As Temple’s undergraduate population grows and on-campus housing falls short, more and more students are becoming renters in the surrounding neighborhood’s rental market, which is dominated by big names like Off Campus Philly and Temple Villas.
To uncover the hidden faces and forces behind these companies’ row home signs, The Temple News’ Investigations Desk has tapped into local, state, and national databases in the first of a multi-part series on student living.
These are the top owners from the analysis:
OFF CAMPUS PHILLY
Connections: Michael P. Lopsonzski
# of known properties: 69
total value of properties: $35,298,400
Interesting find: Off Campus Philly’s website boasts the convenience of having only one property owner – Michael Lopsonzski. The developer has properties in many locations, including oceanfront homes in Barbados, and is a self-described “European classic car collector.”
COLUMBUS PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
Connections: Arch V, Temple I, Temple II, Temple Tech Mansion
# of known properties: 66
total value of properties: $2,698,600
Interesting find: CPM’s properties range from projects like the “Temple Tech Mansion,” advertised to students as spaces for “executives, entrepreneurs, creators and influencers” where “Silicon Valley meets Temple,” to low-income housing. Nine tenants filed a lawsuit against CPM in June 2024 for poor living conditions in CPM’s low-income housing, including alleged mold, infestations and broken appliances.
TEMPLE VILLAS
Connections: 2008 N Broad Inc., AMZ Development, BA Investments, Finchley Investments, Abbas Zeini, Halal Mahdi, Michael Alhadad
# of known properties: 54
total value of known properties: $44,174,700
Interesting find: Two of the owners listed under these LLCs, Abbas Zeini and Halal Mahdi, made headlines in 2019 when WHYY reported that the Philadelphia Police Department found possible cremated remains in a former funeral home that the pair owned under 2008 N. Broad Inc.
TEMPLE NEST
Connections: Tom Bock, Bock Development Group
# of known properties: 22
total value of properties: $20,093,300
Interesting find: The Bock Group owns 1451 N. Broad St, recognizable to passersby for its unique triangular shape, which has been involved in a lengthy debate this year over its attempt to obtain a zoning variance to build a 19-story structure that would include residential space, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
SOPHISTICATED LIVING
Connections: Yamit Haba, Yamit Reem, Avishay Reem, Adir Holdings
# of known properties: 21
total value of properties: $8,241,100
Interesting find:Yamit Haba, a 2004 Temple graduate, said in an interview with the Candid Career series that she and her husband were some of the first developers to begin purchasing and renting apartments off of Temple’s campus. Despite its longstanding presence in the area, Sophisticated Living has been involved in court cases up to last year for unsafe conditions, including a “failing floor system.”
INVICTUS CAPITAL PARTNERS
Connections: IRP Fund Temple, Verus
# of known properties: 21
total value of properties: $10,624,300
Interesting find:Invictus Capital Partners is an asset loan manager based in Washington D.C. that appears to use smaller companies to obtain and manage real estate loans. They are associated with a number of other companies within the property financing and business industries, including Paracorp Incorporated and Verus Residential.
PROCESS AND LIMITATIONS
TTN Investigations used information from Philadelphia’s Land Use database, which includes information on zoning and ownership, cross-referenced with The Pennsylvania Secretary of State’s business database.
The search was narrowed down to the four census tracts around Temple’s campus to create a boundary around where students are likely to live. Results were then filtered to only include residential and vacant properties.
Major owners were assigned a tag attached to all companies under their purview – Off Campus Philly was tagged LOPS, which covered a range of LLCs linked to Michael Lopsonzski. Tags were then used to create a table of owners with information on their properties.
OpenMaps and Flourish were used to create the map graphic. Editors also utilized the same data used to find who owns the most property, as well as files from Philadelphia’s Department of Records and the U.S. Census Bureau.
While extensive work was done to ensure accuracy, it is possible that some related companies, and the properties they own, did not make it into the count due to name and address differences or other issues.
REACH OUT WITH TIPS
Do you have a tip for an investigative story? Message TTN Investigations anonymously on Signal at https://bit.ly/3AIyfai, or email allison.beck@temple.edu.
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