Permits have been issued for the construction of a three-story, three-unit multi-family apartment building at 107 East Duval Street in Germantown, Northwest Philadelphia. Designed by Danilo C. Vicencio Architect, the structure will rise from a vacant lot nestled within a rowhouse ensemble on the northwest side of the block between Germantown Avenue and Morton Street, and will feature a basement and a roof deck. Permits list Jonny S. Ahmed as the contractor and specify a construction cost of $240,000.
The structure will measure 15 feet wide and will be set back eight feet from the sidewalk, matching the street wall of the adjacent rowhouses. A front yard and a six-foot-deep covered front porch, accessible via a stoop, adds much-welcome contextuality to the structure, mimicking the layout of the adjacent buildings.
The building will extend 52 feet into the lot, leaving space for a 12-foot-deep, 178-square-foot rear yard. The structure will rise 35 feet high to the main roof, 39 feet to the top of the parapet, and 45 feet to the top of the pilot house; floor-to-floor heights will measure ten feet on every above-ground floor and nine feet in the basement.
107 East Duval Street will be an understated yet welcome addition to the block. Despite an apparently plain facade, the building’s contextual setback and covered front porch will poise it as a respectful neighbor within its context, although upper-story bay windows to match those of adjacent structures would have been a welcome touch.
Germantown Avenue, which runs at the southwest end of the block, offers a vibrant retail corridor and transit in the form of the route 23 bus. The block-sized Mallery Playground sits at the opposite end of the block at Morton Street.
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It’s difficult for me to conceive how a three-story building with a basement and roof deck can be constructed for $240K. What am I missing??
The figures quoted are always WAY too low. Maybe an attempt to lowball the tax assessment?