Permits Issued for Single-Family Residence at 1421 South 21st Street in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia

Residential building permits have been issued for the construction of a three-story single-family rowhouse at 1421 South 21st Street in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia. The attached structure will rise upon a presently vacant lot situated between two recently built rowhouses on the east side of the block between Gerritt Street and Wilder Street. The building will span 2,078 square feet and will include a basement. The development team includes Faust Joyce Ann as the owner, In Earnest Design as the architect, and Korabi LLC as the contractor.

The total construction cost is specified at $225,500, which translates to around $109 per proposed interior square foot. The figure includes $160,000 allotted for general construction work, $8,000 for electrical work, $9,500 for mechanical work, $21,000 for plumbing work, and $27,000 for excavation work.

1421 South 21st Street. Zoning map. Credit: In Earnest Design via the City of Philadelphia

1421 South 21st Street. Building elevation. Credit: In Earnest Design via the City of Philadelphia

1421 South 21st Street. Site plan. Credit: In Earnest Design via the City of Philadelphia

The proposed structure will measure 16 feet wide and 41 feet long; a 14-foot-deep backyard will sit behind the building. The building will sit flush with the sidewalk, rising nearly 36 feet to the main roof, around 39 feet to the top of the parapet, and approximately 46 feet to the top of the pilot house; while the latter will be used for roof access, it does not appear that a roof deck will be included in the development, which would make for a missed opportunity for efficient land use if it is indeed excluded from the plans. The first floor will sit five-and-a-half feet above the ground; floor-to-ceiling heights will measure slightly over nine feet in height on the above-ground levels and just under eight feet in the basement.

The street-facing facade will be clad primarily in running course brick, with vertical siding and a varied brick course pattern along window spandrels. The brick exterior will make for a contextual not both to the city’s traditional prewar rowhouse architectural vernacular as much as it would harmonize with the contemporary styling of simlarly-scaled adjacent residential buildings, which rose on the previously largely vacant lot over the course of the past ten or so years as part of the neighborhood’s ongoing resurgence.

1421 South 21st Street. Site conditions prior to redevelopment. Credit: In Earnest Design via the City of Philadelphia

Route 7, 17, and 29 buses run in the vicinity. Point Breeze Avenue, a major local commercial thoroughfare, is situated within around one block to the northwest. Further northwest sits Wharton Square Park, accessible via an approximately five-minute walk.

1421 South 21st Street. Zoning table. Credit: In Earnest Design via the City of Philadelphia

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