RHLS Senior Counsel, Judy Berkman, and Staff Attorney, Justin Hollinger, recently attended the financial closing for the New Kensington Community Development Corporation’s (NKCDC) acquisition of several properties along Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia. RHLS is representing NKCDC for the development of 3000 Kensington Avenue for use as a community engagement space. The other two properties acquired in the closing are currently vacant lots that will be greened and used for community events in the future.
This financial closing represents a step in a series of projects in progress by NKCDC and neighboring CDC Impact Services along the commercial corridor to benefit neighborhood residents and families. The newly acquired properties on Kensington and Indiana Avenues sit on either side of the entrance to McPherson Square. With this development, NKCDC is pursuing a strategy of transformation of the Kensington Avenue commercial corridor that is part of their larger vision for the neighborhood that has guided NKCDC’s efforts for the past several years.
These plans include improving public safety and mitigating the drug market, strategically rehabilitating housing and reducing vacant land, and improving the community’s green spaces. Judy Berkman and Justin Hollinger are not only providing legal advice, but they are assisting with the financing by reviewing loan documents. The acquisition and activation of these three new properties are supported by financing from PIDC, the Knight Foundation, and the Rite Aid Healthy Futures Foundation.
NKCDC is a community organization that advocates on behalf of the residents of the Kensington neighborhood in lower northeast Philadelphia. They have a number of programs and initiatives that “advance social equity & economic empowerment by nurturing and creating opportunities for residents to live in, and actively shape, their neighborhoods of choice”. NKCDC supports community-driven development in a long under-resourced part of the city. Their programs include development, homebuyer programming, home repair assistance, and small business resources.