Ground Broken For Housing Project Intended For Members Of LGBT Community
By Paul Kurtz, Anne-Marie Green
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ground has been broken in the heart of Philadelphia's Gayborhood for a housing project that will serve the needs of the LGBT community.
It's described as the first urban project of its kind -- six floors of low income housing for elderly lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders.
It's being built with a mixture of local, state and federal funds. And that was reflected by the number of politicians on hand for Friday's ceremony.
Mayor Michael Nutter was joined by his predecessors, John Street and Ed Rendell.
"Once completed, this project will provide 56 units of affordable housing to people 62 years and older. The facility will be energy efficient, generating more than five percent of the total energy that it uses from within the building," Nutter explained.
The building will be named after the late City Councilman John Anderson, who was instrumental in the passage of a civil rights bill for those in the sexual minority.
The doors are expected to open at the end of next year.
