Philly YIMBY’s recent site visit has revealed that construction has still not started at a six-story mixed-use building with ground-level retail and 107 residential units at 23 West Girard Avenue in Olde Kensington, though permits had been issued last November. We noted no signs of demolition nor construction at the property, with a Speedy Mart convenience store still apparently in operation. Designed by JKRP Architects and developed by Girard Real Estate LLC, the project will span 104,160 square feet and will feature parking for 28 cars and 47 bicycles, full sprinkling, and a roof deck, which, given the building’s future prominence over the surroundings, will likely offer panoramic views of the Center City skyline. Permits list Benchmark Construction Group Inc. as the contractor and a construction cost of $21.5 million.
23 West Girard Avenue. Photo by Jamie Meller. December 2022
Aerial view of the 23 West Girard Avenue site. Credit: JKRP Architects
23 West Girard Avenue. Photo by Jamie Meller. December 2022
23 West Girard Avenue. Photo by Jamie Meller. December 2022
23 West Girard Avenue. Photo by Jamie Meller. December 2022
23 West Girard Avenue. Photo by Jamie Meller. December 2022
The building will rise from a 20,703-square-foot lot bound by Girard Avenue to the south, Leopard Street to the east, and Stiles Street to the north. The site is situated at the meeting point of three neighborhoods: Olde Kensington, which stretches to the northwest, Fishtown to the east, and Northern Liberties to the south. As such, depending on definition, the building may be described as being located in either of these locales.
The development’s boundary-straddling situation may suggest a peripheral location. Instead, the development sits at a focal point of some of the city’s most rapidly growing neighborhoods, where thousands of new residential units and dozens of new retail facilities are rapidly transforming the blocks surrounding the Girard Avenue Station of the Market-Frankford Line (which sits half a block away from the proposal at 23 West Girard Avenue).
Rendering of 23 West Girard Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects.
Rendering of 23 West Girard Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects.
Rendering of 23 West Girard Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects.
The development will make a contribution to the rapidly growing commercial corridor via a sizable space facing Girard Avenue and wrapping around to Leopard Street. Given the site’s transit-accessible location, we hope that construction work at the site starts soon.
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Title says Fishtown, first sentence says Olde Kensington. Which is it?
Will be significant improvement to surrounding area. Hope it moves forward quickly
There were surveyors on site this am when I walked by.