Philadelphia Land Bank · Turn the Key Program · Norris Square

Two Years,
30 Homes,
No Deal

How Civetta Property Group's two-year bid to build 30 Turn the Key homes in Norris Square cleared the Land Bank board — and landed in bureaucratic purgatory.

Civetta action
City / CM's office
Turning point
Opposition
2024
Phase I · Initial Overtures
First Contact
Feb 13, 2024
Civetta introduced to CM Lozada's office
Rachael Pritzker emails CM Lozada pitching Civetta Property Group to build Turn the Key homes in District 7. Proposes follow-up meeting.
Feb 22 – May 22, 2024
Three meetings scheduled, three cancelled or moved
First in-person meeting set for Mar 26 — cancelled same day. Rescheduled to May 8, then May 22. No documented outcome from the May meeting.
Civetta Outreach
Nov 12, 2024
Civetta proposes homeownership education session
Mike Tomasetti emails Sara Rodriguez in the CM's office, pitching a virtual homeownership seminar tied to Turn the Key for District 7 residents.
Dec 19, 2024
Virtual session cancelled at the last minute
After scheduling a Dec 19 virtual session, Sara Rodriguez cancels the morning of and asks to reschedule in January. CM liaison Sloane Folks later says it was never added to the calendar.
2025
Phase II · Working the Room
CM's Office
Jan 24, 2025
First real meeting with CM's liaison
Mike Tomasetti meets with Sloane Folks at the Frankford office. Mike requests feedback after Sloane visits a TTK model home.
Community Outreach
Mar 6, 2025
CM's office connects Civetta to community orgs
After months of check-ins, Sloane Folks emails Ceiba, West Kensington Ministry, HACE CDC, and others — copying Civetta — to make introductions for affordable housing discussions.
Meeting
Apr 14, 2025
Meeting at West Kensington Ministry
After a cancelled March 21 attempt, Civetta meets with Rev. Adan Mairena and WKM leadership. Civetta also arranges a TTK home tour for the group.
Community Goodwill
Apr 25, 2025
Food drive at CM's district office
Civetta coordinates a community food giveaway with the local food trust in cooperation with CM Lozada's office.
Zero Attendance
May 15, 2025
Homebuying seminar at WKM: cancelled, no attendees
Civetta holds a homebuying seminar at West Kensington Church. It is cancelled due to lack of attendance. NSCAN later reveals they were never notified it was happening — their own zoning committee meeting was taking place in another room of the same building that day.
Phase III · Fault Lines Emerge
Escalation
Jun 28, 2025
Mike emails CM directly — "I hear you plan to oppose us"
Learning CM Lozada may oppose the TTK application, Tomasetti writes to her directly, attaches an outreach timeline, and announces plans to host a community meeting in Norris Square and door-knock a five-block radius. He notes his team blanketed the area with 1,000 flyers for an earlier community event — and no one showed up.
CM Lozada
Jun 28, 2025
Lozada: no project without community buy-in
"Since I arrived in office I have not and will not start now supporting any project without community support. Especially not in the part of my district that as a result of failure to include community has caused mass displacement."
Key Revelation
Jul 2, 2025
RCO: "You never contacted us"
NSCAN chair Nilda Pimentel writes to Civetta: her organization — the coordinating RCO for Norris Square — was never approached or invited to any meeting. CM Lozada asks whether Civetta has reached Xiente, NSCAN, the 19th Ward Leader, or other primary stakeholders. The answer is no — Civetta confirms these contact names had never been shared with them.
CM's Office
Jul 2, 2025
Full stakeholder contact list shared — for the first time
Sloane Folks shares contacts for Xiente, NSCAN, Norris Square RCO, 19th Ward Leader, and West Kensington Ministry. Civetta had not previously been given these names, 17 months after the first meeting request.
Land Bank Board — 1st Appearance
Jul 8, 2025
Board vote fails quorum — tabled
Civetta's 7th District proposal comes before the Land Bank board for the first time. Five members vote to approve; one (Lopez-Kriss) votes no. Under the Pennsylvania Land Bank Act, six votes are required to adopt or reject a disposition, a threshold the board's bylaws reflect. The motion fails and the item is tabled.
Phase IV · Escalation
Community Meeting
Jul 10, 2025
1st open community meeting: ~14 attendees
Civetta holds its first open community meeting at a location recommended by community leaders. About 14 people attend. Feedback is mixed; parking and affordability are the main concerns raised.
Community Meeting
Jul 24, 2025
2nd community meeting: 20+ attendees, sharper pushback
At the second meeting, 17 of 19 residents who voted opposed the proposal, per Patricia DeCarlo of the Norris Square Community RCO. Mike emails PHDC afterward saying the meeting was "productive" despite tension over parking and one exchange he characterizes as racist, which he addressed directly.
Land Bank Board — 2nd Appearance
Aug 12, 2025
5-4: fails quorum again — tabled
The board votes again. Five in favor (Jeremiah, Johns, Dema, Wetzel, Brown); four opposed (Goodman, Gonzalez, Greenberg, Rashid). Again short of the six required. Tabled a second time. Board discussion surfaces the core policy tension: the board's statutory role is to review developer qualifications, not set affordability policy — but both sides keep relitigating the latter.
Land Bank Board — 3rd Appearance
Sep 9, 2025
5-5: deadlocked — tabled a third time
Five in favor (Beauvais, Jeremiah, Lopez-Kriss, Wetzel, Brown); five opposed (Goodman, Gonzalez, Greenberg, Dema, Rashid). Perfectly deadlocked. Tabled again. CM Lozada submits a letter of opposition the morning of the meeting. Civetta reports the CM's office cancelled two additional educational seminars — on Aug 13 and Sep 3 — each the day they were scheduled to occur.
Goodwill
Sep 17, 2025
Civetta donates 500 backpacks to District 7 kids
Back-to-school backpack giveaway for District 7 students.
Door Closes
Oct 9–14, 2025
CM's office cancels all future homeownership seminars
CM staff Stephanie Alfaro confirms the Councilwoman and her chief of staff have agreed: "right now isn't a good time" for TTK education events. A seminar scheduled for Oct 22 is cancelled; all future ones are off indefinitely.
Board Composition Change · Nov 2025
Angela Brooks & Alex Balloon join · Herbert Wetzel & Majeedah Rashid depart
Land Bank Board — 4th Appearance
Nov 18, 2025
Postponed 60 days by unanimous vote
Rather than vote to approve or reject, Gonzalez moves to postpone the item for at least 60 days to allow Lozada's office, the community, and Civetta to negotiate. Jeremiah seconds. The motion passes unanimously. Board chair Brooks directs both parties to return with progress. Michael Johns recuses himself from this item.
2026
Phase V · Final Reckoning
Removed from Agenda
Jan 13 & Feb 10, 2026
Project pulled from two consecutive agendas
The item does not appear on the January or February board agendas while negotiations are ongoing — or not. No documented progress between the Nov 18 postponement and the Jan 8 community meeting.
Pivotal Meeting
Jan 8, 2026
Community meeting: unchanged proposal, unanimous "no"
At a meeting hosted by CM Lozada, Civetta presents its original $280,000-per-home proposal without changes — no revised plan had been sent since the November board meeting. The representative says Civetta cannot deviate from the price point or provide off-street parking, even on 90-ft deep lots. With two abstentions, everyone present votes against the project.
Last Offer
Jan 12–13, 2026
Brennan Tomasetti offers revised pricing tier — too late
On Jan 12, Brennan emails a tiered pricing option: 20 homes at $280K, 5 at $250K, 5 at $310K. It goes unanswered. A different offer follows Jan 13. The coalition responds: the vote stands — no provision existed to vacate it for a late counter-offer.
Formal Opposition
Jan 22, 2026
Coalition letter to Land Bank: oppose the project
Eight community leaders formally write to Land Bank Executive Director Angel Rodriguez opposing the Civetta project, citing the Jan 8 vote and an ongoing community planning process around housing affordability in Norris Square.
Land Bank Board — 5th Appearance
Mar 10, 2026
Approved 6-4
All five Mayor appointees — Angela Brooks, Rebecca Lopez-Kriss, Alex Balloon, Darwin Beauvais, and Cornelius Brown — vote yes, joined by Kelvin Jeremiah, the board's 11th member elected by his fellow board members and president of the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Council appointees Andrew Goodman, Jenny Greenberg, Nicholas Dema, and Maria Gonzalez vote no without explanation. Council appointee Michael Johns recuses himself. The project now requires a City Council resolution from CM Lozada to complete the land transfer, which she has indicated she will not introduce.
Land Bank Board

