LA URA AN URBAN
PLANNING
PORTFOLIO
CONTENT ABOUT ME STUDIOS DATA VISUALIZATION OTHER PROJECTS
ABOUT ME Hi! My name is Laura. To me, planning is fundamentally about people. Throughout my undergrad years, I studied public health, and asked questions like, “Why do people get sick? How do we prevent people from getting sick in the first place? What does it mean to be healthy? Is it more than just the absence of sickness? What is quality of life?” Questions like these led me to understand that our health is not just influenced by our behaviors, but ultimately by our environments and the things around us that lead us to make decisions in one way or another. One critical aspect of our surroundings is the shape of the built environment. I believe that good design considers how people experience a space, and how it influences their well-being over time. That’s why I’m a planner. Planners have the opportunity to take part in the design process, with a conscious focus on the impact that a place may have over the course of the next 5, 10 or 20+ years. I love that planning takes a holistic approach to shaping environments, and that design doesn’t happen in a vacuum, but in the context of a complex and ever-changing world. In my work, I hope to design spaces that are responsive to their contexts, tailored to the people who use them, and ultimately pleasant, healthy places to be.
EDUCATION University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Class of 2017 Master of City Planning (MCP) GPA: 3.7 Community & Economic Development concentration Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Class of 2015 Bachelor of Science in Public Health GPA: 3.8 Women’s and Gender Studies minor Certificate in Women’s Leadership
WORK EXPERIENCE Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Philadelphia, PA Healthy Communities & Engagement Planning Intern September 2015 - Present AMOS Health & Hope Managua, Nicaragua Women’s Empowerment in Nutrition Intern June 2014 - August 2014 Clinical Directors Network Clinical Education Department Intern January 2014 - May 2014 For more information, see linkedin.com/in/lauraan
LAURA AN
11 Forest Hill Dr. Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 (609) 706-7467
lya7893@gmail.com
STUDIOS
HUNTING PARK NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
University of Pennsylvania, Planning Workshop, Spring 2016
In my second semester at Penn, I worked with six other classmates to write a comprehensive neighborhood plan for Hunting Park, a neighborhood in northern Philadelphia. Like many post-industrial cities, Philadelphia saw significant decline in some of its neighborhoods that relied heavily on manufacturing, and Hunting Park was a classic example of that trend. The neighborhood plan was focused on improving quality of life for residents while maintaining remaining industrial activity, and finding ways for the two to co-exist in healthy ways.
Skills used:
C H A P T E R 5 . R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S
Hunting Park Plan Case Studies
CDFI CERTIFICATION
CO-LOCATED FACILITY Figure 98. South Philly Community Health & Literacy Center
Source: Google
A large portion of Hunting Park is well served by strong institutions like Esperanza, APM, and the NAC. However, access to many of the services that they offer is limited, particularly from the portion of the neighborhood south of Erie Ave. In order to provide better access to services in this geography, and also to address some vacancies, a community facility with colocated services is proposed, including a primary care office specializing in community health run by Temple University Medical School, and a branch of the Philadelphia free public library. While colocating these two seemingly unrelated organizations may seem arbitrary, it is actually expected that being in close proximity will produce positive synergies, as seen in countless studies of other co-located services.1 Within the context of Philadelphia, a relevant case study is the South Philadelphia Health & Literacy Center in
1 The Commonwealth Fund 2008.
88
Point Breeze, which includes a primary care office run by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a branch of the Philadelphia free public library, a Philadelphia public health clinic, a recreation center, and a park. Temple and the Free Library are prime candidates for creating such a partnership in Hunting Park, both because they are already invested in the community, but also because such a partnership would be beneficial for both parties. On the part of Temple University Medical School, it provides an opportunity to become more integrated in the neighborhood, particularly pending their planned expansion into Hunting Park, and could provide a proximate location for students to experience community health initiatives outside of the classroom. On the part of the Free Library, this public-private partnership could provide the capital needed to build an updated and expanded facility, and allow the library to further transition their services to meet more of the digital needs of students and residents in 2016.
NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
A proposed site for this shared facility is the plot where Germantown Ave, Old York Rd, Ontario St, and Rising Sun Ave converge. Not only is it easily accessible from both the Allegheny and Erie stops on the Broad Street Line, but it also provides huge benefits to the students of the Mary McLeod Bethune School across the street. The site includes vacant properties, and can be acquired for extremely low prices, particularly with the assistance of the city of Philadelphia. As a community center, it could be a place where students can gather during after school hours, and the library could facilitate programming that would provide supplemental education to both students and their families. In addition, the primary care office can deliver health services to students, and can collaborate with the library to provide public health education, an important intervention in a district with the highest rates of teenage pregnancy, childhood obesity and new HIV diagnoses, among other health concerns.
