PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Residents of Brith Sholom House apartments, who fought to improve conditions so they could stay in the West Philadelphia building, will have to move after all. The Philadelphia Housing Authority, which bought the building, says it must be gutted in order to be saved.
“This is a hard choice,” said PHA President Kelvin Jeremiah.
For 15 years, the mostly elderly residents, many of them disabled, endured years of mold, rodents, broken elevators, leaking pipes and other problems — fighting to force the absentee landlord to make repairs. Then the landlord defaulted on a loan, the building went into foreclosure, and it looked like Brith Shalom would be sold. Fearing eviction, the tenants turned to PHA.
PHA came to the rescue, buying the building so rents would remain affordable. Then they made an assessment of the building and found such major systemic problems that the only solution was a full rehab.
“The disrepair, in a word, is astonishing. I don’t think we can allow residents to live there while we undertake a comprehensive rehab. Unfortunately after these many years of neglect and dysfunction, it gave us no other choice,” Jeremiah said.
“We looked at other options — isolating one-half of the building, doing a floor-by-floor rehab while residents remained in place. None of those options were viable, because it would expose the residents to undue risk.”
Jeremiah says PHA has spent about $1 million on urgent repairs. He estimates the rehab will cost $112 million, most of which would be covered by tax credits and other financing tools, which PHA has asked to be expedited.
“My test is a simple one: Would I want my mother, who is elderly and disabled, living there? And I can tell you it absolutely hurts my heart that in the case of Brith Shalom, the answer is a resounding no.”
PHA has stopped collecting rent from the building’s residents. And PHA will pay for all moving costs and help residents find a new place to live, said Jeremiah. He says they can move between now and the end of March.
“I’m hopeful they will understand this is in their best interest and that they will return in large numbers to a beautiful place where they can age in place comfortably.”
He says tenants will be able to return in about two years, when the rehab is complete.
“Residents will be inhabiting beautifully designed units that they and their families will be proud that they’re living in.”
The tenants have reason to be hopeful. Madison Gray with the Public Interest Law Center, which represented them in their effort to transfer the building to PHA, emailed this statement:
“Brith Sholom residents have been living on the precipice of displacement for years. What makes this most recent threat of displacement different is that it comes with both the right to return and PHA’s obligation to provide tenants with financial assistance and personalized support.
“It is now incumbent upon PHA to engage in regular and transparent communication with tenants so that tenants’ voices can be heard throughout this transition period, and to make this disruption as short and painless as possible. We look forward to supporting tenants as they advocate for themselves and their neighbors.”