Development is underway for a three-story, ten-unit multi-family building at 3430 West Clearfield Street in Allegheny West, North Philadelphia. The apartment building is part of Clearfield Court, a development that will also include eight duplexes totaling 16 units. 3430 West Clearfield Street will unify several lots on an irregular, L-shaped lot bound by Clearfield Street to the north, Commissioner Street to the south, and 35th Street to the west. Designed by CANNOdesign and Ruggiero Plante Land Design and developed by the Argo Property Group, the structure will span 8,349 square feet and feature a basement and a roof deck. Permits, which were issued last month, list the Argo Development Group as the contractor and specify a construction cost of $5.5 million.
The development will replace several prewar rowhouses, most notable of which were three Colonial-styled, two-and-a-half-story structures facing Clearfield Street. The trio, with pitched roofs and street-facing dormers, made for a unique presence on the North Philly urban landscape; however, their apparent state of significant dilapidation likely precluded any viable preservation options. All three have already been torn down.
The new building will add significant housing stock to the block while paying homage to its historical character. A carefully crafted, astute facade will boast articulated brick work with varying courses, segmented into narrow vertical sections in order to emulate the neighborhood;s rowhouse vernacular.
Clearfield Court is situated in a rather off-the-beaten-path enclave, where the western section of Allegheny is hemmed in by the Laurel Hill Cemetery to the west, Mount Peace Cemetery to the south, and a combined barrier of a railroad trestle and auto-centric retail along the Roosevelt Expressway to the north.
Although far removed from the Broad Street Line (the Allegheny Station is situated within a whopping 40-minute walk to the east), this westernmost section of North Philly offers its own advantages. The surrounding blocks are serviced by the 1, 60, and 61 bus routes. Car commuters may take advantage of almost direct access to routes US-1 (Roosevelt Expressway), US-13 (Hunting Park Avenue), and Interstate 96 across the Schuylkill River.
Roosevelt Expressway offers ample retail options within a seven-minute walk to the northwest. The scenic Schuylkill River Trail is accessible via a ten-minute walk to the northwest, as is the shopping and dining core of East Falls in Northwest Philadelphia; the East Falls regional rail station sits within a 17-minute walk of the development. Fairmount Park may be accessed via a 15-minute walk to the south, or a stroll (or bile ride) of roughly the same length across the Schuylkill River.
The Laurel Hill Cemetery, situated two blocks west of Clearfield Court, is notable for real and fictional burial sites alike, serving as the site of internment, among many others, of Declaration of Independence signer Thomas McKean, longtime Philadelphia Phillies sports announcer Harry Kalas, and Adrian Balboa, fictional wife of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky boxer character in the eponymous movie franchise.
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I will like to see one of the homes and try to purchase one of them