"I began to think about how [NTI] might fit into my hope that Temple would become increasingly integrated with its neighborhood," Hart said in an interview at the university last week.
Under Temple's Employee Home Ownership Program, the university will provide $4,000 to $5,000 in forgivable loans toward the purchase of single-family dwellings in the eight zip codes surrounding the main and health science campuses. Each home must be used as the buyer's primary residence for at least four years.
Those in the program will be eligible for the city's Home-Buy-Now program, which will match the university's contribution for buyers using approved mortgage lenders. The program was developed with the support of Councilman Darrell Clarke.
Citing the arrival of the Avenue North development, which features a movie theater, retail shops and student housing at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue, and substantial new housing throughout the community, Hart said campus and the community "are really in an exciting time of growth."
"We have about $500 million worth of new buildings going up on campus that we are responsible for," Hart said. "We have private partners that have invested about $200 million into the surrounding neighborhood. New shops, a movie theater, new restaurants, and great places for our students to live."
Hart said about 500 Temple employees live in the eight zip codes around the two campuses - 19121, 19122, 19123, 19125, 19130, 19132, 19133 and 19140. She said about half of those workers were renters.
The program "provides an immediate opportunity for some of our employees to have a chance to buy," Hart said. "And it provides us with an opportunity to just be part of the surrounding neighborhood.
