Where Do Philly's Mayoral Candidates Stand On The Issues That Matter To CRE? Part 2
Philadelphia’s candidates to replace Mayor Jim Kenney say the mayor’s office holds more power to influence the city’s commercial real estate industry than Kenney ever used.
Though Election Day isn’t until November, the Democratic primary serves as the de facto election in a city as deeply blue as Philly, and that takes place on May 16. With just over two months to go, the field of candidates is still in the double digits, making it difficult for voters to differentiate between them.
To help inform readers, Bisnow sent candidates a six-question survey covering issues specific to commercial real estate and the development industry in the city.
Six candidates responded:
- Former Councilmember at large Allan Domb
- Former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart
- Former Councilmember at large Derek Green
- Business owner Jeff Brown
- Former Councilmember at large Helen Gym
- Former District 7 Councilmember Maria Quiñones-Sánchez
Rhynhart and Green gave their answers in phone interviews, while the others submitted written responses. All six who answered Bisnow’s questions expressed the belief that Philadelphia already has tools to create affordable housing that have been underutilized, with the disposition of vacant land a main culprit.
In Kenney’s second term, Philadelphia City Council consolidated power over land use and zoning decisions under the leadership of Council President Darrell Clarke, who won't run for another term. Despite the majority of respondents having resigned council seats to run for mayor, most agreed that the balance has shifted too far away from the executive branch.
Candidates weren't aligned on every issue, perhaps diverging most notably on the question of whether Philly should be doing more to financially support its still-fledgling gene and cell therapy industries.
Former City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart
Bisnow: What do you think is the most important or effective policy tool for addressing the affordable housing crisis in Philadelphia?
Rhynhart: The affordable housing crisis is a serious issue, and I believe that, as mayor, I could do a lot to lead through that issue. In terms of the most effective policy tool, I think it’s a few different things. The city owns 8,500 vacant properties and lots. I would create a citywide strategy for using these properties — obviously in concert with city council, but we need a citywide strategy for that.
We have the Housing Trust Fund and existing programs that can truly help affordable housing. We can build affordable housing, have public-private partnerships on the lots and properties we own, we can use the basic repair program to help people strengthen their existing housing stock, and we can keep people in rental programs by ensuring that our eviction protection programs are strong. I don’t think rent control is the way to go; it hasn’t been found to be successful in other cities, but there are a variety of public tools.
We do have a “strong mayor” form of government, so I’d like to use that to lead. We also need to talk about what affordable housing means. It means different things to different people, and we need a wide range of housing options.
Bisnow: Do you think that councilmanic prerogative should continue to apply to zoning overlay bills? What about disposition of vacant land? Why or why not?
Rhynhart: Councilmanic prerogative is an unwritten practice; it’s not a law or something that can get officially changed. As mayor, I will have a very strong citywide housing plan, so we need to make sure that it’s not done as 10 different cities. It doesn’t make sense to have overlays by different districts; that’s not the way to move forward.
We are one city, and each neighborhood has specific needs, but councilmanic prerogative can’t be used in an unreasonable manner. And what we need to do is have an overall plan and make sure that councilmanic prerogative isn’t used in a way that doesn’t make sense.
What’s happened over the past few years is that, because we haven't had strong leadership in the mayor’s office, more and more power went to individual council members as a result of the power vacuum. And I’m running to be a more powerful leader.
Bisnow: Is power properly balanced between the mayor’s administration/city agencies and city council over land, zoning and development right now? Why or why not?
Rhynhart: The mayor’s administration needs to have a stronger plan. I would have a much stronger and more forward-looking vision on development and the disposition of city-owned properties. It benefits no one to have the city hold vacant property, so we need to convert that into affordable housing with public-private partnerships or have another use for them.
When I was city controller, my office mapped a section of the city’s vacant lots and I drove through that section. It’s ridiculous that the city owns these; they’re boarded up, vacant and/or blighted. As mayor, I would own that [issue] and acknowledge that we own these properties and need to find a better use for them. And we have the tools we need; we have the solutions, we just need to put them together.
Bisnow: Should Philadelphia spend city money to support the growth of startups in industries, such as life sciences, it has emphasized as key to the local economy?
