Mayor Parker proposes building housing factories on long-vacant Logan Triangle

Logan Triangle, an area of North Philadelphia that has been vacant since the 1980s due to environmental contamination, could soon become a place where people’s new homes are manufactured.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker announced a proposal to have modular housing factories take up the 30 acres of empty lots that make up Logan Triangle.

“Everything Philadelphia needs to become the hub as a manufacturer of housing in our region is right here,” Parker said. “What you see today here in this Logan community, yes, it is vacant land. But as Mayor of Philadelphia, I want you to know that I see possibilities.”

“So, on this day, I have instructed our Department of Planning and Development to issue a Request for Information to guide the development of modular housing factories right here in the City of Philadelphia. It’s formal, it’s official and it’s live,” Parker added.

Parker said that the factories would not only bring jobs to Philadelphia but would also allow the city to build new homes at scale as part of the Parker administration’s H.O.M.E. initiative, which is looking to create and preserve 30,000 units of new and existing housing throughout Philadelphia.

A formal Request for Information was issued at the event on Wednesday giving potential partners the opportunity to submit proposals to the city.

“We are seeking innovative proposals that address site requirements, operations, workforce capacity and financial models to ensure Philadelphia leads in modular housing production,” Jessie Lawrence, the director of the Department of Planning and Development, said.

“This is our roadmap forward,” Parker added. “We will use every tool available to redevelop long-vacant land, deliver housing at scale and ensure Philadelphians can afford to stay in our city.”