As Landmark Philadelphia Neighborhood Makeover Moves Ahead, Ballard Spahr Helps Pave the Way

A recent groundbreaking ceremony marked the official start of construction at the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s Westpark Apartments site in West Philadelphia—a large, mixed-used, mixed-income housing redevelopment project in which Ballard Spahr lawyers are playing a central role.

Ballard Spahr has served as lead real estate counsel for project developer Westpark Community Partners, a joint venture of development firms LMXD and MSquared. The developer is working with the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) in a public-private partnership to undertake a major transformation of the Westpark Apartments—three existing high-rise towers—and the surrounding neighborhood, including commercial and public space.

At full buildout, the multiphase modernization project will deliver 1,000 new housing units, including 600 affordable homes, as well as two new community spaces, retail space for local businesses, comprehensive social services, and four acres of new public open space, with green components including rainwater capture and low carbon features. Total investment up to $500 million is anticipated.

Ballard Spahr has worked with Westpark Community Partners on a variety of real estate and financing matters to advance the project to groundbreaking. These matters include land parcel assemblage, land use approvals (both administrative and legislative), street ordinance approvals, Low Income Housing Tax Credit financing (both 4% and 9%), government agency financing, ground leasing, and condominium structuring.

The high-profile groundbreaking last week marked the ceremonial start of construction of the ambitious Westpark initiative. The first phase will deliver 327 new and newly renovated units, with completion scheduled for 2028. The first phase also includes creation of more than an acre of open space, a new pedestrian plaza linked to the nearby SEPTA station at 46^th and Market streets, retail space, and a community center with on-site social services. Of the first-phase housing units, 190 are available to households earning between 20 percent and 80 percent of area median income.

The Ballard Spahr team representing Westpark Community Partners is led by Matthew N. McClure, practice group leader of Ballard Spahr’s Real Estate Development and Property Rights Group, and includes Ashley E. DeLuca, co-leader of the firm's Mixed-Use, Condominium, and Multifamily Development practice; Jeffrey S. Beenstock, partner in the Affordable Housing and Community Development (AHCD) Group; Robert J. Clark, leader of the Government Affairs and Public Policy Group; and Associates Meredith St. Clair Trego of the Zoning and Land Use Team and Sireen I. Tucker of the AHCD Group.

More information is available in the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s press release.

For media inquiries, please contact Bill Shralow at 215.864.8195.