Econsult’s 2007 study entitled “Transit-Oriented Development in Philadelphia: Using a Proven Strategy to Create More Vibrant, Livable Neighborhoods," in conjunction with Neighborhoods Now was referenced in the following BLOG SPOT:
http://urbandirection.blogspot.com/2009/12/putting-t-in-tod.html
 Putting the T in Tod.pdf
Visit Econsult’s page on this topic
Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer, Alan Heavens, reports on residential real estate during the past decade. Econsult Vice President, Kevin Gillen, offers various comments. (December 27, 2009)
A Decade of Despair
Citing Econsult’s economic impact study written on behalf of Ingenus Management Company, the
Ottumwa Courier in Iowa reports on the economic benefits of the new casino planned there—not just the projected profits from the new casino. (December 11, 2009)
Ingenus study shows impressive economic impact
Econsult’s study of the economic impact of the Army/Navy game in Philadelphia is part of the article by Peter Van Allen of the
Philadelphia Business Journal. (December 10, 2009). See below for the article and for Econsult’s Summary of the work.
The Economic Impacts of Hosting the Annual Army/Navy Football Classic
Army/Navy Game ready to kick off
The Philadelphia Tribune reported on minority participation in city of Philadelphia contracts.
Econsult’s report, prepared for the city of Philadelphia was cited extensively. Econsult has prepared the Annual Disparity Study
for Fiscal Years 2006, 2007 and 2008. The study is designed to analyze the City of Philadelphia’s utilization of Minority Business
Enterprises (MBEs), Women Business Enterprises (WBEs), and Disabled Business Enterprises (DSBEs), collectively known as Disadvantaged
Business Enterprises (DBEs), relative to the availability of such firms to compete for City business. (December 4, 2009)
Inclusion falls short
Urban Health Plan today was awarded a $12 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to
support a new addition to its main site at 1065 Southern Boulevard. Econsult prepared an economic impact report in support
of Urban Health Plan’s application. An article about the grant appears in the attached press release by Urban Health Plan
(December 10, 2009).
$12 Million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Grant
Awarded to Urban Health Plan, Inc. (UHP)
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Kevin Gillen talks about Econsult’s 3rd Quarter Philadelphia Regional Home Price Index with Alan Heaven’s in the
Philadelphia Inquirer in Business News in Brief (November 12, 2009) and in Heaven’s articles November 12 and November 14, 2009.
Business news in brief
Home defaults fall again
Existing-home sales up 25.8% in October
Stephen Mullin, Econsult Senior Vice President, is quoted in the New York Times
article featuring developer Bart Blatstein and his inclusion of the neighborhood association and innovative
development of the Schmidts’ brewery—now called Piazza at Schmidts—in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood.
(November 4, 2009).
From Abandoned Brewery to Piazza, Philly-Style
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, says the Quarter 3 sales of condos in Philadelphia is “frustrating.” Full article by Alan Heavens,
Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer, is below. (November 1, 2009)
The word on condos: Ambiguous
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Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, is quoted along with T2 Partners Whitney Tilson about the housing recovery in
Newsmax.com—is it actually a recovery? (October 20, 2009)
Tilson: Housing Recovery a Costly Mirage
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Kevin Gillen talks about Econsult’s 3rd Quarter Philadelphia House Price Index with
Philadelphia Inquirer’s real estate writer Alan J. Heavens. Preliminary data for the Northern Liberties
area of Philadelphia show an up-tick in sales and prices. (October 18, 2009)
Buyers find green Fishtown condo project attractive
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President is quoted by both Alan Heavens,
Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer and St. John Barnard-Smith of the
Philadelphia Daily News on the recently released report about Center City Residents’ optimism (October 14, 2009).
Report: Future bright for Center City housing
Poll: Center City's 'virtues' help it ride out $torm
Kevin Gillen and Sam Sherman, Econsult’s Vice President and Senior Advisor respectively, offer opinions to Diane Mastrull,
Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer, about “green-building.” The topic will be the focus at a large conference taking place later this
month as a first step to thinking about a 2012 event the city hosts on the topic.
City prepares for green-building conference in 2012
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, talks with Alan Heavens, Philadelphia Inquirer real estate
writer, about the residential rental market and the buyers market in separate articles appearing October 4, 2009.
