A recent site visit by Philly YIMBY has discovered that foundation work is currently underway at a four-story, 11-unit multi-family building at 809 Diamond Street in North Philadelphia East. Designed by KCA Design Associates, the structure will span 11,360 square feet and feature a roof deck. Permits list Tester Construction as the contractor. The construction cost is specified at $1.5 million.
809 Diamond Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2022
Aerial view of 809 Diamond Street. Credit: Google.
Former view of 809 Diamond Street. Credit: Google.
The structure, situated at the northwest corner of Diamond and North Darien streets, replaces a three-story rowhouse at the corner and an adjacent single-story church next door. Neither the featureless, stucco-covered, water-stained rowhouse, nor the boxy, parched-over, nearly windowless church presented any preservation-worthy qualities, although the church’s cross-shaped windows clad in glass brick made for an interesting architectural detail.
In either case, both structures have been torn down completely since we last reported on permits being issued last October, and work at the foundations appears largely complete. The next step would be the construction of the superstructure, which will be clad in brick on its street-facing exteriors and sheathed in panels on the cantilevers at the upper floors, exhibiting an architectural style that is rapidly becoming a predominant vernacular for new residential construction throughout the city.
809 Diamond Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. June 2022
The development is situated within 1,500 feet of the Temple University campus proper, with the nearest major building being the hulking-beige-brick Tyler School of Art and Architecture. However, the campus is even more proximate if in its definition we include the Edberg-Olson Football Complex at 1001 Diamond Street and the adjacent cluster of university-related retail, dining, and entertainment venues.
For two decades, Temple University has been a major driver behind new development throughout North Philadelphia East, with ample new construction and existing building renovations reviving the long-distressed area that had lost much of its population in the postwar era. Curiously, the area immediately to the northeast of the campus was particularly slow to redevelop. In contrast to the bustling street scene and ever-densifying blocks to the south and west of the campus, the northeast section has long been the domain of parking compounds and vacant lots.
In recent years, however, development is finally catching up on the surrounding blocks, and is notable for the fact that it caters to more than just the student population. To wit, a townhouse development that features workforce housing has recently been completed nearby at 1100 Diamond Street.
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