PHILADELPHIA, PA — On November 20, 2023, the City of Philadelphia and Community Ventures celebrated the groundbreaking of Old First House. This affordable housing mixed-use development aims to provide 34 permanent supportive housing units for the chronically homeless.
Old First House will utilize an underused portion of Old First Reformed UCC’s property along the 100 block of N. 4th Street. The building will include 2,656 square feet of commercial space at the corner of 4th & Race and new offices and a multipurpose room for the Church. The second through fifth floors will house 34 small efficiency units and a residential community room.
In preparation for the new structure, a circa 1760 three-story building known as 151 N. 4th Street will be relocated approximately 48 feet to the south on the project site and fully renovated. The 1760s building has been used by Old First Reformed UCC since the 1970s as their parsonage and later their church office space.
“DHCD gave over $3.7 million to this project,” said Melissa Long, Director of the City’s Division of Housing and Community Development. “We are committed to strategies to help create safe and permanent housing options.”
Councilmember Mark Squilla, District 1, echoed Long’s sentiments, stating, “Our City desperately needs affordable living options for our unhoused population.”
Old First Reformed UCC has been aiding the homeless since the 1980s, sheltering 30-45 homeless men during the six coldest months of the year. The Old First House project is seen as an extension—and an improvement—of these efforts, moving Philadelphia closer to its goal of welcoming all of its citizens into safe and affordable housing.
The project has received funding commitments from the City of Philadelphia’s Division of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Low Income Housing Tax Credits and additional funding from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, and operating subsidy from the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). Old First House will also include a construction loan from TD Bank, equity investment from the National Equity Fund, and a permanent loan from Community Lenders.
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