Untapped niche
Housing slump spawns winners and losers
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Econsult’s report on the CREATIVE ECONOMY, prepared on behalf of Innovation Philadelphia, is referenced in the
Philadelphia Inquirer article about the upcoming conference on the topic. Below is a downloadable file of the report as well as the
Inquirer article. For more information on the conference go to Innovation Philadelphia’s web site
http://www.innovationphiladelphia.com.
(September 29, 2009)
Innovation Philadelphia for Profit Creative Economic Impact Study 2007 - REPORT
Economic meeting's creative differences - Philadelphia Inquirer
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, appeared on WHYY’s
Radio Times, September 23, 2009 for a show devoted to the Philadelphia-area housing market.
Topics included the current state of the market, what effect the federal homeownership tax credit may
be having, and local housing policy issues such as the City of Philadelphia’s ten-year tax abatement and
the citywide property re-assessment. This was Dr. Gillen’s second appearance on Radio Times.
To listen to the podcast, see the link below.
http://www.whyy.org/podcast/092309_100630.mp3
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, is quoted in Alan J. Heavens,
Philadelphia Inquirer article that features the topping off story of the latest luxury
high-rise in Philadelphia—1706 Rittenhouse Square. (September 20, 2009)
Soaring Above the Crisis
Stephen Mullin, Econsult Senior Vice President, was a panelist at the Philadelphia District
Council of the Urban Land Institute’s seventh annual Urban Issues Forum, Wednesday, September 9 at the Union League of Philadelphia.
The topic of this year’s forum was "Cities Go Green: Re-Tooling Economic Environmental Performance." Jonathan Rose
was the keynote speaker. Other panelists included local experts: Katherine Gajewski, director of the Mayor’s Office of
Sustainability; James Gambino, a vice president of technology commercialization at Ben Franklin Technology Partners. See full
article by Raymond Simon of the Philadelphia
Weekly Press.
Urban Land Institute holds Cities Go Green Forum at Union League
Peter Angelides, Ph.D., Econsult Vice President, is quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer article about high-end-rentals in housing. (September 16, 2009)
New vitality for 'active adult' housing
The housing sales price data compiled by Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, is mentioned in the
Philadelphia Inquirer article about foreclosures, September 11, 2009.
Foreclosures dip from July number
Richard Voith, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Principal of Econsult, speaks with Bob Fernandez,
Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer, about the recent impact in the Philadelphia Region brought on by the recession. (September 6, 2009).
Belatedly, the recession clobbers Phila.
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[Interview] Economist Kevin Gillen, with Jonathan Miller of the Housing Helix.
This week on Miller’s podcast, he had a conversation with economist Dr. Kevin Gillen, Vice President of Econsult and Research Fellow
with the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Urban Research. Gillen publishes quarterly updates on the current state of Philadelphia’s
housing and condominium markets.
Listen to the podcast
The HOUSINGHELIX podcast with Jonathan Miller
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, is quoted by Alan Heavens in the
Philadelphia Inquirer citing Gillen’s opinion on recent real estate trends. (May 3, 2009)
Only modest improvement in housing
market foreseen
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Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT) on April 29, 2009 submitted to
Philadelphia Mayor Nutter and City Council the proposed actual market values for more than 577,000 residential and commercial properties
citywide. Econsult’s Kevin Gillen was the consultant retained by the BRT to Review the new values, which were developed as part of BRT’s
“Actual Value Initiative” that began more than three years ago. See the Press Release for more details as well as the Philadelphia Inquirer article of April 30, 2009.
Tax board releases new property tax plan PRESS RELEASE
Phila gets tentative new property assessments INQUIRER
Econsult Corporation is listed in the top names that Christine Knapp, executive director of Penn Futures,
has in her Rolodex that she consults for her work on sustainable issues. Philadelphia Daily News, April 28, 2009.
Here are some top names for your 'green Rolodex'
Dick Voith, Econsult Senior Vice President, talks at length with Daily News columnist JOHN DAVIDSON,
Tuesday, April 28, 2009 about “TOD”—Transit Oriented Development. Recognizing transit as a key element in development and planning has
put Philadelphia on the right path forward.
