would join the 81,000 people who call the housing behemoth their overseer. Homeownership counseling and membership in The Homes at Martin Luther King Plaza Homeowners’ Association also would accustom them to their new abodes. 


In addition to the theatrical joys that the Avenue of the Arts provides, residents should soon be able to experience aesthetic and athletic pleasure at Hawthorne Park, 12th and Catharine streets, which had a March groundbreaking and should have a spring opening.