Permits Issued for 1432 North Marston Street in Brewerytown, North Philadelphia

Permits have been issued for the construction of a three-story single-family rowhouse at 1432 North Marston Street in Brewerytown, North Philadelphia. The building will rise from a vacant lot sited on the west side of the block between Master Street and Jefferson Street. Designed by Moto Designshop, the structure will span 1,353 square feet. Permits list the Spruce Builders as the contractor.

The construction costs are indicated at $116,670, of which $86,470 is allocated toward general construction, $17,000 for plumbing work, $5,200 for electrical work, $6,000 for mechanical work, and $2,000 for excavation.

1432 North Marston Street. Area map. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia

1432 North Marston Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Looking west. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia

1432 North Marston Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Looking southwest. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia

1432 North Marston Street. Site plans. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia

The new building will measure 14 feet wide and 36 and a half feet deep, with a 14-and-a-half-foot-deep rear yard. The structure will rise 34 feet tall to the main roof and 35 feet to the parapet, with the third story set back ten and a half feet from the street. A street0facing facade clad in varying brick courses will lend the structure a certain aesthetic appeal that evokes both traditional and contemporary motifs.

During the extended period of depopulation and demolitions in North Philadelphia after World War II, some neighborhoods fared better than others. The extent of demolitions in Brewerytown took on a patchwork characteristic, with largely intact blocks sometimes sitting next to others that lost a significant portion of their housing stock or had been nearly leveled altogether.

North Marston Street, with 1432 North Marston Street on the left, prior to redevelopment. Looking south. July 2019. Credit: Google Maps

North Marston Street, with 1432 North Marston Street on the right, prior to redevelopment. Looking north. July 2019. Credit: Google Maps

The 1400 block of narrow North Marston Street fared particularly poorly; by the turn of the millennium, over three-quarters of its original rowhouses have either been torn down or abandoned. However, in recent years, the massive real estate revival that has been sweeping North Philly for over a decade is finally reaching this neck of the woods (an expression that may be taken somewhat literally in this instance, as, the narrow street with broken-down sidewalks, unkempt green patches, and bushy trees may be seen as something of an urban forest path).

In recent years, the 1400 block of North 28th Street just to the west, which had retained only around half of its original prewar rowhouse stock, has been almost entirely built out with new construction on its vacant lots. In contrast, the Marston block is still largely vacant, yet even here several new rowhouse-style buildings have been erected, with 1432 North Marston Street poised as the latest entry in the block’s ongoing revival.

The Athletic Square Park is situated two short blocks to the east, and Fairmount Park may be reached via a ten-minute walk to the southwest. Brewerytown’s retail and dining core is situated several short blocks to the west, while Girard Avenue, which carries the route 15 trolley, runs three long blocks to the south. The 30-minute-long walk to the Broad Street Line’s Girard and Cecil B. Moore stations is quite a hike, yet the immediate vicinity is serviced by the 7, 48, and 49 buses.

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