The big idea: Build around transit
Dr. David Crawford, Econsult President and Adjunct Professor of Management in the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania, has received the Wharton Executive MBA Core Teaching Award for the fourth time for his teaching in the Managerial Economics course.
He previously won the award, which is based on the evaluations of graduating Executive MBA students, in 1997, 2005, and 2006. He will receive the
award at graduation ceremonies in May 2009.
Dr. David Crawford, Econsult President, was interviewed by WHYY-FM news for a report on current collective bargaining between
Philadelphian area contractors and building trades unions. April 24, 2009
Kevin Gillen, Vice President of Econsult, talks with Alan Heavens about the continued slide in existing-home sales in the
Philadelphia Inquirer (April 23, 2009). Click here for Econsult’s Philadelphia House Price
Indices 2009, Q1 release.
Slide continues for existing-home sales
Kevin Gillen is quoted by Patrick Kerkstra, Inquirer Staff writer, in the April 27, 2009 article about Councilman
Curtis Jones’ proposed changes to the tax abatements in the City of Philadelphia.
Jones proposes graduated tax abatements
Econsult is considered part of an “Odd Couple” in a posting by Patrick Kerkstra, Thursday, April. 16, 2009 at
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/heardinthehall/Council_to_make_wage_tax_raising_case_with_help_of_wage_tax_raising_foes.html.
Econsult and Philadelphia City Council are thought to be the Odd Couple.
A budget odd couple: Council and Econsult
Econsult’s update of it’s report on the 10-Year Tax Abatement, funded by the Building Industry Association (BIA) is referenced in the
Philadelphia Inquirer editorial page. Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice-President, is the prime author of the report.
Editorial: Tax abatement is necessary
Kevin Gillen, Econsult’s Vice President, will appear on radio Monday, April 13, 2009 on 90.1 fm
WHYY’s Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane. Dr. Gillen will be joined by Jonathan Stein to debate the Philadelphia ten-year real estate tax abatement.
Elmer Smith, Daily News Opinion Columnist, refers to Econsult’s tax abatement work in the April 3, 2009 paper.
Econsult Vice President, Kevin Gillen’s recent update of Econsult’s 2006 Tax Abatement study is referenced in the article.
Elmer Smith: In 'Hard Times,' the tax-abated should kick in
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President, is referenced in the
Philadelphia Daily News editorial page citing Gillen’s report on Philadelphia Tax Abatements from 2006.
Pitchforks & torches for tax abatements?
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Stephen Mullin, Econsult Senior Vice President, will participate in an Urban Land Institute
Roundtable entitled: "The Financial Crisis - Government Incentives to Spur Development." Mr. Mullin will present to the Young Leaders Group on Thursday,
March 25th at the Institute in Philadelphia.
Peter Angelides, Ph.D., Econsult Vice President, spoke to a group of architects, planners,
landscape architects and engineers about opportunities for them in the national economic stimulus package at an
event hosted by the law firm of Powell Trachtman Logan Carrle & Lombardo. His presentation, entitled, Current
Opportunities for Design Professionals, identified specific agencies and projects slated to receive funds in
the state of New Jersey and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with special emphasis on the Greater Philadelphia region. (March 19, 2009)
Presentation by Peter Angelides: Current Opportunities for Design Professionals
For your reference, the following are the documents Dr. Angelides referenced in his presentation.
The links below will take you to those web pages where you can get the information cited.
Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) Approved Projects for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009:
http://www.dvrpc.org/transportation/stimulus/PressRelease-List.pdf
Federal Business Opportunities:
https://www.fbo.gov/
City of Philadelphia Capital Program:
http://www.philaplanning.org/plans/rcpgm10.pdf
Philadelphia Housing Authority Requests for Proposals:
http://www.pha.phila.gov/doingbusiness/CurrentRFPs/
On Tuesday, March 10th, The Women’s Community Revitalization Project of Philadelphia
is releasing a report on “Building and Preserving Affordable Housing in Philadelphia”. Funded by the William
Penn Foundation, the report identifies and outlines the barriers to affordable housing in the city, and
enumerates a number of specific policy proposals that leverage public and private resources to advance the
agenda of increasing the supply of affordable housing in Philadelphia. Econsult and The Reinvestment Fund
served as research partners to the committee that wrote the report, providing the data and empirical analysis
that identified the need for greater policy interventions in advancement of the affordable housing agenda.
