A construction permit has been issued for the development of a three-story mixed-use building at 4615-21 North 5th Street in the Feltonville section of North Philadelphia. The project site spans a through-lot parcel along North 5th Street. Property records list Nueva Esperanza Housing A as the owner, with designs prepared by PZS Architects and construction to be carried out by Domus Inc.
The total construction cost is listed at $4.8 million.
4615-21 North 5th Street North Elevation via PZS Architects
Permit documentation specifies the erection of an attached wood-frame structure over reinforced concrete foundations. The building will contain eight residential units alongside ground-floor commercial space, which is required to occupy the full width of the street frontage and extend to a depth of 30 feet. The structure is classified as mixed occupancy, with Mercantile use at the ground level and Group R-2 residential above. Construction will utilize Type V-A methods, and the building will be fully sprinklered, with NFPA 13 systems for the commercial portion and NFPA 13R for the residential levels.
4615-21 North 5th Street East Elevation via PZS Architects
Zoning permits were issued on April 2026, authorizing multi-family residential use with commercial space in a CMX-2.5 district. The lot measures approximately 5,858 square feet, with a proposed building footprint of 4,350 square feet, representing roughly 74 percent lot coverage. Open space totals approximately 1,508 square feet, or 26 percent of the site. The project includes an 8-foot-wide side yard and a rear yard measuring approximately 14 feet in depth. The building rises to a height of 35 feet, remaining below the 55-foot maximum permitted in the zoning district.
4615-21 North 5th Street South Elevation via PZS Architects
Zoning drawings depict a three-story structure above a basement level, with floor plates extending deep into the lot. The first floor accommodates commercial space at the front of the building, while residential occupancy is distributed across the upper levels. A lightwell is incorporated at the second and third floors, and box bay projections extend from the façade at those levels. Elevation drawings indicate a consistent vertical stacking of floors, with clearly defined floor heights and a parapet at the roofline.
4615-21 North 5th Street West Elevation via PZS Architects
Site plans show the building occupying most of the lot width, with pedestrian space maintained along the sidewalk and utility infrastructure coordinated at the frontage. A designated rear yard and side yard provide required open space, and a concrete pad for refuse storage is located toward the rear of the property. The plans also indicate reconstruction of the sidewalk and curb along the full length of the site frontage.
4615-21 North 5th Street Location via PZS Architects
The property is located along a commercial corridor of North 5th Street characterized by mixed-use buildings and attached row structures. No construction timeline has been disclosed in the available permit records.
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If the numbers are correct, $4.8 million for eight apartments and one commercial space totaling 13,050 square feet means ~ $500,000 per unit averaging at most 1,500 square feet. It seems preposterous unless the single to-be-planted street tree is an extraordinarily valuable specimen.