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Movin’ On Up: Eastern Lofts Ribbon Cutting Signals New Development in North Philly


Eastern Lofts

/All Photos by Patrick Clark

In Strawberry Mansion, where affordable housing with onsite childcare and retail space is rare, Mosaic Development Partners has unveiled Eastern Lofts, a new development in what was formerly a rundown parking garage, at 3002 Cecil B. Moore Ave.

 To commemorate the opening of Eastern Lofts, developers, state officials, funders and residents gathered for a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, June 8. Nestled between Strawberry Mansion and Brewerytown, Eastern Lofts will provide affordable housing, retail space and onsite childcare and a coffee shop.

Eastern Lofts

 The historic parking garage sat vacant for more than 30 years and was originally built for the American Railway Express Company in 1922 by the Philadelphia Realty Company. It was built in a trapezoidal shape reinforced with concrete and clad in red brick and polychrome tile accents.

 One partner contributing to the Eastern Lofts project is non-profit organization Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). LISC helps neighborhoods transform by working with community-based organizations and form partnerships to determine a community’s needs economically. Eastern Lofts was built with a $7.6 million New Markets Tax Credit.  Not only did this project bring life to the garage, it also brought 70 local jobs and thirty permanent positions.

Eastern Lofts

 Eastern Lofts features 37 modern, loft-style apartments and a courtyard on the second floor. Childcare is located on the ground floor. Fatima Hasan, a Keystone Star-certified childcare operator, will be in charge of the daycare. Having been honored as a White House Working Family Champion of Change, Hasan is also expanding her business by serving 80 children at the location.

 “I was one of the people to see this building before it was a building,” Hasan said.

 Additionally, the building includes small business offices for rent, a parking garage and a meeting space for community groups serving Strawberry Mansion.

 The apartments are considered mixed-income, with 40 percent of the units priced to accommodate tenants earning less than 80 percent of the area median income or $44,000 per year.

Eastern Lofts

 While Mayor Jim Kenney was unable to attend  the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he was quoted in a press release from Mosaic Development Partners.

 “In order for our neighborhoods to succeed, our children need to succeed,” Kenney said. “Thanks to Mosaic Development Partners and Mazzarini Real Estate, Eastern Lofts not only provides new housing options to Strawberry Mansion, but also brings a quality childcare center to the neighborhood. We must continue to keep early childhood education at the forefront as we reinvest in Philadelphia’s neighborhoods.”

Mosaic’s development team representative, Greg Reaves, said that being a historic structure, there were limits on what they could do with the building.

 He mentioned that a major challenge LISC encountered was that the garage is an historic building. The state had never before approved a building lacking a roof for historic tax credits. Originally, LISC was denied the tax credit, but they were approved after appealing the decision in Washington.

Eastern Lofts

Reaves thanked the community for its support in the project.

 “This doesn’t happen without significant participation from the community,” he said. “Part of our mission is to find people who share our collective vision.”

 When asked what this development means for Strawberry Mansion and Brewerytown, Reaves explained that Mosaic and its partners are working very close to the community and that the project is very sensitive to its needs.

 Most importantly, Reaves pointed out was that they hired locally and apartments are affordable by federal standards.Eastern Lofts

 “We asked the community groups for lists of people who are looking for jobs,” Reaves said.   After receiving the lists, LISC reached out to residents who were seeking employment.

 LISC expects the lofts to be fully occupied by September, and currently, 10 residents are living there. When the apartments are fully occupied, 60 people will be living in the building.

 As for the office space, three offices have already been rented by micro-businesses, Reaves said.

 John Grady, the president of Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that brought resources to the project, spoke about the importance of developing mixed-use buildings such as  Eastern Lofts.  

 Grady said his agency invested  $200 million specifically in projects that involve mixed-use development, restoration of meaningful historic facilities and that attract new people and existing residents to reinvest in their communities.

 “We really believe strongly that part of a community development vision for Philadelphia involves investing in mixed-used commercial developments in corridors like this that are going to anchor jobs in the community for the next generation,” Grady said.Eastern Lofts

 Annie Donovan, Director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI fund, said the fund provides tools for organizations that invest in areas that are difficult to invest in.

“We know that these projects are epic and heroic journeys to make happen,” Donovan said. “We’re very thrilled to be here today to celebrate this ribbon cutting.”

 She said the program used for the Eastern Lofts development, the New Markets Tax Credit, has been around for 15 years. Over those years, the Treasury Department has allocated $43.5 billion in tax credits across the county to invest in projects similar to Eastern Lofts.

 CEO of LISC, Michael Rubinger, said his agency has invested over $400 million in neighborhoods in Philadelphia that have produced 8,000 affordable homes and apartments and two million square feet of retail, commercial and community facilities.

 “I really wanted to be here tonight, because I believe this Eastern Lofts project is a wonderful example of the kinds of development that LISC is trying to do, not only in Philadelphia, but in all kinds of neighborhoods all over the country,” Rubinger said.

 He said this particular development is special because it combines mixed-income housing with small-business development with job creation and with space for high-quality childcare.

 “The kind of balanced, equitable, comprehensive development that leads to lasting and meaningful change,” he said.

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