A Strategic Approach to Building Affordable Housing in Philadelphia
Effectively Preserving Philadelphia’s Workforce Housing Stock
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Kevin Gillen will participate in a membership roundtable discussion of the
Central Philadelphia District Congress (CPDC) entitled: “Philadelphia’s Fiscal Crisis: Is the Successful
Ten-Year Tax Abatement at Risk?”, Friday, February 20, 2009. The program’s history, rationale and impact
on Philadelphia’s real estate market will be reviewed, and the current state of the abatement will be
presented. The discussion will conclude with the outlook for the abatement’s future, and its implications
for the city’s fiscal condition.
CPDC Roundtable Discussion - Philadelphia’s Fiscal Crisis: Is the Successful Ten Year Tax Abatement at Risk?
Kevin Gillen, Econsult Vice President spoke Tuesday, February 17th at the Wharton Club of
Philadelphia event featuring Dr. Gillen. The reception and lecture were held at the Union League. Dr. Gillen spoke
about his Quarterly Report on the Philadelphia Region's Real Estate Values, the Philadelphia House Price Indices
have just been updated through 2008 Q4.
Lee Huang,
Director of Econsult Corporation, will speak at
"Surviving the Recession: A Resource Fair for the
Unemployed," an event of the Philadelphia Unemployment
Project. Mr. Huang will provide a broad overview of the
current economic situation and offer guidance about
possible ways to move forward for individuals,
businesses, and governments. (February 6, 2009)
The Unemployment Project: Resource Fair for the Unemployed
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Peter Angelides, Econsult Vice President, presented an overview of the proposed
national economic stimulus package at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s Land Use, Transportation and Economic Development
Committee. His presentation entitled “Predicting the Direct and Indirect Economic Impacts of the Stimulus Investments” described the stimulus
package and how it might affect projects in the Philadelphia region, and included a discussion of how to measure economic impacts from investments
like those funded by the stimulus. (January 29, 2009.)
Presentation by Peter Angelides: Predicting the Direct and Indirect Economic Impacts of the Stimulus Investments
Econsult’s research for The Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA),
written by Dick Voith and Michael Mariano, was cited in the Brooklyn Eagle, January 27, 2009. The article
focused on the potential impact on New York public housing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009. An ambitious stimulus plan packed with $5 billion for public housing repairs and modernization. Once
signed into law, this act has the potential to not only overhaul New York’s public housing, but to revitalize
the city’s struggling economy. Econsult’s research shows that for every $1 spent on these infrastructure efforts
will pump an additional $2.12 back into the city. Even more importantly, construction projects will create high
wage jobs for our city’s workers.
Article appears in the January 27, 2009 © Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009. For full article click on link below.
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=10&id=26004
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Kevin Gillen’s 2008 Q4 report on the Philadelphia housing market indicated
that both Philadelphia house prices and sales accelerated their decline this past quarter. The typical
home fell in value in Q4 by an additional 3.3% on a quality- and seasonally- adjusted basis. When added
to previous price declines, Philadelphia house prices are cumulatively down 10% from the housing market’s
peak of just over eighteen months ago. The number of homes that actually sold under arms-length conditions
in Q4 stood at just over 3,400; which was a dramatic 25% drop from Q3 and the lowest level of home sales since 2002 Q4.
Although Philadelphia’s housing market continues to deteriorate, it is at a rate far less than most other major
U.S. cities. According to Case-Shiller MacroMarkets’ composite house price index, house prices have fallen by an
average of 25% in the ten largest U.S. cities, compared to only 10% in Philadelphia. Compared to other cities in
Case-Shiller’s index, seventeen cities have experienced cumulative price declines that are larger than Philadelphia’s,
and only three cities have experienced cumulative price declines that are smaller than Philadelphia’s.
The production of this report is supported by Econsult, in conjunction with Hallwatch.org. More details can be accessed on Hallwatch’s website:
http://www.hallwatch.org/news/1232636267879
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