Philly Homeowners Seek Riches In Pope’s Visit

Pope Francis’ visit to the United States later this year is a big deal, and a staggering number of people are expected to descend upon Philadelphia in September when the pontiff arrives. There are 65,000 hotel rooms within a 60 mile radius of the city. That sounds like a lot until one realizes that the number of folks anticipated to be coming into the city is in the millions, and that every room has been booked solid for some time now. Obviously, this creates something of a problem.

The Pope will hold Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway during his visit.  (Photo by B. Krist for GPTMC)

Some Philadelphia homeowners are looking to capitalize on the lodging shortage by renting out their homes for the length of the papal visit. The LA Times ran an article recently on some locals who are testing the waters with exorbitant asking prices in an attempt to catch some of the devout eager to lay eyes on the Pope.

The Pope will be in town for a week in celebration of the World Meeting of Families. He’ll be attending a Festival of Families and holding Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. If previous World Meetings are any indication, upwards of a million people could be attending the latter event alone. Folks in the area are banking on that fact to justify weekly rents of anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 for a private home during the event. It sounds outrageous, but with no other place for visitors to stay, it looks like people just might get it.

The Times article profiled the Homestay website’s Host a Family program, which collects a 10% fee from renters in exchange for connecting visitors with interested short-term landlords. They acknowledge that there aren’t enough spaces available for visitors, but commented that it will be interesting to see if homeowners wanting thousands for a week’s rent will actually get anyone to take them up on it.