Building blocks

Change was the buzzword at 16th and Federal streets on Aug. 11. Representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development joined Universal Companies founder Kenny Gamble at the site for the groundbreaking of Point Breeze Estates.

Funded by HUD through the Office of Housing and Community Development with a $1.9-million grant, the project will result in 18 new single-family homes for low- to moderate-income buyers. Universal will target families who earn 80 percent or less of the area’s median income.

The homes will replace four vacant properties and 35 blighted lots on the 1500 and 1600 blocks of Federal Street.

In an area that is in desperate need of a facelift, news of the groundbreaking was greeted like manna from heaven.

"It’s a good move for the community," said John McNeal, a resident of the 1500 block of Ellsworth Street for more than 10 years.

McNeal said he’s sadly watched his neighborhood decline in recent years, and hopes the Universal development will spur change in the surrounding blocks.

Officials also are counting on Point Breeze Estates to have far-reaching effects.

"This is the type of project that can change the face and complexion of a neighborhood," said HUD regional director Milton Pratt Jr. "I think you’ll wind up seeing tremendous development here."

Abdur-Rahim Islam, president and CEO of Universal Companies, could not be reached for his take on the project.

When completed, each of the three-story brick rowhomes will feature porches, parking pads and three to four bedrooms. Some homes also will have garages.

The $4.5-million project — which also is receiving funding from mortgage company Fannie Mae — represents the second phase of Universal’s work on five developments in South Philly since 2002.

Pratt offered effusive praise for the company’s strategies.

"Many of their projects address multiple issues, including housing and community development," he said. "They’ve done tremendous work in this city."

Pratt believes the homes will be a boost to HUD and President Bush, whose agenda includes increasing the rate of minority home ownership in the country.

Construction also continues on two other housing developments in South Philly. One is aimed at homeowners with a taste for luxury, the other designed to give city dwellers a taste of the suburbs, minus the highway traffic.

Three amenity-filled townhomes being built in the middle of the 1400 block of South Eighth Street will be known as Mildred Court. Developers hope the homes’ features, which include everything from wet bars to built-in home theaters — as well as the city’s 10-year property-tax abatement on new construction — will draw buyers.

The four-bedroom homes, which are being developed by Millennium Homes, also will come complete with granite kitchens, sunken living rooms, decks and off-site parking.

They are expected to sell for $699,900 apiece when construction is finished in the fall.

"They’re really something to be seen," said Courtney Wootten of Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors, the firm selling the townhouses. "These homes are unlike anything else in South Philly."

Indeed, the Mildred Court homes have a distinctive look that is contrasted by the rowhomes on either side of the project.

Neighbors had mixed reactions to the exclusive new development.

"I don’t mind. They don’t make too much noise, and the houses look like they’re going to be nice," said Angelina Nicotra, who lives across the street from the construction site.

But an elderly woman walking by the project waved disapprovingly at the homes.

"It ruins the look of the neighborhood," she said, without slowing her brisk pace.

In Packer Park a development fetching about half the price of Mildred Court is selling fast.

Since construction work began last summer on the Reserve at Packer Park on the site of the old Navy Homes, 20th Street and Pattison Avenue, 52 homes have been built, sold and occupied.

Another 50 homes are under construction and already have buyers, said Barbara Capozzi, president of the Packer Park Civic Association.

Capozzi’s real-estate firm is the exclusive broker for the Reserve project, which is being developed by the Westrum Development Company.

All of the homes in the Reserve come with three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms, and either a garage or a driveway.

"These are big, beautiful homes. The quality of work is unbelievable, especially at this price range," Capozzi said.

The homes range from $300,000 to $350,000, and as with Mildred Court, buyers can count on a 10-year tax abatement that will require them to pay tax only on their land and not their buildings.

"It’s everything you’d have out in the suburbs, except you’re still in the city," said Cathy Masciotro, who lives on the 3500 block of Prima Court in the new development.

The resident gushes about life on her cul-de-sac, calling it the best move she and her husband ever made.

"It’s so nice to sit out back on our deck, without being on top of the other homes," Masciotro said, referring to her old life in a rowhome near 18th and Ritner.

Construction on the rest of Reserve should be finished in another two-and-a-half years for a total of 230 homes.

Work also will be ongoing on the lot adjacent to the Reserve site, where Capozzi expects 200 condominiums and smaller townhouses to be built.

"I always like to say that my father built Packer Park and I’m finishing off 20th Street," Capozzi said.

The newer homes also have affected property values, bumping up the prices of existing homes in Packer Park by $50,000, she said.