Five Appearances.
Three Deadlocks.

Under the Pennsylvania Land Bank Act, six votes are required to approve or reject a disposition. The Civetta proposal came before the board five times before clearing that threshold.

Why four meetings, not five? The project first appeared on the July 8, 2025 agenda but no disposition vote was taken at that meeting. The four votes shown below are the meetings where a formal roll call occurred.
Aug 12, 2025
5 – 4
Failed quorum
Sep 9, 2025
5 – 5
Deadlocked
Nov 18, 2025
POST–
PONED
60-day delay
Mar 10, 2026
6 – 4
✓ Approved

Six votes required to approve or reject under the Pennsylvania Land Bank Act and board bylaws. When fewer than six vote on either side, the motion fails and the item is tabled — effectively blocking progress in either direction.

Board Member Aug 12
2025		 Sep 9
2025		 Nov 18
2025		 Mar 10
2026
Mayor Appointees
Herbert Wetzel chair
Term ended Nov 2025
 YES YES — —
Majeedah Rashid
Term ended Nov 2025
 NO NO — —
Angela Brooks chair
Joined Nov 2025
 NOT YET NOT YET POST YES
Alex Balloon
 NOT YET NOT YET POST YES
Darwin Beauvais
 ABSENT YES POST YES
Cornelius Brown
 YES YES POST YES
Rebecca Lopez-Kriss
 ABSENT YES POST YES
Board-Elected Member (11th Seat)
Kelvin Jeremiah
Voted YES every time
 YES YES POST YES
Council Appointees
Nicholas Dema vice chair
Moved NO ↓
 YES NO POST NO
Andrew Goodman secretary
 NO NO POST NO
Jenny Greenberg
 NO NO POST NO
Maria Gonzalez
 NO NO POST NO
Michael Johns
YES × 2, then recused
 YES ABSENT RECUSE RECUSE
Result 5–4
NO QUORUM		 5–5
DEADLOCKED		 POST-
PONED
60 DAYS		 6–4
✓ APPROVED
Key: Yes No Postpone Recuse Absent

"—" indicates member was absent or their vote was not recorded in available minutes. The Jul 8, 2025 appearance is included in the timeline above but individual votes are unconfirmed and not shown here. Board structure: Mayor appoints 5 members; City Council appoints 5 members; the 11th seat is elected by the board itself. Six votes required to approve or reject under the Pennsylvania Land Bank Act.