Hapco Philadelphia is joining its Rental Coalition partners for a counter demonstration to show City Council how devastating a mandatory high rise sprinkler bill would be for city rental owners.
Philadelphia City Councilmember Mark Squilla introduced Bill #220299 on March 31st known as the Retrofit Automatic Sprinkler Legislation.
It requires automatic sprinklers to be retrofitted into existing high-rise buildings over 75-feet and Hapco Philadelphia is teaming up with the Pennsylvania Apartment Association and other members of the Rental Coalition to opposed its passage.
If passed, the bill would mean rental property owners would face retrofit costs of $27,000 to $50,000 per unit, on top of tenant relocation costs, and maintenance costs on a yearly basis.
And a rental owner’s insurance costs would also skyrocket.
Those costs would bankrupt many rental owners and further destroy affordable rental housing in Philadelphia.