Turning ‘Blight into Bright,’ Camden City Housing on the Rise

City Council President Angel Fuentes group photo

Housing in Camden is on the up and only getting better. The city – a diamond in the rough for so long – is finally starting to sparkle, and developers are paying attention, proclaimed by the city’s mayor and chief cheerleader.

Camden City Mayor Victor Carstarphen used a walking tour of a unit at 1110 North 21st Street in Camden’s Cramer Hill section on Wednesday, Jan. 29, to literally drive his point home.

Carstarphen touted the 40 percent increase in Camden’s market-rate housing prices from a recent report as proof that things were definitely on an upward trajectory.

Carstarphen said that while the city and its partners have preserved and built thousands of units of new quality affordable housing citywide, there was also renewed interest in private market rates and new housing construction throughout the city. The interest, he said, no doubt was buoyed by a recent analysis.

A May 2024 report by media outlet Axios using analyzed data from the real estate website Zillow found that the top three ZIP codes with the greatest home appreciation in the Philadelphia metro area were located in the City of Camden: 08104, 08102, and 08105.

In addition, Camden City’s market-rate housing prices were up 40% from 2023 – the highest increase in residential property values in the region – and had the lowest property taxes in New Jersey, according to the report.

Homeowners in Camden County saw a notable 12% increase in property values over the past year, pushing the average home price from $286,000 to $321,000, according to the report.

“Quality housing is at the heart of a vibrant and healthy community,” Carstarphen said at Wednesday’s press conference. “This demand for housing in Camden is proof that our public safety improvements, education reforms, and investments in job creation, as well as unprecedented investment in quality of life are resulting in tangible growth.”

Carstarphen was joined by Camden County Commissioners, City Council Members, community leaders, developers, and property owners at the noon press event that preceded a walking tour of a home in the Cramer Hill neighborhood.

Camden City officials tour the unit at 1110 North 21st Street in Camden’s Cramer Hill section on Jan. 29. Pictured above is the unit’s kitchen with high-end flooring.

“The unit at 1110 North 21st Street in the 08105 zip code reflected what is possible when city government and private investment come together,” said Carstarphen.

The site was originally a single-unit house positioned on a 40-foot-wide by 100-foot-long lot that was ravaged by a fire. It became abandoned, blighted, and an eyesore for neighbors.

The city of Camden deemed it unsafe and demolished it in 1991, only to be burdened with the costs associated with securing and maintaining the lot for over 30 years.

Fast forward to 2022, when a local developer acquired the vacant lot via the city’s Municipal Tax Lien Reduction Program with plans to foreclose and develop it.

After acquiring the land, the developer sold it to The Phoenix Development Group, led by Camden City native Lance Bean. Bean wanted to play an active role in revitalizing his hometown.

The Phoenix Development Group successfully subdivided the lot into two 20-foot by 100-foot lots, now known as 1108 and 1110 North 21st Street.

Each unit measured 2,400 square feet and had four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a modern garage, a landscaped yard, high-end hardwood and tiled flooring, and a large eat-in kitchen, among other features.

Both units were listed for sale at $340,000 each, ultimately placed under contract, and sold for above the asking price.

According to city housing data, 1110 North 21st Street sold for $360,000, and 1108 North 21st Street was under contract for $350,000. The units’ appreciation explains the 21 percent rise in home values in the 08105 zip code cited in the Axios report.

Camden City Mayor Victor Carstarphen
A Cramer Hill homeowner, Camden City Mayor Victor Carstarphen, and Councilwoman Jannette Ramos on a housing tour on Jan. 29.

Mayor Carstarphen and his entourage of city and county officials saw first-hand what the 1110 North 21st Street home offered during Wednesday’s tour.

“Through this public-private partnership…we took a nuisance and problem property and turned into this beautiful home,” said Carstarphen. “I like to say we are turning `Blight into Bright.’ The City of Camden and its partners have preserved and built thousands of units of new quality affordable housing citywide.

“This is another example that through partnerships and hard work our neighborhoods are improving,” Carstarphen said. “I often say, it’s a `We’ thing and not a `Me’ thing…and it’s all about how `We’ improve our city.”

Suzette Parmley
Suzette Parmley
Suzette Parmley has been an award winning reporter for both major American newspapers and online business publications for over a decade and a half. She was most recently Retail Reporter for Industry Dive, an online business news platform based in Washington DC. Suzette is a former Retail Columnist, Atlantic City Casino Writer and Trenton Statehouse Correspondent for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She was later tapped as New Jersey Supreme Court reporter at New Jersey Law Journal, Chief Cannabis/Statehouse Reporter for The Star Ledger, and Senior Reporter on Private Equity for With Intelligence in NYC. Suzette received a Bachelor's Degree in Politics from the University of San Francisco and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration/Public Policy from the Fels Center of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.
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