A stretch of East Collom Street in Germantown that sat empty for two decades, drawing squatters, illegal dumping and a steady stream of neighbor complaints, is being rebuilt into 16 affordable homeownership units. The $3 million project, called Lena Commons, marks the first phase of a much larger push to deal with blighted and neglected properties scattered across the neighborhood.
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia is leading the transformation of the long-vacant apartment complex, according to WHYY, which reported that the Philadelphia Housing Authority donated the properties to the nonprofit after taking control of the complex in October 2026. The site had been fenced off through a partnership between Habitat and the housing authority while plans came together, and the nonprofit expects to complete the project within three years, per the same report.
Corinne O’Connell, who spoke at Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony, said the goal is simple: turning empty shells into real homes. “The houses will become homes where families can grow and thrive in Germantown,” she said, as WHYY reported. For a block that’s been shaped by gun violence and blight for years, that promise carries real weight for the people who live nearby.
A Complicated Ownership History
The East Collom Street properties have a tangled past tied to Germantown Settlement, a nonprofit that Emanuel Freeman ran for more than two decades. Federal loans were awarded to Germantown Settlement to develop low-income housing in the neighborhood, but Freeman did not repay those loans, according to WHYY’s reporting. A bankruptcy judge eventually ordered Germantown Settlement to liquidate, and the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority seized the properties after what WHYY described as a protracted legal battle with Freeman…