Group Project: At ULI, real estate professionals tackle homelessness in Philly

One of the most impoverished big cities in the nation, Philadelphia has long grappled with homelessness. In recent years, it has gotten worse: Project HOME estimates that homelessness increased by 9.8 percent between 2023 and 2024, and the number of people considered “unsheltered” ticked up 38.2 percent in that same year. 

While the causes of poverty and homelessness are complex and systemic, the real estate industry may have a role to play in both easing conditions that drive people out of their homes and devising solutions to support those who are already unhoused. To that end, the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Homeless to Housed (H2H) Initiative aims to “spark conversations” among real estate professionals, encouraging them to share best practices via research, awareness-building, and local council events.  

In 2024, ULI Philadelphia conducted two technical assistance panels (TAPs) in conjunction with H2H, selecting two partner organizations in the city with immediate needs. Leveraging the expertise of members across planning, design, development and other disciplines, TAPs are typically sponsored by an organization or municipality with a specific challenge. During the two-day events, member volunteers gather to explore practical real estate solutions. They typically spend the first day touring the site, learning from the site sponsor (in this case, one of the two nonprofit partners that hosted the TAPs), and then interviewing stakeholders in small groups to garner relevant information about the scope. After these sessions, the panel reconvenes to share its findings and draw out common themes. The following day, the panel develops its recommendations and presents them to an audience of the sponsoring organization’s staff and stakeholders. This presentation becomes the basis for a written report, which is shared publicly. 

The 2024 TAPs came at a crucial inflection point for Philadelphia’s housing community, given that HUD had recently announced it was reducing funding for transitional housing programs. With national research questioning the effectiveness of transitional housing, many experts favor a “Housing First” approach that funds permanent housing over transitional beds or units. Both sponsor organizations, the Drueding Center and Families Forward Philadelphia, were offering transitional housing, and would now have to decide whether to proceed with their programs or change course. 

Building Capacity 

The Families Forward Philadelphia (FFP) TAP was held March 14 to 15, 2024, at West Philadelphia’s Kirkbride Center, which houses the organization’s headquarters as well as its family shelter. Initially founded as The Travelers Aid Society of Philadelphia, FFP has a 125-year history of serving families in the region with social support. In that time, its mission has evolved from supporting immigrants and refugees to its current focus on homelessness and poverty.  

After touring the premises, TAP participants met with leaders from local and national peer organizations, consultants, real estate investors, city agency representatives, local elected officials, internal staff, and board of trustee representatives. The TAP was tasked with helping FFP improve and expand existing permanent supportive housing stock, augment current emergency housing stock, refocus resources from transitional housing, and do all of the above while amplifying its mission, serving more families, and broadening its impact. 

“This was an opportunity for Families Forward Philadelphia to voice our needs to experts so that we could move to a different level with supportive housing,” says Jason Miller, CEO of FFP. “We needed a plan. We needed a process to articulate concerns, and then come up with a how-to guide. The TAP process provided the space for board members, community members, participants, and staff members to do that. We ended up with a plan for moving forward with the backing of ULI, which is significant.” 

The TAP participants found that the organization benefited from strong leadership, committed staff and an institutional legacy of keeping families together, which distinguishes it from other similar organizations. All of this created a sound foundation for FFP and would guide its future moves. The panel recommended that FFP improve permanent supportive housing stock by expanding and enhancing landlord relationships, identifying and leveraging shallow rent subsidies, and acquiring additional rental units. The organization could expand its current emergency housing capacity by working collaboratively with the landlord and the City of Philadelphia to conduct a facility needs and space assessment, audit the existing lease, plan for building updates, and make those updates as needed.  

In order to pivot from transitional housing, the TAP recommended that FFP renovate its current transitional facility, the Melville Way House, and turn it into permanent supportive housing. This would require reconfiguring units, finding rental assistance for new tenants, and establishing good neighbor and good resident agreements. Finally, the group suggested that the organization broaden its capacity through partnerships, and more public-facing engagement, advocacy work, and knowledge sharing. 

“We have taken the suggestions that ULI provided and begun to operationalize them,” says Miller. “Currently, the board and staff are working towards the goals outlined by ULI by applying for funding to rehabilitate Melville Way, and working with local, state, and federal politicians to acquire more public housing dollars.” 

Evolving the Model  

Founded in 1986 by the Sisters of the Redeemer, Olde Kensington’s Drueding Center (DC) provides transitional housing, case management and social services to help individuals and families move toward independent stabilized housing. They also offer critical resources to support daily living, such as childcare and a food pantry, which are also open for public use. DC currently operates out of two separate buildings but was looking to explore its real estate needs and opportunities, particularly given the shift away from funding transitional housing. 

