Advertisement
Philadelphia Considers Mandate for Affordable Units

The Philadelphia City Council is considering a bill that would mandate the inclusion of affordable housing units in all new residential developments.
According to a Philadelphia Inquirer report, the city introduced a zoning incentive in 2012 to encourage developers to incorporate reduced-price units in their development. To date, only 15 affordable apartments were created. With the new bill, 10 percent of all units in developments with more than nine units must be below-market-rate.
The bill also rewrites the zoning code to allow developers to construct taller and denser structures in order to accommodate the new affordable units. This is the second time that the City Council considered such legislation—a similar bill introduced in 2007 failed after complaints from developers that this type of mandate would negatively impact their businesses.
About the author