“Real estate compan[ies] with an academic division”: framing anchor institutions as real estate institutions

Anchor institutions are often critiqued for expanding into and gentrifying areas surrounding their campuses. Simultaneously, institutions frame themselves as beneficial to local communities and use this narrative to justify their property tax exemption status. Cities are sometimes able to recoup a portion of lost property taxes through Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs), a tool where property tax exempt institutions agree to contribute to the municipality. Existing literature on PILOTs focuses on the mechanics of PILOTs and their agreements. We use counterstories to examine the community movement to get the University of Pennsylvania to commit to PILOTs, which highlights how community members contest the university’s tax status and its role in community development. Through data drawn from interviews with community activists, we find that participants reframe anchor institutions not as philanthropic nonprofits deserving of tax credits but as real estate institutions that ought to be taxed. Where the university views donations to a local school and expansion of its police force as support for community, the movement perceives these as tools to further the university’s real estate interests through boosting land use value. Our finding provides insights into community perceptions of universities and their obligation to public finance.