“The timing of the TAP was critical as we had been notified in January 2024 that all HUD CoC funding for transitional housing in the City of Philadelphia was eliminated,” says Anne Marie Collins, DC’s vice president/executive director. The TAP process provided the forum for our stakeholders to share their ideas and concerns, and the expertise that allowed us to confidently make a decision about next steps. Having the ULI TAP report gave the board a blueprint and the confidence to move forward.” 

The goal of the TAP, held March 27 to 28, 2024, was determining whether DC should convert its existing transitional housing units to permanent supportive housing, and how to fund operations and services for that conversion. The main building required renovations, and DC’s leadership would have to decide whether to renovate the building or raze it and build a new facility on the site. The organization was also determining what funding would be available for either supportive housing or affordable housing and how, if it chose the latter, it should select a partner to manage the development. 

According to Stacey Mosley, senior director of development and research at Brandywine Realty Trust and co-chair of this TAP, “While changes to the funding environment necessitated change, Drueding was well positioned to expand upon its portfolio of services and housing units through the strength of their operational team, their brand reputation, and the scale of the physical sites they control.” 

The panel recommended that DC redevelop its residential building on Master Street, converting its 30 transitional housing units to 20 units of supportive housing and possibly five units of on-site rapid re-housing. They also recommended that DC build a new community center on the site of the current one to house its support services, as well as commercial tenants such as community healthcare, community-serving retail, and/or office or incubator space for local small businesses and entrepreneurs. In order to facilitate the redevelopment, the panel outlined three potential scenarios for DC: It could serve as developer and owner of the property and retain control over its assets and finances; it could enter a joint venture with a developer partner to leverage the expertise of a developer in exchange for a development fee or revenue sharing; or it could sell or lease the property to generate revenue, relinquishing control over the real estate. In its report, the TAP offered a potential timeline and implementation steps for the process. 

The panel suggested that regardless of who develops the property, both buildings could be financed with 9 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), while driving revenue through the leased commercial spaces to subsidize its service delivery. Building a strong team of partners, maintaining a housing-first approach, leveraging its social service strengths and maximizing DC’s current relationship with Redeemer Health would be crucial for a successful outcome. 

Based on the recommendations of the ULI report, Drueding hired a housing consultant and has started to build the capital stack needed to convert 30 units of one and two bedroom transitional housing units to 26 units of two and three bedroom permanent supportive housing units. They have secured $4.5 M along with PHA operating subsidies for the units. While not successful in receiving 9 percent tax credits in the 2025 application cycle, they are optimistic about the competitiveness of their application and look forward to applying again in the next cycle. They continue to work with local, state and federal legislators to share our story and garner support for the project. 

Spread the Word 

In June 2024, ULI Philadelphia held a forum at the Center for DesignPhiladelphia to share the results of the two TAPs and open the discussion to a wider audience of homeless service providers and housing developers.  

“It’s truly inspiring to witness the progress Families Forward and Drueding Center have made in advancing their missions through strategic use of their real estate assets,” said Kevin Moran, executive director at ULI Philadelphia, at the event “These TAPs offer tailored recommendations, but they also surface powerful insights that can be scaled and shared across the diverse community of land use professionals gathered here today. By working in partnership — service providers, real estate leaders, and advocates alike — we can build the coalitions necessary to make ending homelessness not just a goal, but a reality in Philadelphia.” 

ELISA LUDWIG is a Philadelphia based technical writer with a special interest in real estate, urbanism, and nonprofit issues. 

Captions: 

The Center for DesignPhiladelphia hosts a workshop to explore findings from two ULI Homeless to Housed Technical Assistance Panel reports. PHOTOS: ULI PHILADELPHIA 

Panelists explored real estate solutions to solve Philadelphia’s homelessness challenges. Left to right: Mari Gonzalez, Research Officer at Pew Charitable Trusts and ULI Philadelphia TAP Committee Co-Chair; Anne Marie Collins, Vice President/Executive Directo of, Holy Redeemer Health System (Drueding Center); Jamie Gauthier, 3rd District Councilmember, Philadelphia City Council; Paul Vernon, AIA, Urban Designer - Practice Builder at Kimley Horn; Jason Miller, MSW, CEO, Families Forward Philadelphia. PHOTOS: ULI PHILADELPHIA 

ULI Philadelphia panelists tour the Kirkbride Center, which houses FFP’s 49th Street Family Shelter. PHOTOS: ULI PHILADELPHIA 

ULI Philadelphia TAP panelists visit the Drueding Center’s main building, a former infirmary. Panelists suggested this site be converted into permeant affordable housing. View of Drueding Center’s secondary building along Master Street, which participants recommended be converted into a mixed-use site offering a continuum of development partnership models. PHOTOS: ULI PHILADELPHIA