Rhynhart: What the city needs to do is improve the ease of doing business in Philadelphia. To me, it’s not about giving money; it’s about making an environment where small businesses and entrepreneurs can thrive. As mayor, I would work to cut down on red tape and bureaucracy — the siloed nature of our departments creates so much frustration among businesses and our growing industry.
As a city government, we should spend money on job training programs to connect people who need jobs to positions that are needed for the city’s economy. That, I think, is important and is part of the city government’s role.
For the startups themselves, I think if the government here in Philadelphia is more welcoming to doing business, it would look at the overall tax structure. We need to look at lowering the overall business and wage taxes. We need to minimize the negative impacts we put upon our growing industries.
Bisnow: How much of a factor should parking be when considering the impact of a development? How about when considering city policies on businesses and land use? Feel free to add your views about parking in general and how it should guide city decisions.
Rhynhart: People care about their parking, so we need to figure out solutions to balance development with existing residents and their needs. For example, when an apartment building goes up, it’s understandable that residents would worry about the impact on their parking. There does need to be discussion about that because it does affect quality of life.
That being said, we need to be more thoughtful about how we make decisions. We obviously need to emphasize public transportation, improving it, improving bike lanes so that there’s not so much relying on driving — but at the same time, driving is part of life.
For the streeteries, for example, I would bring in businesses and city residents to help make those decisions, because many parts of the city seem siloed and isolated when assessing the consequences of those decisions. When I think of Center City’s streeteries during the pandemic, it was a real bright spot for a Center City resident like myself.
Could there have been a traffic study to understand how steeteries could have continued without affecting traffic and parking too much? The studies can start as simply as [looking at] how the lights are timed, but there are a lot of layers to the discussion about the streets.
Bisnow: With property taxes so important to the city’s school district and wage taxes regularly criticized as an obstacle to business and job growth, should the balance between the two be different from how it is now? In what way should it be different?
Rhynhart: I would not look at it that way. I don’t think that this is an either/or issue between business tax and property tax. We can’t raise property taxes any more; we’ve raised them so much without an improvement in the school district that it is unfair to the residents of the city. That is not going to work. But that being said, we can lower the business and wage taxes — I say that having been the city’s budget director for five years and having been the elected controller for another five.
The city’s budget has grown significantly over the past five years despite there being a decline in city services citywide. So we need to do better with what we have, and I believe we can lower business taxes and make up for it with operational efficiencies. My office estimated we can save an easy $40M on overtime management per year, for example.
The positioning of the discussion around needing an increase to property taxes in order to cut business taxes is an improper framing.
Business Owner Jeff Brown
Bisnow: What do you think is the most important or effective policy tool for addressing the affordable housing crisis in Philadelphia?
Brown: We have to re-envision the way the city’s Land Bank is structured and administered. In a city where we have a major affordable housing crisis, there is no reason thousands of properties should be sitting vacant under city control. As mayor, I will provide access to portions of the Land Bank inventory to builders and developers who commit to building and maintaining affordable housing for Philadelphians. The price of this land will be set to make sure the project is financially viable.
My administration will also create new, innovative tools to assist developers in making affordable housing viable. This will include floating a 40-year bond at a low interest rate to workforce and affordable housing developers to bring them closer to break-even on their project. We will also consider a long-term affordable housing tax, which will support affordable housing efforts.
Bisnow: Do you think that councilmanic prerogative should continue to apply to zoning overlay bills? What about disposition of vacant land? Why or why not?
Brown: No, I do not think councilmanic prerogative should continue to apply to zoning overlay bills. While we must consider community input, I don’t think councilmanic prerogative is appropriate. However, the political realities of limiting or mitigating elements of councilmanic prerogative must be balanced with the priority of gaining community input and, ideally, consensus.
The way I will address this is by putting together a series of significant affordable housing projects, presented as a citywide program to address our housing crisis. We will then work to get council to approve the whole series, at one time, without restrictive councilmanic prerogative, zoning overlays or other adjustments.
Bisnow: Is power properly balanced between the mayor’s administration/city agencies and city council over land, zoning and development right now? Why or why not?
Brown: No, power is not properly balanced between the mayor’s administration/city agencies and city council over land, zoning and development. The city is not properly respecting land ownership and as-of-right developments. We must take actions to make Philadelphia operate like other cities in the country when it comes to respecting property rights.
