Awesometown Mixed-Income Housing Development a Collaborative Effort

Rendering from awesometownphilly.com, the official development website 

Moyer Street and other nearby blocks in Fishtown are lined with construction sites. Some of the these sites will become market-rate and even luxury homes, such as the Moyer Street Court, which will consist of 14 single family homes with roof decks and off-street parking. These homes will cost around $400,000, according to a a blog post by local real estate company Michael Kind and Associates.

But just across the street on the 400 block of Moyer Street, in a space roughly the same size, another kind of housing development is about to break ground. The project, titled Awesometown, consists of 14 mixed-income townhomes with sustainable design features. A total of 10 of the units will be market-rate and the remaining four will be for low-income buyers. (Income requirements are below).

The design features include super insulated walls and roofs, Energy Star HVAC systems, and triple pane windows. The Philadelphia-based architecture and planning firm Interface Studios Architects is behind the design. The firm is also known for its work on outdoor seating at The Porch at 30th Street Station.

Similar to Paseo Verde, another recently completed mixed-income housing development, Awesometown’s affordable units were made possible through the combined efforts of nonprofit and for-profit developers, a community lender, and a mix of funding sources.

future home of Awesometown

Here’s how it breaks down:

The New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC) is the owner and developer, adding to a growing list of properties developed and restored by the local CDC. The private real estate firm Postgreen Homes is serving as consultant, and Develop Philly is handling marketing and sales.

The affordable units will be subsidized by the sale of the market-rate units in addition to a mix of funding from other community development organizations.

The pre-development funds were provided by NeighborWorks America, a national community development organization. The Reinvestment Fund, a community lender based in Philadelphia, is in the process of securing financing for construction.

NKCDC held a lottery at the end of April for the affordable units. In a clear sign of the demand for affordable housing, there were a total of 56 applicants. Even if each unit is occupied by a five-person family, more than half of these applicants left without a future home.

The project should break ground by this summer or early fall and take around 18 months to complete, according to Kevin Gray, real estate director at NKCDC.