Hon. Councilwoman Lozada
We are sending you this letter to express our appreciation for the commitment that you made during the Ceiba – Latino Equitable Development Collective’s Housing Work Group meeting on September 11, 2023, to ensure that all future dispositions of parcels for housing by the Philadelphia Land Bank in the southern part of the Seventh Councilmanic District be restricted for affordable housing in the 30% to 80% AMI range for Philadelphia.
We appreciate your understanding of the need for affordable housing in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods in the southern part of the Seventh Councilmanic District. All of the community-based organizations that are part of the Ceiba Latino Equitable Development Collective serve the southern part of your district and the four Latino Community Development Corporations who lead the Collective’s Housing Work Group have a history of affordable housing development in the core of that area (the neighborhoods between Master St. and Hunting Park Ave.).
We are also grateful for your assurance that you will support the community in its opposition to the property disposition by the Philadelphia Land Bank to BMK Properties, LLC, to develop seventy-five (75) parcels of publicly owned land. The Philadelphia Land Bank will vote on this disposition at its October 10, 2023, board meeting. The Ceiba – Latino Equitable Development Collective will express its opposition to this disposition at that board meeting and we urge to do the same.
We look forward to working with you to increase the supply of affordable housing in our community and to foster equitable development in the Seventh Councilmanic District.
Respectfully,
Will Gonzalez
Ceiba-Executive Director