One of the greatest challenges faced by residents in Hunting Park is finding the capital to do necessary housing m ai nt enance and r ep ai r s. Although programs exist through the city that are intended to provide this sort of service, they are often backlogged by months, if not years, and as a result make the process of getting a loan very slow and difficult. This issue points to a deeper problem of residents in Hunting Park lacking adequate access to credit overall. Residents may have trouble accessing credit for a number of reasons. With much of the population living under the poverty line, it is not uncommon to live from paycheck-to-paycheck. As a result, it is very difficult to save or to build up a good credit score that would allow them to borrow from traditional banking sources. Most banks would be unwilling to lend to such highrisk borrowers, and those who
do often do so at outrageously high interest rates. These same populations are often at risk for predatory lending. One solution that permits lending at lower interest rates and that attracts more private investment is the creation of a CDFI, a community development financial institution. CDFI’s provide technical assistance, financial advising, and development services that equip borrowers to be more successful in paying off loans. They focus their services in “target markets”, which are areas with low-income populations or other groups that have inadequate access to credit. Due to their narrow geographic focus, CDFI’s are generally considered to be experts on the markets that they serve, and as a result reduce some of the risks for banks by helping them navigate the neighborhood. The NAC is a prime candidate for CDFI certification as they already have abundant knowledge of housing
maintenance and repairs, and serve a segment of Hunting Park with some of the greatest need for housing repair credit. They already have a primary mission of promoting community development in Hunting Park and primarily serve a low income neighborhood with inadequate access to credit, both of which are requirements of CDFI certification approval. Thanks to the CDFI Bond Guarantee Program enacted by the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, as a CDFI, the HPNAC would be empowered to issue bonds that are 100% guaranteed by the federal government and use the profit from the bonds to do further economic development t hr oug hou t t h e c o m m u n i t y . To date, the program has guaranteed over $800 million in bonds since its inception, used by CDFIs all over the country. The injection of such significant capital could prove to be transformational in the lives of Hunting Park residents and in the quality of its housing stock.
Figure 103. Typical 2-story Rowhomes in Hunting Park
To build this partnership, the plot of land can be transferred into the Land Bank, which can then be acquired by the relevant parties. As an anchor institution, Temple Medicine can provide a significant portion of the private funding, aided by some funding from the free library, as well as alternative sources of funding like New Markets Tax Credits and the EB-5 visa program.
NEIGHBORHOOD PLAN
95
To the left is a concept map that my team developed to denote where our strategies would be applied, and how the different aspects of the plan would interact. Below is a summary graphic demonstrating how individual recommendations could fulfill overarching objectives.
URBAN HEALTH NETWORK University of Pennsylvania, Planning Studio, Fall 2017
In my third semester at Penn, I took part in an interdisciplinary studio along with other architecture, landscape architecture, and historic preservation students. In April 2016, Ecuador experienced a massive earthquake that caused severe damage to the coastal city of Pedernales. The goal of our studio was to develop a strategy for rebuilding Pedernales, with sustainable and resilient design that would be able to withstand future earthquakes and other natural disasters. We did a site visit and conducted community engagement exercises to gauge community needs. One of the most pressing concerns mentioned by community members was the need for a hospital, because many residents had died in the earthquake due to poor access to medical care. This information shaped what my project would be for the rest of the semester: proposing an urban health network for the city of Pedernales.
Community Engagement: Pedernales, Ecuador
Skills used:
Process: Preliminary Urban Health Network sketches
Process: Detailed Urban Health Network sketches
Final Boards (see pages 8 and 9 for more detail)
Process: Regional research for project context
Existing Conditions: Pedernales, Ecuador
Proposed Conditions: Pedernales, Ecuador
Existing Conditions Section: Northern Hub
Proposed Conditions Section: Northern Hub
3m
2m
6m
5m
6m
Residential
Residential road
2m
3.3m
33m 38.3m Community center/clinic
8.8m
7m 20.8m Ravine buffer
5m
A
Northern Hub
E
Hospital Hub
D
Eastern Hub
B
Central Hub
The concept of the urban health network is posited on the idea that “Health happens between visits to the doctor� (William Shrank). If health happens between visits to the doctor, then the spaces where residents live and spend everyday life matter. The form of the built environment influences behaviors and exposures to both healthy and unhealthy stimuli. In order to ensure equitable access to spaces that are conducive to health, healthy interventions are best made in places that are central to where people live and spend their time. The hub-and-spoke model is a proven way to accomplish this goal. A healthcare network is composed of a hub (typically a hospital) and multiple spokes (primary care centers). This way, preventative healthcare may be provided within each neighborhood on a day to day basis, and emergency care may be provided in a space that is central to community distribution. To complete the model, the hub and spokes can be connected by a network of shared streets. Shared streets are an urban design intervention that minimize the segregation between pedestrian and vehicular space. They are designed to prioritize pedestrian movement, thereby creating a space that is safe and conducive to increased physical activity.
