The Philadelphia Housing Authority wants to bring 50 new senior apartments to North Philadelphia, teaming up with a nonprofit developer to replace 10 aging low-rise buildings at 1300-50 N. 10th St. with a four-story complex built specifically for older residents. The plan would demolish three occupied homes, relocating those tenants, while folding the project into a long-promised overhaul of the Harrison public housing site.
The partnership between PHA and Mission First Housing Group would bring the project to the Yorktown/Harrison area, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The building would include 43 one-bedroom apartments and seven two-bedroom units, with no parking offered on site. Twenty percent of the units would go to market-rate tenants, five would be set aside for residents who are currently homeless, and the rest would be subsidized affordable housing, per the same report.
Ten Older Buildings Slated for Demolition
To make room for the new building, PHA plans to tear down 10 of its older low-rise structures on the site, three of which are currently occupied. The tenants in those three homes will be relocated, the Inquirer's reporting states. The Harrison development itself dates back to the 1950s, and PHA has said it ultimately hopes to demolish all the townhouses on the site and build replacements.
PHA's broader preservation strategy acknowledges that relocation is sometimes necessary to complete repairs or move redevelopment forward, and the authority says it covers relocation-related expenses when that happens, according to PHA Opening Doors. The agency has also said that when residents transition to Section 8 Project-Based Assistance vouchers, their homes are meant to remain permanently affordable and residents keep the right to organize.
First Phase of a Bigger, Stalled Plan
The submitted proposal describes this senior building as the first phase of the Harrison Choice Neighborhood transformation plan, which aims to eventually redevelop the entire public housing site. That federal Choice Neighborhood program is designed to help housing authorities pursue targeted redevelopment while also improving education, workforce and health conditions in surrounding neighborhoods, according to the Harrison Choice website, which describes the broader goal as replacing Harrison townhomes with high-quality mixed-income housing.
But the near-term reality is more modest. The Poplar Community Organization said in a letter that PHA did not receive the full grant award it had sought, so the larger redevelopment is now on hold due to funding issues, reducing near-term plans to just this one building, the Inquirer reported. PHA's own preservation strategy notes that its redevelopment programs typically rely on complex financing stitched together from special grants, tax credits and other public funds, and that the agency's broader objective is to redevelop its older multifamily developments over the next decade, subject to financing.
Mission First CEO Points to Aging in Place
Thomas A.K. Queenan, CEO of the Philadelphia-based Mission First Housing Group, said in an email statement that the company is excited to help develop housing that transforms Yorktown/Harrison and supports efforts to let North Philadelphia seniors age in place. Mission First plans to apply for competitive Low Income Housing Tax Credits early next year, and once ground is broken, construction is expected to take 14 months, the Inquirer reported. Mission First referred further questions to PHA, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment, per the same account.
It wouldn't be the first time PHA has reshaped senior housing near this stretch of 10th Street. In 2023, the authority redeveloped a 15-story tower at 1350 N. 10th St. into 116 senior units, a project PHA described as a gut renovation combining 104 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom apartments through 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credit financing.
Neighbors Push Back on Unit Mix
Not everyone is sold on the new building's design. The Poplar Community Organization has called on PHA to invest in housing for area families instead of adding more senior apartments, and the group said it would prefer to see more two- and three-bedroom units and fewer one-bedroom apartments, according to the Inquirer. Despite that disagreement, the organization has said it supports letting the city's advisory-only Civic Design Review process give the project conclusive consideration next month.
The project still has several approval hurdles ahead. It requires permission from the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment because the plans exceed existing land-use rules, with a zoning board hearing scheduled for January 13. The Poplar Community Organization is expected to meet with developers again in December, after the advisory Civic Design Review session set for November 4.
A Growing Older Population Feels the Squeeze
The proposal lands amid a broader demographic shift in the city. Philadelphia's population of adults 65 and older grew by 24% between 2014 and 2024, now making up 15% of the city's residents, according to a Pew report. That same research found that 35% of older Philadelphians live below or near the poverty line, and 84% of households led by older residents rely on Social Security benefits. Pew's focus groups also surfaced concerns over the city's rising cost of living and limited housing options for seniors, concerns that echo directly in PHA's pitch for the Harrison site.
