A recent site visit by Philadelphia YIMBY has noted that construction has still not started at the six-story, 50-unit apartment building proposed at 502 Wood Street in the Old City section of Center City, though permits were issued last year. Designed by JKRP Architects, the building will span 55,470 square feet and feature two elevators and parking for 13 cars. Permits list Tester Construction Group as the contractor and a construction cost of $5.55 million.
502 Wood Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. May 2023
502 Wood Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. May 2023
The structure will span a footprint of 15,896 square feet and will hold a total of 55,470 square feet of interior space, lending an average of just over 1,000 square feet per apartment. The units will consist of five studios, 25 one-bedroom apartments, and 20 two-bedroom units, offering a generous volume of multi-bedroom units for a market that suffers from a prevalence of undersized apartments. Moreover, each bedroom will boast windows that face directly outdoors; although this should be an obvious, and law-mandated feature for any apartment, a worrying number of recently proposed buildings do not offer directly outdoor-facing windows in bedrooms, so their absence is worthy of note.
502 Wood Street rendering via JKRP Architects
The building spans the northeasternmost parcel in Old City, sandwiched on a somewhat isolated block hemmed in by the ramps for the I-676 and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on three sides. Although the location description sounds a tad foreboding, it is far from so, as wide, tree-planted green spaces, many with pedestrian walkways, separate the highway ramps from the streets.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
The property was sold about 6 mo. ago and new plans are in the works.
If this is a by right, start the work. Or is it councilmantic privilege or a lawsuit filed by aggrieved parties
New owners since these plans were drawn up.