Historic Philly building managed by landlord Philip Pulley partially collapses, littering street with debris

A building in Philadelphia’s Francisville neighborhood partially collapsed Sunday night, damaging vehicles and littering streets with bricks and debris.

The collapse happened around 9:30 p.m. in the 700 block of North 17th Street. Part of the parapet wall on the Darrah School Realty apartment building, which was formerly the Lydia Darrah School building, fell off. The building itself remains intact.

No injuries have been reported, and the city said it is currently safe for tenants to remain in the building.

“Today, the property owner will have an engineer on site to re-evaluate the structure and contractor on site to remove any further loose debris that may be in danger of falling,” said city spokesperson Ava Schwemler. “L&I ordered the property owner to clean up debris from the street and supply a fence along the perimeter of the collapsed zone for public safety.”

The building is owned and managed by companies affiliated with Philip Pulley, a notorious Philadelphia-area landlord who in recent years has come under fire from tenants’ rights groups, city attorneys and the state Attorney General’s Office — and who last month pleaded guilty in federal court to double voting in recent elections.

Coincidentally, the Darrah School Realty apartment building is where Pulley registered to vote — while already registered at both his Montgomery County estate and waterfront mansion in Florida — as part of a ploy to vote multiple times in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

» READ MORE: The law finally caught up with notorious Philadelphia landlord Phil Pulley ... but for voting fraud

Both North 17th and Folsom Streets were closed following the collapse, and the building was being inspected by members of the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to make sure it remained safe to occupy.

Pulley and his attorney did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.

The building was built in the late 1920s and named after Lydia Darrah, a Revolutionary War figure who helped the colonists while Philadelphia was occupied by the British. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

City records show Pulley and his company, SBG Management, purchased the property in 2013 for $2.1 million. It is owned by Darrah School Realty Co. LP, a corporate entity registered to SBG’s mailing address.

The building has been cited 13 times since 2019, mainly over fire code issues, although it appears to be in much better condition than other Pulley properties managed by SBG. His companies have been cited for hundreds of building code violations around the city and garnered hundreds of tax or utility liens.

In September 2022, for instance, Pulley’s Lindley Tower apartments in North Philadelphia partially collapsed, leaving a gaping hole in the structure and displacing over 100 residents. The property remains in a half collapsed state today, as city attorneys seek to tear it down and bill Pulley for the cost. They secured a court order authorizing demolition last summer, but Pulley’s attorney has since appealed this decision.

» READ MORE: Fannie Mae sues for $60 million in defaulted mortgages tied to notorious Philadelphia landlord

Pulley pleaded guilty to four federal charges, including voter fraud and voting more than once in a federal election, and faces up to five years in prison for each. He is also facing a state-level charge for voting twice in the 2023 election.

Last month, Fannie Mae, a government-controlled mortgage financier, filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Pulley-affiliated companies defaulted on $60 million in mortgages for properties in Philadelphia and Delaware County.

Inquirer staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.