Betting on Philly’s next housing boom

“If you can find a neighborhood that maintains a decent amount of physical assets but is suffering from disinvestment, there’s probably a pretty good likelihood that you can fix it by virtue of changing maybe just the thought process, the identity, putting in a couple new businesses, doing some residential infill. And then it’ll happen.”

From Philly.com:
Across the city, in Point Breeze, John Longacre, of Longacre Property Management Group, is taking advantage of a similar set of geographic characteristics for his latest venture. Longacre has his sights set on the underdeveloped southwestern edge of the neighborhood for his next project, a mixed-use development of residences and commercial spaces he plans to build on a formidable chunk of vacant land along Point Breeze Avenue between Tasker and Moore streets.

“It’s real easy,” said Longacre, whose claims to fame include the South Philadelphia Tap Room and American Sardine Bar – and the neighborhood that has cropped up around them during the past several years. “In order for a neighborhood to work, it has to have physical assets. We’re not just going to go into the middle of nowhere and say, ‘Oh, we’re going to build this really cool thing here and it’s going to work.’ Because that won’t happen.”

Longacre said he’s taking a gamble on the far edge of Point Breeze because it needs just a few more amenities to take off.

“If you can find a neighborhood that maintains a decent amount of physical assets but is suffering from disinvestment, there’s probably a pretty good likelihood that you can fix it by virtue of changing maybe just the thought process, the identity, putting in a couple new businesses, doing some residential infill,” he said. “And then it’ll happen.”

Read the entire article HERE.