C
Southern Hub
Skills used:
DATA VISUALIZATION
CHESTER CITY FACT SHEET
DVRPC + Raimi & Associates, Integrating Health into Comprehensive Planning Worship, Summer 2016 Environmental Health
Health Outcomes Low Birth Weight
Traffic Proximity: 98th percentile in PA Superfund Sites: 74th percentile in PA Air Quality
Chester, PA Fact Sheet
Report Area
Average Daily Ambient Particulate Matter 2.35
socio-Demographics
1%
0%
90%
2%
82%
80% 10%
15%
Hispan ic
70%
NH White
60%
NH Black
50%
NH AAPI NH Am Indian NH Oth er
72%
64%
3%
35%
36%
College grad
30%
10.4
0%
Pennsylvania
10.5
0.01%
United States
9.1
0.10%
0% Other
20-54 years: 47.1% 55+ years: 24.1%
Report Area
% Households
Chester, PA
2.0%
Pennsylvania
2.3%
Multi
Some college
600
HS grad
46%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Complete Food System
Employment Density
90%
22%
70%
42%
35%
22%
32%
65%
United States
16.8% took transit
Average Commute to Work Times
30% 20% 10% 0% Hispanic NH White NH Black NH AAPI Renter
NH Am Indian
Other
Multi
Owner
Number of Units per Housing Structure 80%
Pennsylvania
9.3% carpooled
61.9% drove alone
68%
58%
52%
100
Journey to Work Mode Share
78% 62%
50%
200
Transportation & Mobility
78%
60%
*population without a grocery store within 1 mile radius (10 miles in rural areas) and ≤ 200% Federal poverty threshold, given family size
Population with Healthy Food Access
38%
300
Chester, PA
80%
40%
% Low Income HH’s with Low Food Access*: 37.1% Fast food establishments (per 100,000): 73.5 SNAP-authorized food stores (per 10,000): 15.6
48%
395.5
362
400
0
61% renter occupied
100% 0%
Population Density: 7,020.3 people/mi2 Unemployment Rate: 20.5%
39% owner occupied
Housing Tenure by Race/Ethnicity
21%
535
500
24%
Less than HS
Access & Employment
80.4 for women
Violent Crime
Limited English Proficiency
5-19 years: 22.2%
8.3%
United States 8.2%
75.1 for men
10% NH AAPI
Pennsylvania
Housing Tenure
20%
NH Am Indian
8.5%
1. Heart disease 2. Cancer 3. Stroke 4. Respiratory Disease 5. Accidents 6. Flu and pneumonia 7. Diabetes 8. Kidney disease 9. Septicemia (infection) 10. Alzheimer’s
Life Expectancy
Chester, PA
Housing Indicators
6%
22%
Hispanic NH White NH Black
Delaware County, PA
Leading Causes of Death
61%
49%
40%
NH Multi
Under 5 years: 6.6%
Grad school
% Low Birth Weight
Rate per 100,000
0%
Educational Attainment
% of Households Under Poverty Line by Race
Total Population: 34,007
% Days Exceeding National Standards (populationadjusted)
Report Area
45% 40% 35% 30% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%
32%
36%
18% 9%
< 15 minutes
15-29 minutes 30-44 minutes
45-59 minutes
5%
60+ minutes
% Carless Households
72%
70% 60% 50% 40% 30%
9,131 people come to Chester to work
9,798 people work & live in Chester
1,181 people leave Chester to work
20%
13% 8%
10%
3%
3%
20-49 units
50+ units
0%
0%
Mobile home
Boat, RV, Van, etc.
0% 1 unit
Integrating Health into Comprehensive Planning Workshop
2-4 units
5-19 units
Integrating Health into Comprehensive Planning Workshop
THIS RELOCATION CENTER
University of Pennsylvania, Information Design and Visualization Studio, Spring 2016
Japanese internment happened over 50 years ago, and yet was brought back under the public eye during the 2016 election season. According to YouGov polls, 1 out of every 3 Trump and Cruz supporters believed that Japanese internment during World War II was a good idea. While a part of me was distraught that so many people could condone such actions, a part of me wanted to believe that the way our history was written and captured might have lead people to think that the concentration camps weren’t as bad as they actually were.
this relocation center
posed - unposed
smiling - not smiling
group - individual
indoor - outdoor
japanese - other
adults - children
objects
landscapes
work - play
This interactive project was an examination of photographs taken during Japanese internment by 3 different photographers, each with their own biases and reasons for capturing the event. In examining these photos, maybe we can understand how our history has been doctored and spun to justify the actions of past administrations.
Posed
Total Photos
100 80 60
Skills used:
40 20 0 Ansel
Dorothea
Francis
posed
Ansel Adams
An environmentalist and photographer, Ansel was granted permission to photograph Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp. He was deeply distressed by the injustice of the camps, and subtly communicated it through his photos, even though he was not permitted to photograph parts of the camp like guard towers.
Dorothea Lange
A popular documentary photographer, Dorothea captured life in the internment camps from the very beginning of their construction. Similarly, she felt keenly the injustice of the camps and communicated this through the tragic and desolate quality of many of her photographs.
