Save the People’s Townhomes: A Fight for Affordable Housing in Philadelphia 

by the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes

A couple blocks from campus, at 40th and Market, the Coalition to Save the University City (UC) Townhomes has been leading a fight for affordable housing and Black autonomy for the past two years. The goal: prevent 70 families from losing their homes and preserving low-income housing on the site.

In 2021, the Altman Group announced plans to sell the Townhomes. Refusing to renew its affordable-housing subsidies, University City’s insatiable expansion means that the site now constitutes prime real estate. Developers plan to demolish the Townhomes in favor of yet another mixed-use building boasting luxury condominiums, commercial space, and/or science labs.

The eviction was scheduled for July 8, 2022, but residents fought tirelessly and successfully secured multiple extensions from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), allowing many residents crucial time to find alternative housing. That time has now run out—all remaining residents were made to leave by August 15 of this year.

The residents’ original demand from the city was to preserve the Townhomes as they are. They also demanded that Penn use its influence to publicly support residents and contribute funds to preserving the Townhomes. On Dec. 14, 2021, the Coalition to Save UC Townhomes—comprised of residents, housing justice organizers, the Black Bottom Tribe, West Philadelphia community members, and Penn faculty and students—held their first action: a demonstration on campus calling for Penn to honor the Trustees’ 1969 commitment to a policy of accountability (see: Black Bottom). From then, the campaign has grown tremendously, both in size and escalation. Protests, disruptions, meetings, month long encampments, are a few of the many tactics employed. Last year at Penn, the Coalition to Save the UC Townhomes disrupted Convocation, forcing Liz Magill to reckon with the University’s violent displacement. The Coalition participated jointly with Fossil Free Penn in a 39-day encampment on College Green that culminated in a protest at the Homecoming football game. The Coalition targeted the key stakeholders in the fight: the seller (Brett Altman), potential buyers, the City, and Penn and Drexel University, all and whose power and wealth will grow exponentially from the displacement of residents. The message was clear: you can’t put profit over people and expect silence.

In an unprecedented outcome for a fight between low-income residents and billionaires, the demands were partially met thanks to these tremendous organizing efforts. The settlement between the City and Altman determined that the Townhomes will be demolished, but the City has reserved 19 percent of the land to build 70 units of housing, with rent set at 60 to 80 percent of the area median income. Each family who was forced to move will receive $50,000 (which will be taxed).

The residents’ current demands are the following:

1. A written framework and process for a “Right to Return” for residents to the future development at the site, especially for residents with disabilities and homebound seniors, which would ensure that residents are guaranteed to be able to return to the site if they wish to.
2. Including residents in the redevelopment of the site.
3. A subsidy attached to future development that ensures tenants pay no more than 30 percent of their income in rent and utilities.

Penn can still use their influence and resources to work with residents to achieve these demands. The University has a responsibility to redress the role they have played in gentrifying West Philadelphia. Publicly supporting the Townhomes residents is the best way they can do so at this moment. As the largest private employer and landowner in the city, Penn’s power is immense, and the Coalition continues to urge the University to use their power for good and live up to its professed values. Rasheda Alexander, a resident of the UC Townhomes, highlights Penn’s duty to pay reparations in a real and substantial manner. “It is time for Penn to give back to the community since they have taken so much. I am not talking about a coat drive, or a food drive to give to struggling families. I am talking about investing in a community of mixed-income property which caters not only to those with an area median income of 40% or higher but for low to very low-income individuals as well,” Rasheda urged. “Housing is a human right. That will always be my fight.”