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.)