PHA begins construction on redesigned Paschall Village

Carl Greene tried to be tactful.

At a groundbreaking Thursday, the executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) described a former public housing project at 72d Street and Paschall Avenue as "attractive for antisocial behavior."

Read: drug-dealing on such a colossal scale that it led to a federal sting and the arrests of 22 people in 2006.

At the time, federal agents and Philadelphia police pledged to rid the area of crime. And Greene vowed to raze the fortress-style apartment complex and replace it with a livable, secure community.

Aided by $13.9 million in federal stimulus funds, Greene lived up to his commitment with the demolition last spring of the old structures in Southwest Philadelphia and the launch Thursday of a new, $38 million Paschall Village.

Standing at a mound of dirt on a cleared block - from Paschall to Woodland Avenue, 72d to 73d - Greene told about 50 political VIPs and staff, "We promised the community we'd come back."

For PHA, the Paschall project is the latest in a construction program accelerated by an infusion of stimulus money. In the last two years, the agency has received $126 million in Recovery Act funding, allowing it to jump-start capital projects. PHA is either building or renovating 1,200 units of housing.

By the fall of 2011, the Paschall complex will be home to 100 families. The new design mirrors the rowhouse streetscape of the surrounding Elmwood neighborhood.

The old 223-unit site was comprised of several buildings around courtyards that were accessed from narrow alleys or homes. Drug dealers had no trouble evading police.

PHA is also breaking up the block by bringing back a street, Saybrook Avenue, that was eliminated in the original 1966 configuration.

State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a Democrat whose district includes the past and future Paschall homes, said the redesign should both reduce crime and spur development along Woodland Avenue.

Within a half-mile of the site, he said, there were 15 rapes and 11 murders from January 2009 until this past April.

"The last design was tailor-made for anyone who wanted to create mayhem and deal," Williams said.

Stimulus funds will cover one-third of the cost, with another third coming from PHA's budget and the rest from Wachovia Bank through tax-credit financing.

To come up with energy-saving features, PHA teamed with a professor and four students from Drexel University.

The homes will include solar photovoltaic panels and geothermal heat pumps. Jin Wen, an associate professor of architectural engineering at Drexel, said the university team would continue to work with the agency to assess cost savings. She said 30 percent to 70 percent could be cut from heating and cooling bills.

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