Permits have been issued for the construction of a three-story, three-unit multi-family building at 2239 Germantown Avenue in North Philadelphia East. The building will rise from a vacant site located on the northeast side of the block between West Susquehanna Avenue and West Dauphin Avenue. The building will rise from a 1,209-square-foot footprint and will feature a commercial space on the ground floor. The structure will contain 3,627 square feet of interior space and will feature a roof deck, which will offer open skyline views due to the building’s prominently sited location.
Permits list Ortus Developments LLC as the owner, Mark C. Paul as the design professional, and Santech Construction Corp. as the contractor. Construction costs are specified at $352,600, of which $282,900 will be allocated for general construction, $30,000 for plumbing work, $20,000 for mechanical and fuel gas work, and $19,700 for electrical work.
2239 Germantown Avenue. Credit: Google Maps
Before World War II, Germantown Avenue was a bustling commercial and light industrial corridor that ran through a densely built-out rowhouse neighborhood. Since then, the interior portion of North Philadelphia East, where the site is located, has faced significant depopulation and numerous demolitions, which created a thoroughly desolate streetscape with long stretches of nearly vacant blocks, which appear oddly serene with their grassy lots and occasional remaining buildings standing in between. We have covered the area in detail in Grandeur and Desolation, a recent feature story.
2239 Germantown Avenue. Looking north. Credit: Google Maps
Germantown Avenue (left) and North Marshall Street (right), from in front of 2239 Germantown Avenue. Looking southeast. Credit: Google Maps
Germantown Avenue, with 2239 Germantown Avenue on the right. Looking northwest. Credit: Google Maps
The story also addressed four multi-family buildings that are planned nearby at North 7th Street, which signify the start of the neighborhood’s long-overdue revival. We anticipated future development announcements in the area due to its abundance of development-ready properties, proximity to Temple University, and transit access via both the Market-Frankford Line to the east and the Broad Street Line to the west, as well as the Temple University station of the SEPTA Regional Rail line.
New permit listings began to validate our assumption within weeks. The proposal at 2239 Germantown Avenue is one of several that have come in the area since that article’s publication. Others include a three-story, eight-unit multi-family building planned at 2431-33 North 7th Street, as well as a pair of three-story, five-unit multi-family buildings proposed at 2413 and 2415 North 7th Street.
Naturally, we expect still more development announcements in the immediate area in the future, which will kickstart a revival for the desolate yet promising neighborhood.
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I’m not familiar with the neighborhood and from the description, sounds very undesirable.
People ran away for a reason!
You can always try to justify proximity to the subway stations, but that alone will never erase the history people are trying to forget.