Permits have been issued for the construction of a two-story single-family rowhouse at 653 North Sickels Street in Carroll Park, West Philadelphia. The structure will rise from a vacant lot on the east side of the block between Poplar Street and West Girard Avenue. Designed by Moto Designshop, the structure will span 894 square feet. Permits list the City of Philadelphia as the owner and specify Spruce Builders as the contractor.
Construction costs are specified at $106,970, of which $78,770 is allocated toward general construction, $5,200 for electrical work, $6,000 for mechanical work, and $17,000 for plumbing work.
653 North Sickels Street. Location map. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
653 North Sickels Street. Location map. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
653 North Sickels Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Looking northeast. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
653 North Sickels Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Looking southeast. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
The proposal at 653 North Sickels Street will is rather compact yet is well-suited to the street, lined with two-story prewar rowhouses, and is, for lack of a better word, is rather cozy. the roughly 14-foot-wide structure will be set back from the sidewalk by just over five feet, matching the established street wall.
The brick facade will make for a proper contextual fit with the surroundings, even considering the contemporary-looking vertical siding strip above the front entrance. More importantly, the building will sport a covered front porch to match its neighbors, a relatively minor yet very important contextual addition that other developers throughout the city ought to consider in their own projects, particularly when contextually appropriate.
653 North Sickels Street. Site plan. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
653 North Sickels Street. Site plan. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
The building will measure 32 feet deep, leaving space for a seven-foot-deep rear yard. Unfortunately, the structure will not include a roof deck, which would have significantly augmented the limited open space that the compact backyard will provide.
653 North Sickels Street is a successful example of incremental development that restores the city’s ravaged yet still highly extensive and vibrant rowhouse vernacular. We wish to see similar development to go up on the vacant lots immediately to the north of the proposal site.
The route 15 trolley runs along West Girard Avenue half a block to the north. Bus routes 30 and 52 service the surrounding area. Carroll Park, Shepard Recreation Center, and the Haverford Library are some of the community amenities available within a several-block radius. Fairmount Park is situated within a 20-minute walk to the northeast.
653 North Sickels Street. Zoning table. Credit: Moto Designshop via the City of Philadelphia
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Does the City own houses outside of the Housing Authority?