Francis Stewart
A commercial artist and photographer, Francis was hired by the War Relocation Authority to document life in the Japanese internment camps. Though he worked with the WRA for a year, he soon left for “personal reasons,” which are speculated to have been a form of protest against the things he witnessed during that time.
BUMPS & BRUISES
University of Pennsylvania, Information Design and Visualization Studio, Spring 2016
5
6
7 level
8
9
N/A
<4th
3rd
2nd
1st
place
avg: 8.41
Injury: partial torn ligament Muscle: ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) Duration: 3 months Treatment: PT and brace
Vault
avg: 8.23
I spent 12 years of my life doing competitive gymnastics. During that time, I competed in 41 competitions, and won several medals along the way. However, every gymnast knows that along with the triumphs come plenty of injuries too. I sustained 3 major injuries throughout my gymnastics career. I wanted to see whether the injuries that I had impacted my competition scores and the awards that I won during those times. I created a visualization that highlights all of the competition scores and awards that I achieved over the years, and lined them up with my injuries, and indeed, my injuries were in fact correlated with lower scores and fewer medals.
Bars
Skills used:
avg: 8.64
Beam
non-competitive avg: 8.67
compulsory
optional
Injury: torn ligament Muscle: anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) Duration: 9 months Treatment: ACL reconstruction and PT
levels >>
Floor
injuries
Injury: Severâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease Bone: epiphyseal plate Duration: 5 months Treatment: PT and brace
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
elite
OTHER PROJECTS
LONG RANGE PLAN QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS DVRPC, Long Range Plan Public Workshop, Summer 2016
LRP Workshop Response Analysis
LRP Workshop Response Analysis
Question 1: What do you value most in the region right now?
What could have been improved?
What do you value most in the region right now? (aggregate) 100 90
92 90
What could have been improved? (aggregate) 60
83
40
70
30
50
49
50
80 60
47 45
40
30
20 41 39 36 36
30
14
10 29 26 24
20 10
At the Delaware Regional Planning Commission, I assisted with leading some focus group discussions at public meetings, and also provided an analysis of the qualitative data collected at each event. These reports were received by the planners writing the Long Range Plan, the CEO, and DVRPC’s Board.
12
Skills used:
8
5
5
5
3
0 20 19
15 15 12 9
7
0
4
4
3
3
3
1
n = 131 responses
When asked what could have been improved, most did not provide a response, but the responses that were given were quite varied. One repeated theme was more time for discussion. 140 completed worksheets, n = 703 responses In aggregate, respondents cited: (1) transportation/connectivity, (2) regional location, (3) access to green and open space, (4) cultural amenities/entertainment, and (5) history as some of the things they valued most highly in the region. Transportation/connectivity included rail, biking, less congestion than other places, and the ability to get where they needed/wanted to go. Regional location included proximity to major cities along the northeast corridor as well as access to a variety of landscapes (beach, city, mountains, farmland, etc.). Access to green and open space included recreational opportunities, parks, water, public gardens, and other mentions of spending time in nature. Cultural amenities/entertainment included museums, nightlife, restaurants, art, and similar attractions. History included Philadelphia’s historic legacy.
Category Other More time Positive feedback Attendees not representative More in-depth
Category Transportation/connectivity
Workshop Southern NJ
Regional location
Southern NJ
Access to green and open space
Southeastern PA Philadelphia Philadelphia Southern NJ Southern NJ Southeastern PA
Cultural amenities/entertainment History
Quote “Convenien[t] connections to so much stuff: connects to world via PHL, trains, highways, paths” “Geography - close to NYC/DC but distinctly separate” “Open spaces (such as Pinelands)” “Livable community with open space” “Arts and culture, historic attractions and roots” “Access to great art museums and art schools” “Place in our country's history” ‘History: architecture and community”
DVRPC | 2
Workshop Southeastern PA Philadelphia Philadelphia Southern NJ Southeastern PA Philadelphia Southern NJ Philadelphia Southern NJ Southern NJ
Quote “Hoped to heard more about DVRPC’s ideas & plans” “More handouts be nice to have” “More time for table exercise and less presentation” “Longer sessions, more specified” “Can’t think of any” “I can’t think of anything! Excellent job, THANK YOU” “Larger audience, people of color underrepresented” “More disable people” “More specific examples of DVRPC’s vision for 2045” “Follow-up workshops on specific topics”
