Gayborhood preservation battle raises questions about development and displacement

Philadelphia’s Washington Square West neighborhood — which is home to the city’s Gayborhood — was awarded a historic designation in 2024. While many LGBTQ+ Philadelphians were excited by news of preserving approximately 1500 residences, religious spaces and business properties spanning the 26 included blocks, the designation was not celebrated by all.

Advocates, including the Washington Square West Civic Association and various LGBTQ+ residents, partly framed the designation as long-overdue recognition for the area’s LGBTQ+ culture and Black history — but opponents argued it would impose costly restrictions on property owners and limit new development. A group of property owners — which also includes LGBTQ+ people — took the city to court over the designation and successfully overturned the decision.

The judge cited a lack of substantial evidence as a leading cause for his decision despite the Philadelphia Historic Commission’s nearly 1500-page nomination packet. Attorney Dan Auerbach, representing the residents who opposed the designation, told WHYY that the documents submitted didn’t explain why many of the properties hold historic significance. Just 173 properties were described as historically significant, he argued. However, 773 of 1509 properties included in the boundary — more than half of the neighborhood’s properties — are already listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

In March, the judge’s ruling was vacated after an appeal — effectively forcing the process to start over. The historic designation stands in the meantime. The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia is now drafting its own brief — due May 18 — to support the city’s position, which the organization’s executive director Paul Steinke believes will elaborate on the merit of the designation as a supplement to the city’s arguments.

What’s at stake in the Gayborhood?

Scholars have found that Philadelphia’s local historic designation offers a more protective effect on buildings facing possible demolition than the national register. Because zoning and construction is overseen by local laws and leaders, local designations play a stronger role in preservation. But that doesn’t mean buildings with the designation are guaranteed to be preserved.

The outcome of this lawsuit could affect a major re-development project that would benefit the LGBTQ+ community but has been met with mixed feelings. William Way LGBT Community Center (WWCC), which is currently housed in a pre-Civil War era building that would be harder to demolish under the designation, is set to be leveled (along with a famous LGBTQ+ mural on its facade) to build a more accessible space for gatherings and queer-centered low-income housing units.

Steinke underlined that it’s possible for the project to move forward as-is. Historic designations do not prevent every demolition. There are standards in place that allow for demolition, which WWCC would need to meet for the project to be approved.

WWCC leaders would need to appear before the historical commission to seek a demolition permit before applying to the city, but that obstacle would be removed if the historic designation is overturned.

Historic designation is mostly used to preserve the character of buildings through recommendations about how owners can restore or maintain exterior facades. Steinke hopes WWCC will adjust its plans to maintain all or some of the most important historic elements of its current home (the facade, historic marble and wooden staircases, entryways and ballroom) rather than demolishing it all outright. He hasn’t lost hope, but he admits he hasn’t convinced anyone at WWCC to change the current plans.

It’s a project that seems to place competing interests in tension. There’s a need for housing — especially income-specific, LGBTQ+ centered projects — in that neighborhood. This, as Steinke hopes, could be pursued without demolishing much-loved cultural landmarks — but WWCC has emphasized that the price tag for pursuing its goals this way makes preservation out of reach.

What’s at stake for residents?

The Washington Square West litigation is one of three active lawsuits pending against historic districts in Philadelphia. Six newer proposals are also currently in various stages of the nomination process — but if approved, they too could be contested and overturned.

A 2002 attempt to designate Spruce Hill was unsuccessful due to resident opposition that may have been fueled by politics. It was the third attempt to nominate the neighborhood. A case study published in 2023 by a University of Pennsylvania student about the matter found that the opponents feared increased maintenance costs, the loss of personal freedom and gentrification.

“Ironically, in the two decades since that campaign, Spruce Hill has become one of the most gentrified — and threatened — neighborhoods in the city of Philadelphia,” the study notes.

Residents also feared displacement. The case study underlines that residents who are displaced by gentrification tend to move to neighborhoods with lower property values, less access to resources, and fewer opportunities for upward economic mobility.

Following historic designation, the number of college-educated households in a community tends to increase while the poverty rate drops in contrast to its adjacent neighborhoods, which do not receive the designation. These and other factors contributing to economic mobility are visible on maps created by the Opportunity Atlas, a project of Harvard University which presents information collected by the census in an effort to tangibly discuss economic mobility in localities across the United States. It shows the same patterns in many of Philadelphia’s historic districts.

But the Washington Square West neighborhood outperformed the surrounding blocks even before the historic designation took effect — highlighting that the designations themselves may not always be the cause of disparities.

“It’s true that in most cases, historic districts aren’t the most affordable neighborhoods in any city — no matter where you go,” Steinke said. “That’s not the fault of the historic district.”

