Last week, YIMBY shared a proposal for a University Place 5.0, a five-and-a-half-tier, 495-car garage planned for construction at 17 North 41st Street in West Powelton, West Philadelphia. The structure will rise as part of a greater University Place complex, which has been under development over the course of the past several years. Developed by the University Place Associates and designed by ISA (Interface Studio Architects), with IMEG as the architect of record, the proposed building will span 165,950 square feet. According to the developer, the facility will both support the existing University Place campus as well as provide general public parking as well as neighborhood amenities that include a dog park and a community garden. Today we take a closer look at the project as it was recently presented submission to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission’s Civic Design Review committee.
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Project rendering. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site map. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Project rendering. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
In the CDR submission, University Place Associates, the developer behind the proposal, describes their campus as “a cluster of Life Sciences and commercial office space certified to the highest level of healthy and sustainable building, located on Market Street between 39th and 42nd Streets. It will be the first and only commercial development of its kind. One that embraces and enriches the surrounding community, creates local jobs, attracts organizations hungry for innovation and talent, and firmly defines Philadelphia’s commitment to global
sustainability.”
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Project rendering. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Site plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Building elevation and material palette. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Building elevations. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
In an urban setting, a large parking garage is typically a mixed blessing. While a priority must be made on public transit access, any large institutional campus requires a non-insignificant amount of parking, as it aims to draw employees and visitors alike from across the metro area, including the many areas that are poorly serviced by mass transit. Multi-level garages make for efficient use of urban space as compared to sprawling, pedestrian-unfriendly parking lots, especially if they offer ground-level community amenities. Not only will University Place 5.0 significantly increase the density of the site use, the facility will offer the benefit of consolidating much of the campus parking into one single structure.
Still, a nearly 500-vehicle facility will affect local traffic congestion, and the 60-story structure would loom over an adjacent prewar rowhouse ensemble. Inevitable as large buildings in a central business district are, we are still unsure about the sheer five-story wall facing the adjacent rear yards, with a mural depicting what appears to be oversized eyes peering into the rear windows (although the mural is most likely a placeholder).
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Floor plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Floor plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Floor plan. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
University Place 5.0 Parking Garage at 17 North 41st Street. Building cross section. Credit: ISA via the Civic Design Review
As seen in the renderings, the garage appears to make for a striking presence at the street corner, making certain aesthetic improvements over what is generally a bare-bones concrete box. The inclusion of the dog park, as well as community parking, are much-welcome aspects of the project. However, we wish to have seen more ground-level retail space and community amenities included in the project (for instance, as we saw in the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center parking garage that was recently completed nearby). At a grander scale, we would have hoped for a sizable office structure above the parking garage, with its bulk shifted away from the residential area to the north. Such a structure would have made for yet more efficient use of the centrally located, transit-adjacent site located at the northwestern periphery of University City.
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