Sharswood Ridge

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Community facts*

• Census Tract: 42101013900 Metropolitan Area
• Poverty Rate: 52.6%
• Unemployment Rate: 16%
• Median Family Income: $18,875 (54.16% of area average)
• USDA Low-Income, Low-Access “Food Desert”
• Medically Underserved Area

*at time of investment

Project impact*

• Created 98 affordable housing units, with 80% of unit as workforce housing (with rents between 80-100% AMI), while the remaining 20% of units will be deeply affordable through project-based vouchers from the Philadelphia Housing Authority
• Accommodated larger, low-income families who disproportionately struggle to find adequate, affordable housing by including three-bedroom units.
• Expanded health care access via an urgent care provider located within the development in this federally designated “Medically Underserved Area”
• Included the neighborhood’s first bank branch, which will provide financial services
• Created approximately 200 construction and 300 permanent jobs.The developer anticipates 70% of the permanent jobs will go to local residents.A local workforce development program is preparing area residents for these jobs

*all impacts estimated as of project closing date

The Sharswood Ridge project is helping to revitalize the Sharswood neighborhood in Philadelphia by building approximately 234,000 square feet of affordable and workforce housing and retail development, including a grocery store, a bank branch, and an urgent care medical clinic, all of which the neighborhood desperately needs. The development is part of a comprehensive plan spearheaded by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) to rebuild the long-underinvested Sharswood community, a federally designated “food desert” and “severely distressed” area. Construction began in October 2020.

Sharswood is a small neighborhood in North Philadelphia, best known as one of the nation’s important jazz centers from the 1920s to the early 1960s. The neighborhood has experienced disinvestment for many years.

This project was made possible by many organizations who are committed to supporting the vision that residents of Sharswood have for their community. Numerous for-profit and nonprofit partners collaborated to bring the project to life and create an innovative financing structure. The Woodforest CEI-Boulos Opportunity Fund is the majority private equity investor in the project and was the first equity investor to commit to and invest in the area’s overall revitalization plan. Additional public-private financing includes crowdsourced capital from the community, New Markets Tax Credits, PHA loans, Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grants from the state of Pennsylvania, and loans from PIDC, the economic development agency for the city. The local, minority-owned development firm overseeing the project is committed to delivering social impact in underinvested urban neighborhoods.

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