Nutter Butter: How Green Are Philadelphia’s Dollars?

We have all heard that Mayor Michael Nutter wants Philadelphia to emerge in coming years as The Green City in America. If you are not on the band wagon yet, it’s time to jump aboard! One of the great aspects of this goal is that he actually has a plan, and a realistic one at that!

The Mayor wants to throw some $6 million in the next year, and $25 million over the next five years at recycling. Currently, as a city, we are at the low, low collection rate of 6%. With this added money in the budget, Nutter aims to start collecting on a weekly basis instead of every other week, and make the system more user friendly to participation. In addition, he wants to implement a city-wide litter prevention strategy based on the prior effort of Councilman Frank DiCicco.

Another effort will be directed at Fairmount Park. He wants to raise it’s budget, plant more trees, and really focus on making it an epicenter of the city, drawing more visitors and residents.
Finally, and here is the big Kahuna, Nutter is aiming to get an energy audit for the city, get all existing city buildings to qualify for LEED certification, and develop a Sustainable Building Code for all future new construction. Whether this will be just for city owned buildings are all new commercial buildings downtown is not know yet at this time. We do know the new Comcast Center, though, will be a fantastic sustainable model for all things to come!
He may be our superhero Mayor, but he knows that he cannot accomplish all aforementioned goals alone. He is now in the market to name a Director to a new Office of Sustainability and establish a Cabinet for this Director. So, if you know anyone…

-Rachel Lipton

(Get To Know Rachel A Little Better @ LiveGreenInPhilly.Com)

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The Regency at Packer Park- South Philly Townhomes

The Regency at Packer Park- South Philly

20th & Capri Drive- South Philadelphia

• 4 Stories
• 96 Units
• 2 to 3 bedrooms
• 2 baths
• 1,471-1,668 Sg ft
• priced from $374,990- $449,990
• Spacious condos with a mid rise format
• Lobby
• elevators
• beautiful common areas

Below is a list of available units:

The National–New Construction

 

 

 

 

143 S 2nd St, Philadelphia -Old City                        

VITALS

• 7 Stories, 63 Units, 1 to 2 bedrooms with 1 to 2.5 baths

• 550-1750 sq ft 

• The first iCondo, Mobile user interface featuring the Apple Ipod.

• Views of Ben Franklin Bridge and Delaware River

• Landscaped private outdoor space

• Underground parking

• Doorman

• Lounge

• Surveillance cameras 

• Environmentally friendly!

• $300k-$1,200m

 

All Current Listings At The National–143 S. 2nd St, Philadelphia

Philadelphia’s Tax Abatement In a Nutshell

[To receive an up to date list of properties currently being offered for sale with a Philadelphia Tax Abatement, provide your email address here:

Philadelphia’s Tax Abatement Program

Much of what follows is a summary from Phila.gov’s page on the Philadelphia Tax Abatement Program…

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The Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) offers a 10 Year Real Estate Tax Abatement for Philadelphia developers and owners of Real Estate in Philadelphia who follow the following guidelines. Tax Abatement For New Construction of Philadelphia Properties Zoned Residential

• Application for Tax Abatement must be made to the BRT within 60 days from the issuance of the building permit by Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections (L&I) department.
• The Construction has to be a Philadelphia Condo, Single House, Duplex, Triplex, Townhouse, Rowhouse, Apartment Building, or a co-op.
• The Tax Abatement starts the in the month after the transfer of the Real Estate to the new owner. The Abatement is based on the assessed valuation.

TAX ABATEMENT FOR IMPROVEMENTS PHILADELPHIA RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES THAT ALREADY EXIST:

• Owner must apply for Tax Abatement by December 31st of the year when the permit to build is issued.
• In order to qualify, the property contain one or more dwelling units that have been deemed unfit for human habitation by L&I or the Department of Health. Tax Abatements are also possible for Philadelphia properties that have been ordered to be vacated, demolished or condemned.
• The Tax Abatement for existing properties is also limited to the assessed value of the Cost of Improvement

You can find the following resources related to obtaining a Tax Abatement in Philadelphia on the BRT Website.

Instructions for the Filing of An Exemption of Real Estate Tax Due To Improvements

Here’s the application for a Philadelphia Tax Abatement, courtesy of the BRT:

http://brtweb.phila.gov/brt.apps/FileViewer.aspx?category=Abatements&fname=Improvements.pdf

The Board of Revision of Taxes is located in Philadelphia at 34 South 11th Street on the 8th Floor. The website for the BRT is http://brtweb.phila.gov.If you’d like to learn more about the collection of taxes in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Revenue Department’s Website ishttp://www.phila.gov/revenueHere are a few other links that contain information related to the Philadelphia Tax Abatement Program:

1. Article by Carl S. Primavera and Adam Laver of Klehr, Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg & Ellers LLP “Current Issues, Trends In Philadelphia Real Estate Developement
2. Philadelphia Tax Abatement Analysis By the “Building Industry Association”
3. “Reforming Philadelphia’s Residential Tax Abatement”, posted by David Gest on the Planetizen Site
4. Phillyblog.com Tax Abatement Thread– See what Philadlephian’s are saying about the tax abatement.