Bisnow: Should Philadelphia spend city money to support the growth of startups in industries, such as life sciences, it has emphasized as key to the local economy?
Brown: Yes. We will do this not only through incubating these firms through venture capital, but we should also invest in venture capital firms that have an expertise in this, specifically requiring that they have to be in Philadelphia.
Additionally, we will have financing available to get the later-state firms to vertically integrate and move their manufacturing and distribution to Philadelphia. This will create the kind of jobs (manufacturing, logistics, etc.) that would help people escape poverty without a college degree.
Bisnow: How much of a factor should parking be when considering the impact of a development? How about when considering city policies on businesses and land use? Feel free to add your views about parking in general and how it should guide city decisions.
Brown: Where a development is built greatly affects the need for parking. Transit-oriented developments that are rich in public transportation options shouldn't necessarily include a parking requirement. However, for developments that don’t have abundant access to transit, there is a need to have a provision for increased parking. Also, the needs of the area of the city in which the development is being built must be considered.
Bisnow: With property taxes so important to the city’s school district and wage taxes regularly criticized as an obstacle to business and job growth, should the balance between the two be different from how it is now? In what way should it be different?
Brown: I support the city’s long-term plan to incrementally reduce the wage tax. We must also add a limit on how much an individual's property tax can increase per year. For Philadelphians who have not done anything themselves to increase their property value but still see it rising, often due to gentrification, we shouldn’t allow excessive property tax increases to continue. That is why, as mayor, I will implement a 5% limit on the increase of property taxes for these situations.
Former Councilmember At Large Helen Gym
Bisnow: What do you think is the most important or effective policy tool for addressing the affordable housing crisis in Philadelphia?
Gym: There is no policy tool that can replicate leadership and vision around affordable housing. As a community organizer and city council member, I led a housing-first agenda that ensures everyone in the city has a safe, affordable, long-term place to live. As mayor, I will lead a citywide plan to ensure that building and protecting affordable housing at all income levels is a top priority for the next decade.
The Gym administration will prioritize the use of public land for permanent affordable housing, create a dedicated preservation fund to keep current homeowners in safe and modern housing, increase outreach on existing government programs and support first-time homebuyers with down payment assistance.
As a city council member, one of my top priorities was advocating for equitable housing policy, and it will remain a guiding priority in my administration. I refused to accept the status quo, in which 1 in 14 renters were being evicted from their homes, the majority of them Black women.
I pulled every single partner and city agency together to create a groundbreaking eviction diversion program that slashed evictions in our city (the fourth-highest-evicting city in the nation) by nearly 70%. And that program, which ensured landlords were getting paid and tenants were able to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic, became a model for the nation and heralded by the Biden White House.
I’m no stranger to finding creative solutions to difficult and seemingly intractable problems. We must both encourage the development of new housing while also ensuring that our long-term residents, especially seniors living on fixed incomes, aren’t pushed out of neighborhoods. We must incentivize new housing development while still focusing on affordable housing, rehab and preservation. We must protect low-income renters while also supporting the interests of small landlords.
My administration will prioritize the needs of all our residents to deliver the equitable development, fully funded schools and prosperous neighborhoods that will grow our city.
Bisnow: Do you think that councilmanic prerogative should continue to apply to zoning overlay bills? What about disposition of vacant land? Why or why not?
Gym: My administration will drive a big vision for this city that unites Philadelphia. I will ensure that communities have the opportunity to weigh in and be a part of that conversation. That includes working with the new council president and incoming city council members to drive an ambitious, citywide vision that prioritizes affordable housing and equitable development.
District council members have an important role to play in that plan and shaping how zoning and other policies meet the needs of constituents. However, they should not have unlimited power over land use decisions that have ramifications for housing affordability citywide. It is my job to unite the city and our city council for a true citywide agenda for housing affordability, equity and growth.
Bisnow: Is power properly balanced between the mayor’s administration/city agencies and city council over land, zoning and development right now? Why or why not?
