Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority

The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) is a public authority created under Pennsylvania's Urban Redevelopment Law to eliminate blight and carry out redevelopment. It is a state-law entity whose board is appointed by city officials; it is not a city department and is separate from the Philadelphia Housing Authority. The PRA played a major role in mid-twentieth-century urban renewal, including the redevelopment of Society Hill and Center City areas in the 1950s and 1960s, and its legacy of clearing neighborhoods remains a subject of historical debate.^[1]

1 Legal basis and powers

Pennsylvania's Urban Redevelopment Law of 1945 allows cities to create redevelopment authorities. Their central tool is the ability to designate a redevelopment area through a plan reviewed by the City Planning Commission and approved by City Council, and then to acquire land, including by eminent domain, in order to assemble sites for development. The PRA can also sell or lease land to developers, enter agreements for cleanup, and hold property on behalf of public purposes. Because eminent domain affects private owners, such acquisitions involve notice, compensation under state eminent domain law, and the opportunity to contest the taking in court.

2 History

From the late 1940s, the PRA, working with the planning commission under planners such as Edmund Bacon, used federal urban renewal funds to clear and rebuild areas near Center City. Later decades involved the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative of the early 2000s, a large-scale effort to demolish blighted buildings and assemble land, in which the PRA acquired property. Critics have argued that urban renewal displaced residents, particularly in Black neighborhoods, while supporters point to revitalized core districts and new housing. Gregory Heller, named executive director in 2016, led the agency before its staff consolidation.^[2]

3 Consolidation with PHDC and the Land Bank

The creation of the Philadelphia Land Bank in the 2010s meant that both bodies controlled public land. Bisnow Philadelphia reported that in a reorganization announced in 2019 the PRA and the Land Bank combined their duties and staffs under the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), led by President and CEO David Thomas. The two public boards remained intact, and staff and operations moved to PHDC through memoranda of understanding. Heller became PHDC senior vice president of community investment, and Angel Rodriguez, who had led the Land Bank, became senior vice president of land management. Officials called the change a "one-stop shop" intended to make land transactions predictable, transparent and consistent, and said no jobs were lost.^[3]

4 What the PRA does today

Today the PRA is best understood as a legal vehicle with a board and statutory powers, run through PHDC. It holds title to a portfolio of properties acquired over decades and handles transactions that need its special powers, including condemnation, conveyances of redevelopment-area land and agreements with developers. It also works with community development corporations and with the Division of Housing and Community Development on projects that combine land, subsidy and financing (see Division of Housing and Community Development). The agency can partner with the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and other economic development bodies on commercial sites, but each has distinct legal powers.

5 Oversight and public input

As a public authority the PRA must hold open meetings under the Sunshine Act and is subject to the Right-to-Know Law. City Council's role is chiefly in approving redevelopment area plans and certain land conveyances, which links the PRA to councilmanic prerogative. The City Controller may audit the entity as a city-related body. Residents who want to comment on a plan can attend planning commission or Council hearings and work through their Registered Community Organization.

See also: Philadelphia Land Bank, Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, Department of Planning and Development.

References

1. Pennsylvania Urban Redevelopment Law, Act of May 24, 1945, P.L. 991; Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority materials, phdcphila.org.
2. Philadelphia Inquirer, "Gregory Heller named to head Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority," March 2016; WHYY, "Redeveloping the Redevelopment Authority."
3. Bisnow Philadelphia, "Philadelphia Housing Development Corp. Absorbs Redevelopment Authority, Land Bank in Department Merger."