The city’s Office of Property Assessment estimates that about 50 percent of homeowners who are eligible for a special property tax break have yet to apply. If you are one of those homeowners, you might want to get on this – the deadline is September 13.

To be eligible a property must be the homeowner’s primary residence, so it can’t be a rental or a co-op. That’s it.

There are a bunch of different ways to apply. You can apply online or download a form here. The telephone number to apply is 215-686-9200. Once you apply and are approved, you will get the exemption every year unless you move or your deed changes.

Housing prices are bouncing back all over Philadelphia, except in West Philly, according to a recent report.

Second quarter home prices fell 7.8 percent in University City compared to the first quarter and an average of 5.9 percent in other parts of West Philly, the Fels Institute of Government analysis shows.

Photo by Katrine Lvovskaya.

Prices around the city bottomed out about 18 months ago and prices in many neighborhoods have begun to bounce back (as much as 8 percent in parts of North Philly), while prices in this side of the Schuylkill have lagged. Not to worry, said Kevin Gillen, a senior research consultant at Fels and the report author. He believes the down tick in house value is just a short-term phenomenon and can be regarded as more of a “correction” in pricing, particularly for University City, which saw double-digit home price rises for the last 10 to 15 years.

“The prices are still way above where they were 10 years ago. It’s like 100 steps forward and 15 steps back. Think of it as a mean reversion,” said Gillen, who believes the long-term trend for the area is still optimistic. “It’s positive going forward but a more modest positive than you had in the past.”

Average home prices across the city have increased 3.1 percent compared to the second quarter last year.

This over-inflation during the decade’s housing boom, said Gillen, can be attributed to University of Pennsylvania renewed, three-fold investment in the neighborhood: the creation of the University City Business District, which led to better public services; a mortgage program aimed at UPenn faculty and staff to encourage them to invest in the neighborhood; and the opening of the Penn Alexander School at 43^rd and Locust Streets 10 years ago.
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A drawing of the proposed building at 43rd and Baltimore. The five-story section in the foreground would include first-floor retail.

The developers of 4224 Baltimore Ave. – across from Clark Park – unveiled drawings during a public meeting last night of a modern, glassy residential building that would include a terraced section that peaks at 10 floors and includes upscale condos.

The design also includes a 5-story section on the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue with first-floor commercial units that would wrap around the structure and, if built, could house a large, street-level restaurant with outdoor seating along 43rd Street. A large rooftop terrace on this section would overlook the park.

The “if built” part is important. The development firm that is proposing the project, U3 Ventures, is a liaison between the community and the property owners, Clarkmore Group LLC, have not seen the drawings. There is no guarantee that the ownership group, which paid $3.5 million for the property in 2008, will go for the plan.

Clarkmore currently has as conditional permit to build a four-story, 92-unit apartment building with six parking spaces. That building would unlikely include any retail space. U3 is hoping the group can be persuaded to build a larger building that could support retail and underground parking. A large majority of the approximately 40 community members attending last night’s meeting gave tacit approval to the plan, which includes 108 rental units – mostly one bedrooms – and 55 resident-owned condos (though that number could drop considerably if the condos are built larger). Continue Reading

An artist’s rendering of the building project at 43rd and Sansom. This is an early rendering and thanks to some pressure from the Spruce Hill Community Association, the building will include some brick facade, windows on the west-facing wall and more landscaping.

Construction of a 4-story, 31-unit apartment building (artist’s rendering above) on the southeast corner of 43rd and Sansom could begin as early as this spring.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the project earlier this month. The building will occupy 121-133 S. 43rd St., which is now a vacant lot near the Bravo Advanced Care Center on the 4300 block of Walnut Street.  The Spruce Hill Community Association signed off on the project in February.

The project will include 31 off-street parking spots and 11 bicycle “parking spaces.” Two commercial spaces will also be located in the building ground floor. Most of the 31 apartments are between 600 and 750 square feet.

It’s no secret: property taxes for many in West Philly, especially in gentrifying neighborhoods, will increase beginning next year. Some will see dramatic increases under the city’s new Actual Value Initiative (AVI), which is designed to rectify disparities in assessed home values.

Check the assessed values of nearly every plot in the city using the clickable and zoomable map below.

Some estimates put the number of property owners who will see an increase at about 60 percent. Most of those will be modest increases. But residential properties on some blocks will see their taxes double – or more. For example,  property taxes on the east side of the 400 block of 51st street could rise as much as 270 percent. A caveat is in order here. Although the assessed values are right, the map is based on a 1.34 percent tax. City Council will set the actual rate in the spring and will also consider relief measures for the hardest hit property owners.

Property owners can also appeal assessments (see “AVI tools and resources” below).