Gym: I have not seen a strong citywide plan or vision from any mayoral administration in decades that seeks to prioritize equity, affordability and growth. In the absence of a strong citywide action plan on affordability and growth, it’s no surprise that people are frustrated that district council members are leading decisions parcel-by-parcel and district-by-district.
Despite the fact that some council members are using their unique positions toward this purpose, a piecemeal approach cannot bring us to the scale we need to meet demands, and it has resulted in a discouraging development environment that has failed to unlock financial investments or a diverse pool of developers who can meet the vast range of our city’s needs. What’s clear is that a mayor, in partnership with our city council, must lead a unified vision for Philadelphia that keeps us moving forward and growing as a city — together.
Bisnow: Should Philadelphia spend city money to support the growth of startups in industries, such as life sciences, it has emphasized as key to the local economy?
Gym: Philadelphia needs flourishing businesses to thrive. As mayor, I will champion growing our local economy and prioritizing the growth and success of businesses at all levels, especially emerging and small and local businesses.
I have made clear that I believe our current tax structure is antiquated, burdensome and unsuitable for growth in this city. Too often, we have pursued ad hoc, last-minute adjustments to a challenging tax structure that have failed to move the needle on growth or encouragement for business. That’s why I have proposed a new tax commission to lead a wholesale review of existing taxes, with an eye toward reducing the number of taxes paid, and to strategically design new subsidies and incentives that can be transformative in growing businesses. Of course, new industry startups can and should be part of the equation.
Action must come immediately. One of the ways I’ll do this as mayor is by reorienting the city toward actual business services. When I talk to businesses, I hear time and time again that the city is unresponsive and unwieldy, and that education, safety and cleanliness are major obstacles to success.
As mayor, I have pledged to establish city business services hubs in neighborhoods to help businesses resolve conflicts among many agencies, whether it’s around permitting or fines. I will build a one-stop place for businesses to push through the red tape and bureaucracy that creates delays that are as much a tax as anything else.
It means supporting the financial health and well-being of business owners at all levels — especially those just starting out. Young entrepreneurs, Black business owners and struggling small businesses especially need the city’s support. I vow to improve procurement and double the number of city contracts going to Black-owned, small and local businesses in my first term.
In addition to city funds, my administration will prioritize leading a community-focused investment initiative that unites our major lending institutions, PIDC, CDFIs, the Enterprise Center and others to expand financing opportunities in Philadelphia for key areas of economic growth. Whether for Black, Brown and immigrant entrepreneurial efforts; for affordable housing development; or for new and emerging businesses and industries like gene therapy — we need to holistically support our local economy by investing in equity and growth.
Philadelphia’s future depends on the successful partnership of city government and our business community. I will focus government resources to ensure our city is in service to small and local businesses, emerging industries, our labor force and diverse entrepreneurs — not just corporate lobbyists and special interests.
Bisnow: How much of a factor should parking be when considering the impact of a development? How about when considering city policies on businesses and land use? Feel free to add your views about parking in general and how it should guide city decisions.
Gym: Philadelphians across the city rely on parking because in many cases, driving is their only reliable, affordable option. In order to drive equitable development in our neighborhoods and balance land use, we need to ensure that we are making public transit affordable, accessible and appealing to everyone.
As a council member, I passed an ambitious commuter benefits program that incentivized the use of public transit. As mayor, I will continue to lead on a transit-oriented development approach that recognizes that nearly 1 in 3 Philadelphians lack access to a car and reduces our city’s reliance on parking accordingly.
As mayor, I will also work closely with the PPA to improve enforcement of illegal parking that constitutes a significant safety risk in neighborhoods and ensure that abandoned cars are removed swiftly in order to free up available parking and reduce the number of illegal cars on our streets.
Bisnow: With property taxes so important to the city’s school district and wage taxes regularly criticized as an obstacle to business and job growth, should the balance between the two be different from how it is now? In what way should it be different?
Gym: As stated above, the city’s current tax structure is antiquated. It’s why I called for a new tax commission that focuses on growth and equity for the city. We must utilize changes in leadership at the state level to pursue an end to the uniformity clause that is the source of our burdensome tax structure.
This is a new opportunity for the business community and Philadelphians to come together for a common-sense tax structure at the state level that separates business and residential taxes and allows us to pursue a growth-minded, more equitable tax structure that is common in most states.
