Philly YIMBY’s recent site visit has noted that construction has still not begun at the site of a proposed four-story, 67-unit multi-family building at 1015 South 3rd Street in Queen Village, South Philadelphia, although construction equipment is present at the site. The development will rise on the east side of the block between Washington Avenue and Carpenter Street. Designed by HDO Architecture, the building will feature elevator service and a green roof.
The structure will rise 45 feet high to the top of the main roof, 49 feet to the top of the parapet, and 55 feet to the top of the bulkhead. This height, which extends seven feet above the local 38-foot limit, was made possible via a low income housing bonus. This bonus comes on top of a green roof density bonus. The number of residential units garnered via the two bonuses may be summarized as follows: via the green roof bonus, the originally permitted 36 units were multiplied by 1.25 to yield nine additional, adding up to 45 apartments; next, the low income bonus multiplied the 45 units by 50 percent, yielding an extra 22.5 units (which were somehow rounded down to 22, against conventional mathematics that would dictate a rounding-up to 23) and bringing the total to 67 dwellings.
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. February 2023
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. February 2023
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. February 2023
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. February 2023
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. February 2023
Although Philadelphia’s zoning regulations are unduly restrictive to a point where they hold back construction of much-needed housing stock in centrally-located areas, particularly outside of historic areas, 1015 South 3rd Street is an effective example of a developer utilizing several available measures that both benefit the property and the neighborhood while maximizing their property’s potential by significantly boosting its apartment count (67 units make for a whopping 86-percent increase over the originally permitted 36 units).
The Love Kingdom church at 1015 South 3rd Street, prior to demolition. September 2018. Credit: Google Street View
The new building will replace the Postmodern-style Love Kingdom church that was demolished some time around 2018-2019.
1015 South 3rd Street will boast an attractive, sophisticated design with a zig-zag facade clad in red brick and dark panels, made more interesting via loggia balconies. We look forward to seeing how the design shapes up in the future, as no above-ground construction is evident at the location at the moment; the below photos show the rear portion of the construction site, as seen across the vacant lot at 1028 East Moyamensing Avenue, where a hipped-roofed, tower-like utility structure was recently demolished.
Rendering of 1015 South 3rd Street. Credit: HDO Architecture
Rendering of 1015 South 3rd Street. Credit: HDO Architecture
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Although the now demolished church is a loss, this is an attractive project, bringing density to an area that could use more foot traffic, utilizing lots of brick, featuring loggia balconies, many windows, a 3-dimentional front and street trees, all without auto parking. I’m optimistic that this development is a ‘go’, given construction equipment on site.
VO, the first, third, fourth, fifth photos are taken from (or near) the northwest corner of Moyamensing and Washington and do not show the location of aforementioned apartment house. However, the second photo is accurate.
That would be possible councilmantic interference in holding up the project when a demo permit was already granted