A 6-story 56-unit housing facility for
low-income gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender seniors is planned
for Philadelphia.
The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency
(PHFA) gave the project an official “green light” on Thursday
when it approved $11 million in tax credit financing.
The $19 million housing facility, which
is being co-developed by the dmhFund and Pennrose Properties, could
break ground as early as September, the Philadelphia
Inquirer reported.
The project has also secured $6 million
from Pennsylvania's capital development program and $2 million from
Philadelphia's Office of Housing and Community Development.”
“For years, developing a unique
facility in the heart of Philadelphia's gayborhood where our most
vulnerable LGBT elders could live out their golden years was our
pie-in-the-sky idea,” dmhFund President Mark Segal said in a
statement. “But today, we can say for certain, that pie-in-the-sky
idea will become a reality.”
The facility, to be located on 13th
Street between Locust and Spruce on land to be purchased by the
developers from the city's Redevelopment Authority, will be open to
seniors aged 62 and over who earn less than 60 percent of the
Philadelphia median income.
“LGBT seniors are often forced back
into the closet as they get older and must live in environments that
are not accepting of who they are,” said Segal. “The elders of
our community have been invisible. With today's announcement, we
will begin to change that in Philadelphia.”
The facility, one of only a handful
around the country, is expected to open in late 2013.
(Related: NYC
opens center for gay and lesbian seniors.)