Permits Issued for a Multi-Family Structure at 781 North Preston Street in Mantua, West Philadelphia

A zoning permit has been issued for the construction of a multi-family residential structure at 781 North Preston Street in Mantua, West Philadelphia. Located on the east side of the block between Aspen Street and Brown Street, the attached structure will span a 1,313-square-foot footprint and will include a roof deck. Blackrock Capital LLC is the listed owner.

781 North Preston Street. Credit: Google

The building will replace a vacant lot sandwiched between two three-story prewar rowhouses, which are part of a rowhouse ensemble that spans the northern half of the block. Despite its novelty along the building row, the building will do little harm to its historic integrity as the adjacent rowhouses have been significantly altered from their original condition, with beige stucco plastered over their brick facades and siding covering the cornice of the structure at house number 779.

Building alterations notwithstanding, much of the prewar building stock in the surrounding area has been reasonably well preserved. The building fill positively contribute to the streetscape by filling in a gap in the street wall.

781 North Preston Street. Looking north. Credit: Google

The proposal is part of a building boom that is sweeping the neighborhood, in part as a response to the growing real estate demand in University City, located within a 15-minute walk to the south from the proposal site. The commercial corridor along Lancaster Avenue, which also carries the route 10 trolley and the 43 bus, is located several blocks to the southwest.

Like the proposal at 753 North 44th Street in the Haverford North neighborhood to the west, covered earlier today, the site sits across the street from a school (the Belmont Charter School). Fairmount Park and the Philadelphia Zoo are located within a 10-minute and a 25-minute walk to the north and to the northeast, respectively.

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