Neighbors gathered in Lonnie Young to hear and speak about the future of Germantown Settlement properties. (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

Neighbors came out to Lonnie Young Recreation Center on Wednesday night, Jan. 7, filling the auditorium, to hear about the future of the years-blighted Germantown Settlement properties.

Germantown Settlement derailed amidst financial mismanagement and scandal in 2009, leading to bankruptcy and liquidation in 2010. Since then, vacancy and disrepair have lingered over Germantowners’ heads, leaving them in limbo. In 2020, the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority finally repossessed 45 properties before moving to hand ownership of 28 properties (116 units) over to the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) in 2024.

As the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) officially acquired ownership on October 31, 2025, according to their reps, Councilmember Cindy Bass invited the agency’s President & CEO, Kelvin A. Jeremiah, to present neighbors with information about the scattered properties, which indeed bring historical woe to East Germantown. 

“We recognize that at this critical time in the city of Philadelphia, we really have a housing shortage,” Bass said, welcoming guests. “The purpose of tonight’s meeting is really to hear from you, hear what you’re interested in, what you want to see happen, and what your thoughts and ideas are around this particular project.”

Before beginning the brief presentation, PHA CEO and President Jeremiah took a moment to address the reputation of the housing agency.

“We’re not building your grandmother’s public housing, and we’re building communities where anyone, and I mean anyone, regardless of their income, would choose to live,” he said.

PHA’s Chief Operating Officer, Dinesh Indala, took over the mic to quickly go over the project, which he said they estimate to cost about $84 million, which relies on securing the 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit by year-end.

“We intend to develop 121 new affordable rental units,” Indala shared with guests, accompanied by PowerPoint slides. He added, “…this is a constructual plan, like we do everything else.”

Across the scattered sites in East Germantown, with a few in East Mt. Airy, would be a mix of one to five-bedroom units, a community center & management office, and a social services area. Indala promises all units to be modern with new everything, from floors to paint.

The COO also gave more specific visioning of the properties with the most units in Germantown — at Hamill Mill Apartments on Lena St. and the townhomes on Collum St.

Hamill Mill is expected to get a rehab of 40 units, which would mix 1-2 bedrooms and a common laundry room on top of the aforementioned inclusions. Collum St.’s townhomes would get 16 rehabbed units, each being three bedrooms.

Germantown Settlement properties handout/slides shared at the Wednesday night event.

In the event they secure appropriate funding streams, and all goes smoothly, they hope to break ground to begin development by the end of the year.

After the presentation, neighbors lined up in the center aisle to pose an array of questions and statements, ranging from issues about particular properties to the stereotyping symbolism of PHA signage and Act 135 to maintenance.

Seth-Anderson Oberman opened up the questions, asking what the long-term plan for ownership and permanent affordability of the properties was.

The PHA CEO and President explained that, as these properties are subject to a Declaration of Trust, they are permanently affordable. He also clarified that 90% of homes PHA serves have a household income of 30% or below the annual median income.

Various Muslim community members took to the mic to ask about what’s being done at the 4951 Germantown Avenue property, situated in the predominantly Islamic section of the business corridor, suggesting issues with squatters and drugs.

“It’s been a problem for over a decade,” one community member suggested.

Jeremiah restated that they have only become the owners since late October, and any conditions ahead rest on the previous owners. But, he recognized that there are often squatters and illegal tenants within these kinds of properties.

Naming it’s a legal process to get folks removed, he asked that any issues from then on at the property be directly reported to them. “We are now the owners, we are now responsible,” he said.

When asked if potential residents would receive home maintenance training, due to worry of inadequate occupancy, Jeremiah informed neighbors of PHA’s Good Neighbor policy, which requires neighbors to complete trials and checkmarks before getting the keys to a place.

The Imam of the Masjid on Germantown Ave. also joined the event to ask a question centering on the historical presence of blighted properties of Germantown — and the city at large. 

“What can we do moving forward to guarantee that this doesn’t happen again?” he posed.

Councilmember Bass stepped in to give a brief history of the property, helping to recenter how the properties landed in the condition they are today, bringing up the scandal and then the long-time court battle, and why that’ll matter moving forward.

“…I think that looking at an organization that has a lot of real estate, if we see the signs that they’re getting ready to go under, you know, we now know how to get in front of something like that so that this does not happen again,” she said.

Jeremiah also suggests that neighbors stay active and engaged as much as possible.

Jeremiah also insists that any local developers interested in doing business with PHA should sign up on PHA’s site to be a contractor or vendor. “And when we have solicitations in that area of your jurisdiction, you’ll get a notification to beat on something,” he added.

Executive Director Cornelia Swinson of the Johnson House closed the Q&A, saying it’s not just up to organizations to make change, but the overall community, remembering a much different landscape years ago.

Swinson used to work for Germantown Settlement and was even the emcee of the event of the dedication of the Hamill Mill Apartments when it was redeveloped into a building for seniors.

“A lot of these properties that we are talking about didn’t exist before [community members] fought for the right for low-income families and first-time homebuyers together,” she said. “So we have to do more of that and also think about why we have moved away from that as a community.”

Bass ended the meeting saying her office would have more about the next meeting “shortly.”