"I'm looking to go after a few," Glasberg said, including an apartment building and a single family house in Fairmount.
PHA put more than 400 houses, lots, and other properties up for auction. Some were sold individually; many others were sold in packages of two to 25.
None of the properties are in move-in condition, said Max Spann Jr. of the Max Spann Real Estate & Auction Co., which conducted the auction.
Michael Kelly, executive director of the housing authority, said the auction was an aggressive "fighting-blight program" designed to move properties into private hands.
Kelly said the purpose was about "how do we get more property on our rent rolls? How do we reduce the crime in our neighborhoods? And how do we bring in valuable funding to PHA at a time when there is federal disinvestment?"
Winning bidders must develop the properties within five years or the sites will revert to PHA.
Kelly said the bundles were used to combine properties in higher-market areas with those in lower-market areas.
"Without that concern, the lower-market parcels won't be picked up," Kelly said. "This was a very conscious effort on our part."
Glasberg smiled and raised his bidder card for a property in the 1500 block of Green Street in the Spring Garden area. When the bidding rose above $160,000, he lowered his card, and the property went for more than twice that price.
"Going once, $385,000, going twice. Sold!" the auctioneer shouted.
Damon K. Roberts, a real estate lawyer and former City Council candidate who had been with PHA, was walking among the crowd, offering his services to potential buyers.
"This is an exciting time," Roberts said. "There are almost 40,000 vacant and abandoned properties in Philadelphia. This shows there is great excitement about people purchasing in the city."
