Development Pending at Nearly 15,000-Square-Foot Lot at 19-27 South 8th Street in Market East, Center City

Developer and parking lot operator Parkway Corporation is currently looking for opportunities to redevelop a 14,495-square-foot parking lot at 19-27 South 8th Street in Market East, Center City. There appear to be no active proposal currently planned for the site, as no permits have been filed and the property is listed in the developer’s “opportunities” section. As with many of Parkway’s other parking lots, it appears that the operator/developer is looking for an anchor tenant and/or a development partner. Under the current zoning, the site may accommodate a high-rise proposal standing 30 stories or taller.

Also known as 8th and Ludlow, the site sits at the western end of the block and is bound by 8th Street to the west, Ranstead Street to the south, and the alley-like Ludlow Street to the north. the lot measures 137.5 feet long east-west and 105.5 feet wide north-south and presently offers 69 parking spaces, of which 36 are attended and 31 more are self-park. Parkway indicates that the lot may support a 174,204-square-foot building if constructed to a floor-area-ratio of 1:12. The square footage would rise to a considerable 289,900 square feet at an FAR of 20:1.

19-27 South 8th Street. Credit: Parkway Corporation

The exceptionally central location offers near-direct access to the 8th Street Station on the Market-Frankford SEPTA Line, as well as the 8th & Market Street PATCO Station. Both are situated one short block to the north on Market Street, as is the Market Place East shopping center. The Jefferson Station of the regional rail sits three blocks further to the west and offers direct rail commute across the metropolitan area, ideally poising the site for office development. On the other hand, walking-distance proximity to landmarks such as Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the National Constitution Center, City Hall, and more, as well as destinations such as the Convention Center, make the property lucrative for office development. Also, as always, high-rise residential development is in high demand in the neighborhood, best evidenced by the 498-foot-tall, 45-story St. James residential tower at 200 Washington Square West a few blocks to the south.

The developer also seeks to redevelop a 39,564-square-foot parking lot at 735 Arch Street several blocks to the north.

19-27 South 8th Street. Credit: Parkway Corporation

Our greatest concern is that the development would likely block the large, trompe-l’oeil mural overlooking the site at the east side of the lot, dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln. Ideally, we would like to see the development restricted to the western half or two-thirds of the site, leaving space for a public alley in the eastern section that would maintain the mural in public view. Given the lot’s relatively small footprint, such an arrangement is unfortunately unlikely, and only an enterprising and civic-minded developer-architect team would consider such a plan. However, the layout is certainly feasible, as illustrated by Mural West, a 363-foot-tall mixed-use tower planned at 523 North Broad Street in Poplar, Lower North Philadelphia.

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