Permits Issued for a Single-Family Dwelling at 1907 East Harold Street in East Kensington

A zoning permit has been issued for the construction of a three-story, single-family dwelling at 1907 East Harold Street in East Kensington. The site sits on the northeast side of the street, on a block between Jasper Street and Emerald Street. The structure’s footprint will span 450 square feet. A full basement and a roof deck will be included as part of the project. Gabrianna Development Group is the listed owner.

1907 East Harold Street. Credit: Google

The structure will replace a vacant lot, one of many that currently line the block. The proposal is the latest chapter in a story of urban glory, precipitous decline, and an ongoing rebirth, one among many that are unfolding on the city’s many reviving blocks. Rowhouses lined the block in the prewar era, home to working-class families that serviced the neighborhood’s numerous factories and the wharves on the nearby Delaware River.

As industry and maritime activity left the neighborhood and the waterfront in the postwar period, so did much of the local population. Numerous structures, industrial and residential alike, were demolished en masse. By the turn of the millennium, the Harold Street block has lost most of its buildings and nearly reverted to its preurban state, with the narrow roadway resembling a country road that runs between mostly vacant sites, overgrown with vegetation, enclosed with low chain link fences, and sporting yard clutter of a type more common on the urban outskirts than in the center city.

East Harold Street, with 1907 East Harold Street on the left. Looking southeast. September 2009. Credit: Google

Since that time, a construction surge has rolled across the city and reached the block in the mid-2010’s. Since then, seven three-story rowhouses have risen on the block’s southwest side. During construction of a particular set of three structures at numbers 1914, 1916, and 1918, a sign advertised the development as Harold Homes and boasted of features such as full finished basements and “skyline roofdecks.” Each building measures 1,738 square feet and comes with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

East Harold Street, with 1907 East Harold Street on the left. Looking southeast. August 2019. Credit: Google

The dwelling proposed at 1907 East Harold Street will be the first new structure built on the opposite side of the street. Given the data in the permit, it is likely that the building will be very similar to its counterparts in appearance and offerings. It is equally likely that adjacent vacant lots will be replaced with similar structures in the near future, as well.

Further development is further assured with attractions and urban amenities located on the surrounding blocks. The Huntingdon Station on the Market-Frankford SEPTA line is located a block to the north at Kensington Avenue, a busy commercial thoroughfare, adjacent to the Temple University Hospital – Episcopal Campus, a major local employer.

The neighborhood exudes classic Philadelphia character, a claim viscerally supported by the choice of the directors of motion picture classics Rocky and Rocky II to feature the nearby rowhouse at 1818 Tusculum Street as the residence of the titular character. The new construction rising on the block continues the cherished city tradition of dense yet human-scaled rowhouse construction, while embracing contemporary conveniences such as tall ceilings and roof decks. Prewar buildings that remain between the new structures reinforce the link between the two generations of urban development.

1907 East Harold Street. Looking north. Credit: Google

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