Proposed North Philly apartments would give seniors an alternative to rowhouse living
TPP Capital Holdings is a planning senior apartment buildings in North Philly. They say their waiting lists for new units demonstrate high demand for seniors who want out of old houses.
Developer TPP Capital Holdings is doubling down on its strategy to bring what it describes as affordable units with little subsidy for seniors to North Philadelphia. The company argues it can make the project work by building densely with no parking, a plan that neighborhood groups have pushed back against in the past.
The latest effort is at 1708 W. Tioga St., a half-mile from the Erie subway stop on SEPTA’s Broad Street Line. It would offer 90 apartments of less than 500 square feet for residents 55 and older looking for an alternative to living in an aging rowhouse. In the project’s census tract, 55% of the population is over 50.
“The response [from interested tenants] we received is overwhelming,” said Anthony Miles, principal at TPP, based in Philadelphia. “But the notes they are sending us are disheartening because some of the conditions they are living in are disheartening. We really want to speed the process up.”
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But the new proposal will need additional city review, which will take time. In early 2021, TPP won zoning variances for a smaller version of this project with 50 units in the face of community opposition. Now it will need to go back to the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment for new variances for this larger project.
Miles said that at one neighborhood meeting in September, residents were “generally supportive.” TPP will seek more input at another meeting in November.
Community group Tioga United did not respond to a request for comment about this version of the project. It had argued that an earlier, smaller version of the apartment project was too dense and lacked parking. Neither version offers automobile parking.
“The committee expressed concerns about the lack of parking, which causes seniors to walk long distances,” reads a summary of a 2020 Tioga United neighborhood meeting about the smaller version of TPP’s project. “The size and number of units in this project is too much to bring into this neighborhood.”
Miles said TPP needed to increase density to cover the costs of higher interest rates and elevated materials prices. He said rents would range between $1,100 and $1,600 a month.
According to census data, the project’s zip code has a median household income of $22,628, with a poverty rate of 43.4%.
Given the proximity to the Broad Street Line and a bus stop at a nearby intersection, Miles said, TPP’s project should be considered transit-oriented development.
To travel to work, 63% of residents in the census tract rely on public transit while 19% drive. No one in the tract reported commuting to work by bike.
There’s just no way to do parking affordably, said Miles, who noted that 60 bike parking spots are planned in the building. “We want to encourage the seniors to be active and to get out and enjoy the soon to be amenities of the neighborhood,” he said.
The wait list for the new building of 300 people shows the pent-up demand for elder housing with elevators, Miles said. It’s the same level of interest cited as the wait list at TPP’s last project that The Inquirer reported on at 22nd and Diamond Streets.