Permits Issued for 12-Unit Building at 4140 West Girard Avenue in East Parkside, West Philadelphia

Permits have been issued for the construction of a four-story, 12-unit mixed-use building at 4140 West Girard Avenue in East Parkside, West Philadelphia. The structure will be located on the south side of the block between North 41st and North 42nd streets and will span a 2,600-square-foot footprint. The proposed 9,800 square feet of floor space translate into n average of just over 800 square feet per typical unit. The development will feature full sprinkling and a roof deck, which, due to the building’s future prominence, promises to offer sweeping skyline views. Permits list Francesco Zampetti as the design professional and Eugene Naydovich of Fitler Development as the contractor. The total construction cost is specified at $200,000, an oddly low figure for this relatively sizable development.

The project will replace a vacant overgrown lot, one of a handful of similar properties along the rowhouse-lined block. This stretch of the street has retained a majority of its prewar building stock, although many of the once-ornate structures have seen patchy, non-historic renovations over the years. The proposal at 4140 West Girard Avenue will be the first building constructed at the block since the end of World War II, and one of the first new structures to go up in years in the entire neighborhood.

East Parkside is a compact, predominantly residential neighborhood stretching between Fairmount Park to the north and the at-grade regional rail line to the south. The area is also known as the Centennial District, as much of it was developed in tandem with the Centennial International Exposition of 1876, which was held on the grounds of the current park. As such, the district has a unique mix of advantages, such as distinguished architecture dating from its once-prestigious setting, and drawbacks, such as geographic isolation created by adjacent rail lines.

Despite this isolation, the neighborhood is well-serviced by public transit, namely the route 15 trolley on Girard Avenue, which offers a direct commute to Temple University in North Philadelphia and transfer options to the subway, regional rail, and other trolley lines, particularly the nearby route 10 trolley on Lancaster Avenue. A number of schools, park adjacency, and proximity to the Philadelphia Zoo poise the neighborhood as potentially particularly attractive to families, which will hopefully prompt further development in the near future.

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