DVRPC | 32
REAL ESTATE PRO FORMA
University of Pennsylvania, Urban Development Finance, Spring 2017
Appendix B
In my Urban Development Finance course, I learned how to generate a pro forma for real estate projects based on market research. This particular pro forma was drawn up for the development of a plot of land in Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s University City neighborhood, for an office building that would be sold in Year 12. The goal was to create a project that could be sold with a desirable internal rate of return. Skills used:
Question B Item
Pro Forma
Office
Project (size, sqft) Efficiency Ratio, Net Rentable Area Hard cost (per sqft) Development Soft cost (share of hard cost) Costs Land cost (share of hard+soft cost) Total Dev. Cost (hard + soft + land) Avg yearly rent (per sqft) Annual rent inflation rate Operations Market vacancy rate Expense ratio Annual expense inflation rate Max debt-service coverage ratio Max loan-to-value Mortgage interest rate (annual) Financing Mortgage amortization period (years) Mortgage constant Supportable mortgage Cash-in Capitalization rate Reversion Hurdle rate Sell in year Project
Year 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Parameter Calculation 923,640 90% 831276 $137 $126,178,460 30% $37,853,538.12 $55,418,400 $219,450,399 $41 4% 3% 44% 4% 1.35 80% 7.57% 30 0.09 $158,142,192 $61,308,206 6.56% 12% 12
Gross Scheduled Income
Vacancy Losses
Expenses
NOI
$34,082,316 $35,581,938 $37,147,543 $38,782,035 $40,488,445 $42,269,936 $44,129,813 $46,071,525 $48,098,672 $50,215,014 $52,424,474 $54,731,151 $57,139,322 $59,653,452 $62,278,204 $65,018,445 $67,879,257 $70,865,944 $73,984,045 $77,239,343 $80,637,875 $84,185,941 $87,890,122 $91,757,288 $95,794,608 $100,009,571 $104,409,992 $109,004,032 $113,800,209 $118,807,419
($886,140) ($925,130) ($965,836) ($1,008,333) ($1,052,700) ($1,099,018) ($1,147,375) ($1,197,860) ($1,250,565) ($1,305,590) ($1,363,036) ($1,423,010) ($1,485,622) ($1,550,990) ($1,619,233) ($1,690,480) ($1,764,861) ($1,842,515) ($1,923,585) ($2,008,223) ($2,096,585) ($2,188,834) ($2,285,143) ($2,385,689) ($2,490,660) ($2,600,249) ($2,714,660) ($2,834,105) ($2,958,805) ($3,088,993)
($14,996,219) ($15,656,053) ($16,344,919) ($17,064,095) ($17,814,916) ($18,598,772) ($19,417,118) ($20,271,471) ($21,163,416) ($22,094,606) ($23,066,769) ($24,081,707) ($25,141,302) ($26,247,519) ($27,402,410) ($28,608,116) ($29,866,873) ($31,181,015) ($32,552,980) ($33,985,311) ($35,480,665) ($37,041,814) ($38,671,654) ($40,373,207) ($42,149,628) ($44,004,211) ($45,940,397) ($47,961,774) ($50,072,092) ($52,275,264)
$18,199,957 $19,000,755 $19,836,788 $20,709,607 $21,620,829 $22,572,146 $23,565,320 $24,602,194 $25,684,691 $26,814,817 $27,994,669 $29,226,435 $30,512,398 $31,854,943 $33,256,561 $34,719,850 $36,247,523 $37,842,414 $39,507,480 $41,245,809 $43,060,625 $44,955,293 $46,933,325 $48,998,392 $51,154,321 $53,405,111 $55,754,936 $58,208,153 $60,769,312 $63,443,162
Yearly debt service $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449
Source City Property Records Class value Building Journal (Office 11-20, High) Class value City Property Records CBRE Research, Q2 2016, University City CBRE Research, Q2 2016, University City
The State of University City, 2016 BOMA, 2013 Freddie Mac Freddie Mac IRR Office Report 2017 Freddie Mac
IRR Office Report 2017
Before tax cash flow $4,718,507 $5,519,305 $6,355,339 $7,228,157 $8,139,380 $9,090,696 $10,083,871 $11,120,745 $12,203,242 $13,333,368 $14,513,220 $15,744,985 $17,030,949 $18,373,494 $19,775,112 $21,238,400 $22,766,074 $24,360,965 $26,026,031 $27,764,360 $29,579,176 $31,473,843 $33,451,876 $35,516,942 $37,672,871 $39,923,662 $42,273,486 $44,726,704 $47,287,862 $49,961,712
Yearly cash-in + BTCF + net proceeds at sale $61,308,206 FALSE $4,718,507 FALSE $5,519,305 FALSE $6,355,339 FALSE $7,228,157 FALSE $8,139,380 FALSE $9,090,696 FALSE $10,083,871 FALSE $11,120,745 FALSE $12,203,242 FALSE $13,333,368 FALSE $14,513,220 $311,949,657 $327,694,643 FALSE $17,030,949 FALSE $18,373,494 FALSE $19,775,112 FALSE $21,238,400 FALSE $22,766,074 FALSE $24,360,965 FALSE $26,026,031 FALSE $27,764,360 FALSE $29,579,176 FALSE $31,473,843 FALSE $33,451,876 FALSE $35,516,942 FALSE $37,672,871 FALSE $39,923,662 FALSE $42,273,486 FALSE $44,726,704 FALSE $47,287,862 FALSE $49,961,712
Sales value from Net proceeds at cap rate sale $277,438,365 $289,645,653 $302,390,062 $315,695,225 $329,585,814 $344,087,590 $359,227,444 $375,033,452 $391,534,924 $408,762,460 $426,748,009 $445,524,921 $465,128,017 $485,593,650 $506,959,771 $529,266,001 $552,553,705 $576,866,068 $602,248,175 $628,747,094 $656,411,967 $685,294,093 $715,447,033 $746,926,703 $779,791,478 $814,102,303 $849,922,804 $887,319,407 $926,361,461 $967,121,365
