Permits Issued for 1706 and 1708 Master Street in Cecil B. Moore, Lower North Philadelphia

Permits have been issued for the construction of two three-story, six-unit apartment buildings at 1706 Master Street and 1708 Master Street in Cecil B. Moore, Lower North Philadelphia. Designed by Here’s The Plan, LLC, the two structures will replace a portion of a larger vacant lot nestled situated on the south side of the block between North 17th and North 18th streets, and will include a basement and two roof decks. For each building, permits list Omega Home Builders as the contractor and specify a construction cost of $280,000, of which $30,000 is allocated to excavation work.

Each of the semi-detached buildings will measure 17 feet wide, with a five-foot-wide alley running to the rear yard between the two properties, forming a shared ten-foot-wide open space. Despite their narrow fronts, the structures will be quite sizable, extending 91 feet across the lot and leaving space for a nine-foot-deep yard in the rear behind either building. Each structure will rise 34 feet high to the main roof and 44 feet to the top of the pilot house, with floor-to-floor heights spanning ten feet. Masonry-styled cladding on the ground level and brick on the main facade will add a traditional touch, while upper-floor bay windows will add further visual interest.

1706 Master Street and 1708 Master Street are situated around halfway between the campuses of Temple University and Girard College. Over the past two decades, Temple’s persistent demand for student housing and related real estate development has dramatically transformed the once-distressed area around its campus, so it can be somewhat surprising to find such extensive swathes of undeveloped land in the vicinity as the one on the block at hand, especially in the booming Cecil B. Moore neighborhood to the southwest of the campus. 1706 Master Street represents yet another gradual step toward re-densifying lower North Philly.

Route 2, 33, and 61 buses, among others, run along the adjacent blocks. The route 15 trolley runs several blocks to the south on Girard Avenue. The Girard Station on the Broad Street Line is situated within a ten-minute walk to the southeast.

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