Rigby Housing

Reinvestment Fund financing is helping Rigby Housing acquire and rehabilitate homes for rent in Northwest and North Philadelphia.

Rigby Housing is a social enterprise committed to providing quality, affordable housing in Northwest Philadelphia. Led by Ross Hennesy and Frank Reis, Rigby renovates existing housing that is in poor or unsafe condition and makes them available at affordable rents. Its aim is to stabilize neighborhoods and develop communities without displacement.

In many markets, the affordable housing inventory is diminishing. While government and nonprofits provide affordable housing options, most low- income households rely on unsubsidized and often poorly maintained housing stock for their homes. Rigby acquires and rehabs dilapidated properties to be repositioned as affordable rental housing and provides quality property management.

In neighborhoods where gentrification is occurring, new residents increase demand and cause rents for homes to go up as well. By purchasing homes in areas on the edge of gentrifying areas and making important renovations, Rigby is helping to stabilize rental prices and preserve housing stock in these changing markets.

Rigby Properties has been acquiring and rehabbing rental properties since 2015. It currently operates a rental portfolio of over 40 rental units in Northwest and North Philadelphia, in neighborhoods that include Germantown, Mount Airy, Nicetown West Oak Lane, and Kensington.

The homes will be affordable to tenants up to 70% of the area median income, although Rigby typically provides some rents at 50% of area median income. Reinvestment Fund provided a line of credit that will allow Rigby to acquire and rehab several properties at a time.

Hennesy and Reis are graduates of the Jumpstart Germantown developer training program. Jumpstart helps start-up, small-scale property owners in Philadelphia redevelop housing in their neighborhoods. Reinvestment Fund is a current funder of Jumpstart Germantown’s expansion program, Jumpstart Philly.

You can learn more about our work supporting small scale housing developers here.