Property owners will receive new assessments this week by mail, but the assessments are already accessible online thanks to the city’s efforts to make home values transparent. The clickable map below produced by the non-profit news and information organization Axis Philly shows the new assessed values. The darker the red, the higher the likely increase. If the property owner received a homestead exemption, that should be noted on the map.

Obviously, it’s too early to predict how these new values may impact neighborhoods. Part of the appeal (and higher sale prices) of homes in “up and coming” neighborhoods in the city like Fishtown, Graduate Hospital, Powelton Village and University City were low property taxes. So the tax increases themselves will likely impact sale prices (and “actual value”).

For property owners who live within the Penn Alexander catchment, the new assessments come on the heels of an announcement from the School District of Philadelphia that the school will implement a kindergarten registration lottery. The school has already said that spots in the elementary school are not guaranteed for new children in the catchment.

Many renters could also see a bump, depending on what type of property they live in. Many large apartment complexes will see a drop in assessed value and their taxes, while homes converted into apartments are more likely to see an increase.

Large commercial properties will likely see the biggest drop. Taxes on the CVS property at 43rd and Locust, for example, could drop as much as 20 percent. But many properties that house small businesses will not fare as well.

How will the new assessed values impact you? Will it drive people and businesses out of your neighborhood?

The clickable map (press “collapse” to reduce the size of the search window):

AVI tools and resources:

• Pew Report: The Actual Value Initiative: Overhauling Property Taxes in Philadelphia.
• Appeal your assessment
• AVI Calculator
• Newswork.org’s Taxipedia.

 – Mike Lyons

Andrew Bank of Strong Place Partners presents his firm’s plan for the future of the old West Philly High School building during a community meeting Saturday.

The old West Philadelphia High School building will be converted into loft apartments aimed primarily at graduate students and junior faculty from nearby universities, the leading bidder told residents during a meeting Saturday.

The New York-based Strong Place Partners, whose purchase of the building will likely be approved next week, plans to build about 300 apartments in the building ranging from small studios to a few apartments as big as 1,600 square feet. The firm’s president, Andrew Bank, said the tentative design will attempt to retain much of the 100-year-old school’s existing infrastructure, including one of the school’s large theaters and its gym.

“Our intention is to preserve the history and in some way preserve the character of the high school,” said Bank, who grew up in suburban Philadelphia and whose grandmother attended West Philadelphia High School.

Bank was speaking to community members during a public meeting at the new West Philadelphia High School. Those in attendance included members of the board of the West Philadelphia High School Alumni Association.

“We would hope that the tenants would be residents of West Philadelphia,” said Alumni Association president Paula McKinney-Rainey.

But Bank said that most of the tenants, who he expects to be associated with universities, would likely be transient. None of the units will be for sale. He said no allowance would be made for subsidized housing or housing aimed at senior citizens. He did add, though, that he believes the rents would be “comparatively affordable” to other housing options in the city.

The development plan calls for the preservation of as much of the building’s historic character as possible.

The ground floor of the building will house about 15,000 square feet of retail space and include businesses “geared toward enhancing the lifestyles of the building’s residents.”

Bank said the target demographic for the project included residents in their mid 20s to mid 50s associated with the universities. The project would be the largest private residential building aimed primarily at university-associated tenants west of 47th Street.

Bank said he expected rents to start at $800-$850 per month for a studio of about 400 square feet and that new residents will likely be able to move in by 2016.

“Renovation is much more difficult than new construction,” Bank said of the lengthy construction timeline, which includes zoning changes.

The development also calls for the scaling back of the wide sidewalks along Walnut and Locust streets and a “massive improvement of the streetscape” around the building.

The project will also impact the future of the empty lot on the southwest corner of 48th and Walnut, where the Windermere Apartments stood before fire destroyed that complex in 2011. Bank said the owners of that lot have been waiting to see how the old West Philly High would be developed before they made any decisions.

Parking for the building’s projected 400 or so residents was a concern repeatedly raised by those attending Saturday’s meeting. Bank said his firm will hire a parking consultant to devise a plan. He projected that roughly 10 percent of the residents would own cars, a guess he said that is consistent with other projects he has worked on near universities. If the consultant’s number is larger, he continued, the plan will expand parking.

“Parking is a revenue source, so I have no problem adding it,” he said.

Strong Place Partners’ bid is expected to be approved during a meeting of the School Reform Commission on Nov. 15. Bank would not comment on the bid amount or the expected cost of the renovation.

Once the firm’s bid is accepted, it will negotiate the agreement of the sale with the District before developing a construction timeline and beginning the zoning process, which is when residents will have more opportunities to comment on the plan.