Philly Construction Union Lending $50M For Rehab Of Public Senior Housing Complex
Philadelphia’s city government and organized construction labor interests are becoming even more entwined as they team up to fund repairs at a public senior housing complex.
The Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council is lending $50M to the Philadelphia Housing Authority to carry out a $99.6M gut rehab of the derelict 360-unit Brith Sholom House in Wynnefield, which it purchased for $24M in 2024.
While the construction union has long wielded influence in Philly politics, the partnership is unprecedented, several officials said at a Tuesday press conference.
“There was no blueprint for anything like this. We had to create the blueprint,” Mayor Cherelle Parker said.
Construction at Brith Sholom is expected to begin in the fourth quarter and wrap up within 20 months, PHA CEO Kelvin Jeremiah said. The city has guaranteed that the authority will pay back BCTC at 4.5% interest over 15 years, Finance Director Rob Dubow said.
Still, BCTC Business Manager Ryan Boyer chose to frame the arrangement as a “down payment on our city’s future” rather than an investment.
Jeremiah, who hinted at more upcoming collaborations with BCTC, noted that the construction trade group regularly makes this type of investment in private sector projects.
Discussions about the arrangement announced Tuesday started well over a year ago, officials said.
PHA’s purchase of Brith Sholom came after years of maintenance issues in the community extending back to at least 2019, when its rental license was temporarily suspended. The complex was in such poor shape that residents were ordered to move out in January 2025.
It was previously owned by a company associated with the Puretz family, which once owned a 16,000-unit affordable housing complex spanning 21 states. Many of those properties were acquired via municipal bonds obtained through a nonprofit with a fraudulent board of directors.
Aron Puretz pleaded guilty to a $55M fraud scheme and was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2024. His son, Chaim “Eli” Puretz, received a two-year sentence the following month. Both were ordered to pay $22M in restitution.
