The Philadelphia Housing and Development Corporation (PHDC) has now opened the “Requests for Proposals” (RFP) process for the development of two public land properties in Eastwick:
8401 Lindbergh Boulevard
2900 S. 81st Street (Includes the former Motivation High School)
This continues the series of events that began in 2015 with turning over to the City of the rights for converting the use of some 134 acres of land in Eastwick to purposes suitable to the community’s current priorities.
Under the supervision of PHDC, its development consultants Interface advisers held a series of open community meetings to obtain a sense of what local residents, business owners, and government agencies such as Philadelphia International Airport felt were the best uses of the total of five public parcels. The guiding principles were:
1) to empower Eastwick residents to help shape the future of their community; and
2) provide a framework for responsible land use in the neighborhood.
The end result was the Eastwick Public Lands Strategy Plan* produced by Interface in partnership with a Steering Committee comprised of residents and stakeholders.
In the statement released by PHCD, Senior Vice President Greg Heller said “…Community members have multiple goals for rebuilding their neighborhood that was ravaged by urban renewal decades ago, while ensuring that new development does not make flooding worse for this environmentally sensitive area.
“This community deserves the highest quality projects that create jobs, improve the quality of the neighborhood, and are sensitive to the history of the residents,” added Councilman Kenyatta Johnson. Pre-bid meetings will take place for interested developers on February 6 and 7. Both RFPs may be found at https://phdcphila.org/developers/development-rfps/ and are due on March 9, 2020.
