A real estate mogul’s ambitious plans | Real Estate Newsletter
And moving renters up and out.
Real estate investor Dean Adler said he’s waited 40 years for a moment like this.
Vacant offices, rising debt, and elevated construction and financing costs are just some of what folks in the real estate industry have been contending with for the last few years. And 2026 hasn’t exactly brought stability.
But Adler sees opportunity in the uncertainty.
In fact, he’s on a mission to save Philly-area malls, the Bourse, and Center City’s biggest office building at the same time, plans that would add hundreds of new homes.
Read on for more about Adler’s redevelopment spree.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
‘Mi Casa’: Learn about this nonprofit’s plan to help low-income families stay in gentrifying North Philly neighborhoods and become middle-class homeowners.
Vacant building’s new life: Check out the apartment building that developers want to build next to a SEPTA station in Fishtown.
Uncertain future: A controversial shelter in Fairmount is facing legal and real estate challenges.
A ‘North Star’: Peek inside a South Philly rowhouse where the owners decided to live “out loud” after their daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.
— Michaelle Bond
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“We like to buy when people have fear in their eyes, when people are losing — have already lost — their money,” longtime real estate investor and developer Dean Adler told my colleague. “A crisis for most and a select opportunity for the select few.”
What a quote. And it sums up Adler’s thinking about seizing the current moment.
Here’s just some of what he’s got planned for real estate in the Philly area:
🛠️ redeveloping the 1.7 million-square-foot office complex at Centre Square
🛠️ turning the former Franklin Mills mall into a youth sports hub
🛠️ remaking Montgomery County’s Plymouth Meeting Mall
Almost all of Adler’s newer projects include housing.
Adler said his current proposals are just the beginning.
“For anyone who thinks I’m doing too much, guess what? I’m not doing enough,” he said.
Keep reading to learn more about what Adler says is his winning formula.
A nonprofit in Philly’s Norris Square neighborhood wants to move families into and then out of its rental homes.
Xiente is developing single-family houses for its Mi Casa initiative. Low-income families move into the subsidized rentals, where they get help paying rent and work with folks that Xiente calls economic mobility counselors.
The organization is trying to keep longtime residents of the Norris Square area from getting priced out as home costs continue to rise.
“Our neighborhood is becoming heavily gentrified,” the CEO of Xiente told me. “The need for really and truly affordable [homes] is immense.”
The ultimate goal is to help Mi Casa renters transition into homeownership and the middle class.
Mi Casa homes stand out in Norris Square for their bright colors, a nod to the neighborhood’s Puerto Rican community and the colorful houses of Old San Juan.
Keep reading to learn how economic mobility counselors help Mi Casa renters and how Xiente plans to expand its housing program across North Philly.
The latest news to pay attention to
Developers plan to build a 120-unit apartment building next to a SEPTA station in Fishtown.
This Cherry Hill homebuyer made five offers before landing a house.
Legal and real estate hurdles threaten the future of a shelter in Fairmount.
Here’s why Montgomery County transformed a former Days Inn into an emergency housing facility.
A Chester County township is “getting ahead of the game” with a new ordinance that would limit data centers.
A Philly judge ordered one of the country’s largest building contractors to pay $175 million for the W hotel’s construction going “off the rails.”
Comcast Spectacor revealed the location for the new arena that will host the Sixers, Flyers, and a WNBA team.
House of the week: For $475,000 in Glenside, a four-bedroom brick Colonial with a big yard and renovated kitchen.
Kelly Renn and Evan Sanchez weren’t planning on major renovations when they bought their South Philly rowhouse. But as they were getting ready to move from Atlantic City in 2021, their 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.
Renn said their daughter’s illness made them realize “we wanted to create this home as our North Star.”
That realization sparked six months of renovations.
The homeowners created cozy spaces for entertaining and added onto all three floors. They chose bold colors — for example, the kitchen cabinets are painted orange — and patterned wallpaper. Do you remember the “color drenching” design trend we highlighted back in September? The couple used it in their living room.
I love what Sanchez said about these choices: “We leaned into living out loud.”
Peek inside the rowhouse the family moved into in 2023 and find out how the owners tackled the challenges of their narrow front door and stairwell.
📮Has a major life event changed the way you’ve thought about or designed your home? Tell me about it.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back.
Last week’s quiz featured a photo of flowers at Society Hill Towers.
This was a tough one if you don’t live there. Quiz winner Dorothy S. does. She even shared with me her own pretty picture of the scene.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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