ABOVE PHOTO: Elected officials and other dignitaries participated in the groundbreaking ceremony in North Philadelphia (Photo courtesy of PHDC)
Susquehanna Square gives Philadelphians more affordable housing options
Community Ventures, Grands As Parents, and the City of Philadelphia recently announced the Susquehanna Square project. This project provides 37 units of much-needed affordable housing including 14 units targeted for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren or other kinship caregivers.
“We are excited to announce the Susquehanna Square project. This project will be a step to address the great need for affordable housing in this area,” said Anne Fadullon, director, department of planning & development. “I am proud of this development and the opportunity to provide affordable, safe and quality homes for the people of this community.”
“We hope that Susquehanna Square will be a pilot project for a long-term partnership with Grands As Parents to provide grandparent-headed households affordable housing opportunities and create a stable home environment for these families,” said David La Fontaine, executive director of Community Ventures. “We want our residents and community members to focus on more important things than to worry about how they will afford their rent or where they will live. This project gives opportunities to Philadelphians with multi-generational housing needs and affordable options in a thriving and changing part of North Philadelphia.”
“Susquehanna Square is one of the first intergenerational housing developments built in Philadelphia, and we’re proud to support it,” said City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. “This will enable grandparents caring for grandchildren to live in affordable housing in North Philadelphia. We thank our partners at Community Ventures, Grands as Parents and Philadelphia housing officials for all their work on this very important project.”
Susquehanna Square will be composed of three buildings with 37 units in total. Unit sizes will vary, with one, two, three and four bedrooms. Fourteen of the units that are two, three or four bedrooms will be targeted to grandparents raising their grandchildren or other kinship caregivers. “We are so pleased after 20 years to see this project break ground,” Jean Hackney, vice president and executive director. “This is a great step in providing caregivers housing they need.”
The project has been funded by the Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority, Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, the Federal Home Loan Banks of Pittsburgh and New York, TD Bank, TD Charitable Foundation, the National Equity Fund, and Community Lenders. Onion Flats Architecture and Domus Construction are leading the project development team.
Construction began in September 2019 and is scheduled to be completed in October 2020.
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