NPV
($50,977,905) ($47,049,372) ($43,010,439) ($38,908,989) ($34,785,326) ($30,673,156) ($26,600,450) ($22,590,198) ($18,661,081) ($14,828,056) ($11,102,874) $63,996,281 $67,481,150 $70,837,919 $74,063,668 $77,156,921 $80,117,411 $82,945,885 $85,643,919 $88,213,777 $90,658,275 $92,980,665 $95,184,545 $97,273,769 $99,252,379 $101,124,542 $102,894,502 $104,566,533 $106,144,903 $107,633,848
IRR
-92% -66% -44% -28% -17% -10% -4% 0% 4% 6% 8% 22% 22% 22% 23% 23% 23% 23% 23% 23% 23% 23% 23% 24% 24% 24% 24% 24% 24% 24%
Beginning balance
Yearly debt service
Interest
Principle Repayment
Ending balance
$158,142,192 $156,632,107 $155,007,708 $153,260,342 $151,380,701 $149,358,770 $147,183,780 $144,844,142 $142,327,394 $139,620,129 $136,707,923 $133,575,263 $130,205,461 $126,580,565 $122,681,265 $118,486,787 $113,974,787 $109,121,229 $103,900,257 $98,284,057 $92,242,711 $85,744,034 $78,753,408 $71,233,592 $63,144,526 $54,443,117 $45,083,011 $35,014,346 $24,183,482 $12,532,722
$13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449 $13,481,449
$11,971,364 $11,857,051 $11,734,084 $11,601,808 $11,459,519 $11,306,459 $11,141,812 $10,964,702 $10,774,184 $10,569,244 $10,348,790 $10,111,647 $9,856,553 $9,582,149 $9,286,972 $8,969,450 $8,627,891 $8,260,477 $7,865,249 $7,440,103 $6,982,773 $6,490,823 $5,961,633 $5,392,383 $4,780,041 $4,121,344 $3,412,784 $2,650,586 $1,830,690 $948,727
$1,510,085 $1,624,399 $1,747,366 $1,879,642 $2,021,930 $2,174,991 $2,339,637 $2,516,748 $2,707,266 $2,912,206 $3,132,660 $3,369,802 $3,624,896 $3,899,301 $4,194,478 $4,512,000 $4,853,558 $5,220,972 $5,616,200 $6,041,346 $6,498,676 $6,990,626 $7,519,816 $8,089,067 $8,701,409 $9,360,106 $10,068,665 $10,830,863 $11,650,760 $12,532,722
$156,632,107 $155,007,708 $153,260,342 $151,380,701 $149,358,770 $147,183,780 $144,844,142 $142,327,394 $139,620,129 $136,707,923 $133,575,263 $130,205,461 $126,580,565 $122,681,265 $118,486,787 $113,974,787 $109,121,229 $103,900,257 $98,284,057 $92,242,711 $85,744,034 $78,753,408 $71,233,592 $63,144,526 $54,443,117 $45,083,011 $35,014,346 $24,183,482 $12,532,722 $0
BRINGING BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES TO SOUTH PHILADELPHIA Urban Land Institute published article, Spring 2016
Bringing Better Health Outcomes to South Philadelphia By: Joyce Lee
February 24, 2016
An aerial image of the South Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center.
A rendering of the exterior of the building. (VSBA Architects)
Context
A Model for Building Healthy Places
Though the sustainability movement has been putting more focus on human health recently, it is less of a trend than a returning to its roots. William Penn’s “greene country towne” plan of 1683 paved the way for Philadelphia to be the first American city to provide free hospital care at the heart of the city. The history of public health reaches back to America’s beginnings: the country’s first hospital was cofounded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin in 1751. Philadelphia was also home to the country’s first medical school, children’s hospital, cancer hospital, nursing school, and dental school.
The 93,000-square-foot (8,600 sq m), three-story structure embodies ULI’s Ten Principles for Building Healthy Places. Beyond efficiency gains and environmental sustainability, it demonstrates how the whole can far exceed the sum of its parts. The building, which is targeting a Silver rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, fully embraces the ten principles:
In 2012, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHoP), a private institution, partnered with the city to serve residents in South Philadelphia, an area beyond the historic Center City located between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers and bisected by the central arterial, Broad Street. The site is located between Morris Street and Castle Avenue with frontage on Broad. Philadelphia-based VSBA Architects, together with its clients, led the programming and design for the South Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center. Its program includes a Department of Public Health community health center, a CHoP pediatric primary care clinic, a branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, and a community park and recreation center operated by Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. This public/private effort is unprecedented in the variety of services located on a single site, in the speed of gaining public approvals, and in the financial mechanisms supporting the development. “Spurred by strong planning and design momentum, enhancing programmatic outcomes for city services is central to our investment decisions,” says Mike DiBerardinis, managing director of the City of Philadelphia.
