Permits Issued for Nine-Unit Building at 1937-41 North Marshall Street near Temple University in North Philadelphia

Permits have been issued for the construction of a four-story, nine-unit apartment building at 1937-41 North Marshall Street near Temple University in North Philadelphia. The development will be situated on the east side of the block between West Berks and West Norris streets, replacing three prewar rowhouses, two of which currently sit vacant. The structure will rise from a 2,000-square-foot footprint and will span 9,942 square feet, lending an average of nearly 1,100 square feet per residence, and will include a basement and full sprinkling. Permits list Lasfund LLC as the owner and Murat Aslansan as the contractor. Construction costs are specified at $1.5 million.

1937-41 North Marshall Street. Credit: Google

The development is situated on a block located between 6th and 7th streets, within a five-minute walk of the university campus and the eponymous Temple University Station on the regional rail, offering direct commute options to Center City, University City, and across the metropolitan region. The block, just as the surrounding North Central Philadelphia neighborhood, has been experiencing a surge of growth over the past two decades, particularly over the past few years. The development boom largely driven by the university’s ever-growing need for student housing paired with abundant and cheap vacant land and abandoned buildings, left in the wake of depopulation that swept across the area in the postwar period.

Although the block has seen a number of new buildings constructed over the past few years, it remains rather desolate, with abundant vacant lots and vacant structures. As such, the development is a welcome advent for the block, although we would have rather seen restoration of the rowhouses at the site, clad in classic red brick and adorned with ornamental relief panels beneath the cornices.

We expect to see further development announcements on the block and in the surrounding neighborhood in the near future, following a trend described in our Grandeur and Desolation feature.

1937-41 North Marshall Street. Looking northeast. Credit: Google

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