Lawmaker Seeks To Block School-To-Housing Conversions In West Philly
A West Philadelphia lawmaker is trying to prevent five schools in her district from being converted into housing as the city’s public education system downsizes its footprint.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier is floating measures that would eliminate the commercial and residential zoning at five School District of Philadelphia properties in her neighborhood, four of which are slated to close. She wants them earmarked for civic uses like schools or libraries.
“Our schools belong to our communities, not developers, and the school district does not get to hand them over to developers while our children’s backs are turned,” Gauthier said in a Thursday speech to the city council, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
At least two of the schools were slated to be transferred to the city: Paul Robeson High School at 4125 Ludlow St. and Blankenburg Elementary School at 4600 W. Girard Ave. Mayor Cherelle Parker is pushing to convert some shuttered schools into housing as she works to add or stabilize 30,000 units before the end of her first term in 2028.
Gauthier’s proposal also includes Martha Washington School at 766 N. 44th St., Parkway West High School at 2725 Fairmount Ave. and Motivation High School at 5900 Baltimore Ave.
Motivation was originally slated to close, but it wasn't included in the final list of 18 schools shared by the district last month.
Gauthier’s legislation is likely to pass due to the councilmanic prerogative tradition, in which lawmakers vote in line with a member if the measure only impacts their district.
This isn't the first time Gauthier has come into conflict with educational institutions and development interests in West Philadelphia.
Last year, she penned legislation that would require community and Planning Commission oversight when colleges seek to sell large tracts of land in University City.
That bill was a response to St. Joseph’s University’s move to sell much of the West Philadelphia campus it acquired through its merger with the University of the Sciences in 2022 to student housing developer Michael Karp’s nonprofit, Belmont Neighborhood Educational Alliance. The city council passed the proposal with a 16-1 vote in December.
Gauthier also came up with the Mixed-Income Neighborhoods Overlay District covering much of West Philadelphia, which requires 20% of new developments with 10 units or more to be affordable for tenants making up to 40% of the area median income. Real estate developers say the overlay has chilled multifamily construction in the transit-rich neighborhood.