1. Put people first. The center adopts the “complete streets” principle of ensuring access for pedestrians, drivers, cyclists, and users of public transit. Multimodal transportation prioritizes people over cars with the intent of reducing fatal crashes and injuries. A resident-focused planning process involves community engagement and multiple surveys to address resident aspirations and concerns. The facility’s public areas are filled with natural light, and corridors in the clinics are punctuated with end windows that provide light and views to the outside. Access to views of the natural environment has been shown to reduce pain for patients and speed recovery. 2. Recognize the economic value. Adjacent to a transit stop and two intersecting bus routes, the center has a high level of connectivity while creating a friendly presence on the street, attracting foot traffic. At the back of this active hub, a newly contoured park increases the potential for higher property values in a transitional neighborhood. 3. Empower champions for health. With the support of Philadelphia’s mayor and CHoP’s chief executive officer, the empowered team leaders engaged in a collaborative process that included monthly steering committee meetings. These champions put in motion the cooperation needed among the hospital, the federal government, and myriad city departments, including Parks and Recreation, Public Health, the Free Library, Public Property, Law, Finance, and Innovation and Technology. 4. Energize shared spaces. From the large entry plaza to the active playground, the building has been carefully massed and detailed to respect its neighbors and welcome visitors. Limited parking, located between the library and recreation center, is screened from view. On the ground floor, library meeting rooms are open for use by the community and all building occupants. The park and sidewalk, places for greater social interaction, will be planted with more than 30 trees. Trees not only provide summer shade, but also have been linked with reducing the prevalence of childhood asthma.
5. Make healthy choices easy. The walkable neighborhood, availability of transit, and safer bike lane design make active transportation the natural choice. Public art is another tenet of active design, and the relocated sculpture on Broad Street enlivens this emerging healthy commercial corridor. The proximity of the park and recreation facility allows more doctors on site to prescribe the Nature Rx program, which calls for pre-diabetic patients to exercise rather than take medication to address obesity, high blood pressure, chronic stress, and a poor attention span. 6. Ensure equitable access. Not only do facilities qualify as fully accessible under Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines, but also the plaza design anticipates future installation of an elevator providing people with disabilities a connection to the subway. The creation of a shared entrance is intentional, supporting health equity among the clinics and patients with different types of health coverage. Green materials are another equalizer: the entire building uses paints and primers with low or no volatile organic compound (VOC) content, as well as formaldehydefree materials, in order to enhance indoor air quality and reduce health conditions triggered by the environment, such as asthma. 7. Mix it up. Providing access to a multifaceted mixed-use building, the entry plaza has been designed to accommodate the many people who wait outside for walk-in hours at the health clinic. The shared public foyer further encourages chance encounters among multigenerational visitors. The scale and materials of the building change on the side facing the residential neighborhood, and a metal picket fence along the basketball courts provides a more inviting park enclosure than the traditional chain-link fence. 8. Embrace unique character. Broad Street’s importance is reflected in the civic scale of the curtainwall facade, and brick facades respect the character of the flanking streets of rowhouses. The parking lot entrance and exit are located near Broad Street to minimize neighborhood congestion and noise. A rain garden inside the park supports citywide green strategies to manage stormwater. Reflecting each facility’s separate personality, emphasis on lighting and color coding enhances wayfinding and adds visual vibrancy to the interior corridors, walls, and floors. 9. Promote access to healthy food. While the absence of traditional vending machines offering sugary drinks both promotes good health and saves energy, street carts at the entrance plaza offering fresh fruit and water fountains in the interior public area are readily available. An amenity for nursing mothers are the separate lactation rooms for staff and patients; research demonstrates that breast milk helps reduce childhood diseases compared with formula. 10. Make it active. Active indoor and outdoor spaces—from a colorful play area in the park to large glazed windows among cast-stone piers conveying activity within—are central to the design. In the atrium, a prominent staircase is placed close to the entrance, encouraging use of the stairs and leaving the elevator for those with acute needs.
Impacts and Funding A neighbor is formalizing a pre-kindergarten book exchange benefiting the entire community. Also, the Penn Center for Public Health Initiatives recently formed a partnership with the library to incorporate evidencedbased health programming, enhancing linkages to social services, food, nutrition, and culinary literacy. This branch library, with user-friendly furnishings and a flexible floor plan, will be the first implementation of the Building Inspiration: 21st Century Libraries Initiative in the Free Library’s master plan. Social determinants of health (see figure 1 below), inextricably linked to land use and the built environment, is a concept championed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and leading health organizations. Though Philadelphia is the nation’s fifth-most-populous city and is known for its major health care institutions, its residents rank below average in some key health indicators, such as infant mortality rate, premature cardiovascular mortality, adult hypertension, and prevalence of adult diabetes. “Urban centers often have high rates of poverty and also the greatest health challenges, illustrating the social determinants concept,” says Donald Schwarz, director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former deputy mayor of Philadelphia. “But Philadelphia has been working hard to improve the health of all its residents, with the idea that better health gives people a greater opportunity to rise from poverty.” Siobhan Reardon, president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, concurs. “We are excited about the potential to serve our customers better in a building that has 21st-century design thinking, programming, and a new community health initiative that will engage all our collaborators,” she says. The project budget of $42.7 million for the facility is broken down as follows: City of Philadelphia—$2.2 million, CHoP financing/sponsor equity—$32.5 million; and New Market Tax Credits equity funds—$8.0 million.
