New Apartment Building Promises Discounted Rent For Philadelphia School Teachers
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Teachers will get a break on rent at a new apartment complex being built in Philadelphia's South Kensington neighborhood.
The idea is affordable housing for teachers.
The Oxford Mills development will have 114 rental units when it opens in late spring of 2014 at 100 West Oxford Street in Philadelphia. About 65 of those units are being been set aside for teachers, with 25-percent rent discounts. Greg Hill of developer D3 Real Estate says public, charter and private school teachers are eligible.
"Although we are not educators and we're not necessarily experts in that field," Hill says, "we do believe that if we can create a good working environment and a good living environment that's affordable, it helps those very dedicated professionals do what they do best."
The nonprofit Teach for America also plans to move its Philadelphia headquarters into Oxford Mills.
Hill says financing subsidies and historic tax credits allow D3 to offer below-market rents for teachers. He says teachers would pay a discounted rent of about $975 a month for a one-bedroom unit.