Historic districts tend to protect properties and neighborhoods that are historically, architecturally, or culturally significant — properties that already tend to be expensive.

For example, Steinke underlined that Rittenhouse Square was expensive before it was officially designated as historic — and some neighborhoods, like Graduate Hospital, have become pricey without the designation.

Historic preservation may actually promote some protective factors that act as a buffer against gentrification and rising rents, contradicting the most common fears. For instance, the designation makes it harder for developers to tear down smaller, older, more affordable homes or significant community hubs that sit on desirable land in order to build newer, larger, high-cost housing units in their place.

Many LGBTQ+ locals opposed the redevelopment of the Gayborhood’s former 12th Street Gym — which held cultural significance and a meaningful mural of queer activist Gloria Casarez. It was removed alongside a neighboring building of note for its connection to Black history. A luxury high-rise apartment complex now takes its place.

Residents of a working-class neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina hoped they would stave off developers and prevent or slow gentrification by pursuing historic designation in 2016.

Steinke explained that this has happened in Philadelphia too.

The Parkside neighborhood, which is situated near the Please Touch Museum, has been a historic district for 15 years, Steinke explained. It was a low to moderate income, majority minority neighborhood when it was designated in 2009 and it still is today, he said. The same is true for West Diamond Street in North Philly, which was designated historic in the 1980s. It was a low to moderate income neighborhood then and has remained one today.

“Real estate prices are a factor of so many other things — proximity to work, public safety, access to schools, access to shopping and other amenities, transportation,” Steinke said. “That’s really what determines property values and neighborhood value.”

Those are also factors that have strong correlations with upward economic mobility.

Despite a poverty rate that is lower than it has been in decades, Opportunity Insights ranks Philadelphia as last among large metro areas for upward economic mobility — with some children experiencing even worse economic outcomes than their parents. It’s a problem Mayor Cherelle Parker has addressed with new initiatives she hopes will support young people who hope to break free from cycles of poverty.

The supplemental programs that offer economic support to historic homeowners in Durham might have helped its anti-gentrification efforts succeed.

Steinke said it’s true that some preservation-oriented maintenance costs may be higher upfront, but many of those options also last longer and could even cost less than cheaper fixes that must be repeated over time.

“One real weakness in Philadelphia is that there is no publicly available funding to help homeowners maintain their historic homes, and that’s something that we have talked about with city officials, with city council, with the mayor’s office,” he added. “There really needs to be a fund that homeowners can apply to if their property is designated historic — especially for low to moderate income homeowners.”

Although there isn’t a city fund or initiative to help offset maintenance costs for historic homeowners in Philadelphia, a few state and federal tax incentives could be helpful to some historically-designated property owners — including landlords and developers who might not otherwise pursue preservation.

“Not many property owners or homeowners have a lot of expertise about what’s best for a historic building to maintain its value and its appearance,” Steinke said. “So when historic districts are in place, you actually have access to experts who know the best practices and can share them with you and help you find solutions to the problems you’re trying to solve.”

The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia collaborated with the Washington Square West Civic Association to publish a manual that will be released in late spring or early summer. It will provide information about historic practices for windows, doorways, carpentry, masonry and roofs pertaining to the area’s buildings.

There’s been an increase in low-income households in Philadelphia’s historic districts and top earners are moving in at a slower rate than in neighborhoods in the rest of the city.

Racial diversity is shifting in there, too. Although these districts tend to have whiter populations, a report published by the Preservation Alliance shows that non-white homeownership in Philly’s historic districts has increased significantly since 2010. The number of non-white homeowners and Black and Hispanic residents is on the rise in these districts, even as diversity has slowed in other neighborhoods.

“We think [this report] shows that historic designation is not an obstacle to housing production or population growth,” Steinke said.

What’s at stake for the economy?

Steinke argues that the buildings in Washington Square West have economic value not only to those who own or utilize the buildings but to the city as a whole. They’re an economic engine — creating jobs and drawing tourists. Almost 6% of Philadelphia’s jobs are in historic districts, including nearly 10% of small business jobs, 13% of new jobs, and almost 17% of creative jobs.

The 250th anniversary of the United States will bring visitors hoping to immerse themselves in Philadelphia’s history. Visit Philly estimates the events could contribute up to $2.5 billion to the city’s economy.

Some funding is making its way to historic districts in preparation for the events by way of grants for programming and beautification projects. But that doesn’t make them an accessible place to do business.

Historic districts aren’t necessarily start-up friendly. Commercial rent tends to be higher there too — a frequent complaint among LGBTQ+ business owners who want to open brick-and-mortar locations in the Gayborhood but are priced out.

This article was originally published by Philadelphia Gay News. It is part of a national initiative exploring how geography, policy, and local conditions influence access to opportunity. Find more stories at economicopportunitylab.com.