CHoP has ample experience in institutional construction and tax credit financial structures. “The CHOP’s mission is aligned with the city’s for serving this neighborhood, and through this synergy we are able to innovate and push through systemic constraints, creating a new colocation paradigm with enhanced outcomes,” says Doug Carney, CHoP senior vice president for facilities and real estate. “During construction, our team had also hired local residents to lead neighborhood cleanup to instill a strong pride of place.” In addition to attracting capital investment, such as the New Market Tax Credits, the center has retained 138 positions from the old recreation center and library, so no jobs were lost, and created 234 construction jobs and 12 permanent jobs. After construction, the community impact will include improved services to 35,000 library users each year, an increase of 50 percent in the number of patients for both city and CHOP clinics at the site, and use of the recreation center by 4,000 people each week. The New Market Tax Credit Program, started in 2000 and managed through the U.S. Treasury Department, continues to be a catalyzing source of development funds in emerging urban and rural communities meeting low-income requirements. These tax credits create a total of 39% of the investment (5% per year as credit over the first 3 years and 6% per year over the next 4 years) paid out over 7 years to the investors.
Unlocking the full health potential in place making has been demonstrated in recent development projects such as Mariposa, a 15-acre transit-oriented development near downtown Denver, and Paseo Verde, a mixed-use development in North Philadelphia. The center stands on the shoulders of these precedents and adds an integrated programming dimension to be sustained through an ongoing steering committee led by the clinics, library, and recreation center. The success of this colocation will be further measured by programs and revenue streams yet to be conceived. In the future, new wealth in neighborhoods will move far beyond property values and increased services toward metrics measuring health, well-being, and social cohesion.
The legal transactions involved in bringing the project to fruition were complex, including a ground lease, a prime lease, and an operating agreement facilitated by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). PIDC also structured a large allocation of the New Market Tax Credits with JP Morgan Chase, Commonwealth Cornerstone Group, and City First Bank.
A rendering of the playground behind the facility. (VSBA Architects)
Beyond these principles, colocational synergies are emerging even as the building nears completion, scheduled for this spring.
Population Statistics Economic Stability Median household income
$31,000 per year
Education High school or lower
64% residents
Social and Community Context Predominant languages spoken at home
Health and Healthcare Smoking attributed mortality rate Premature cardiovascular disease mortality rate Adult obesity rate Adult hypertension rate Infant mortality rate Mothers receiving late or no prenatal care Adults without insurance Life expectancy in 19145 zip code
Neighborhood and Built Environment Access to recreational facility Low access to fresh food
English, Asian and Pacific Islander languages, Spanish, other Indo-European languages 342 per 100,000 (99th percentile) 51.7 per 100,000 31.2% residents 37.9% residents 8 per 1,000 live births 15.5% residents 20.7% residents 71.5 for men (75.6 nt’l avg) 78.4 for women (80.7 nt’l avg)
40..4% residents (50th percentile in Philadelphia) 20.7% residents (50th percentile in Philadelphia)
Table by: Laura An, PennDesign, University of Pennsylvania Data sources: 2010 ACS 5-year estimates (census tract level), Philadelphia Department of Health Community Health Assessment (planning district level), The Food Trust, Healthy People 2020 Categories. Data for economic stability, education, and social and community context are for the census tract containing the South Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center. Data for health and healthcare, and neighborhood and built environment are for the planning district containing the center. Joyce Lee is president of IndigoJLD, providing green health, design, and planning services on leading-edge projects and programs. She is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) fellow, and has been a fellow at the National Leadership Academy for Public Health.
The new project reduces future city maintenance needed for the current buildings’ aging infrastructure. The city’s contribution was the 1.6-acre (0.6 ha) prime development site and $2.2 million in tenant fit-out for the recreation, library, and health facilities. Building on its large portfolio, A rendering of the library space. (VSBA Architects)
This article is reprinted from Urban Land Online, the online magazine of the Urban Land Institute, with a publication date of February 24, 2016.
I worked with Joyce Lee, former Chief Architect under Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg in New York City to write a case study about a new public private partnership in South Philadelphia. We highlighted the benefits of designing not just public spaces but also buildings with health in mind. I contributed all data collection and assisted with initial drafts of the article.
LAURA AN la u r ayan@d esig n.upenn.ed u (6 09 ) 706 -746 7