Permits have been issued for the construction of a four-unit residential building at 5151 West Girard Avenue in Cathedral Park, West Philadelphia. The approved permit calls for an attached structure with a cellar, roof deck, and roof deck access structure. Lapstone LLC is listed as contractor, while Lapstone Capital 3 LLC is listed as owner. 24/7 Design Group is the architect.
Permits list a total construction cost of $525,000. The cost breakdown includes $480,000 for general construction and $45,000 for excavation.
5151 West Girard Avenue Section via 24/7 Design Group
The building permit lists 4,266 square feet of new construction, with listed floor areas of 1,164 square feet at the basement level, 1,074 square feet on the first floor, 1,074 square feet on the second floor, and 954 square feet on the third floor. The zoning permit was issued for the erection of an attached structure with a cellar, roof deck, and roof deck access structure. The permit lists the approved use as residential household living, multi-family, with four multi-family units. The zoning documents identify the property as part of the RM-1 zoning district. The zoning table lists an approximate 1,918-square-foot lot, a 15-foot existing lot width, 1,074 square feet of proposed occupied area, 844 square feet of open area, a 15-foot-nine-inch front setback, a rear yard depth of 34 feet one-and-five-eighths inches, and a maximum building height of 34 feet.
Plans show the new building on a narrow lot along West Girard Avenue, with a covered front porch, an eight-foot-three-inch third-floor setback, a rear yard, and an open area at the rear of the parcel. The site plan also shows adjacent two-story buildings on both sides of the property and labels West Girard Avenue as a 70-foot-wide legally open city plan street.
The section drawing shows a three-story structure above a cellar level, with the roof deck accessed by a pilot house. The building rises to a listed height of 34 feet, with the roof deck and access structure shown above the third floor. The approved zoning permit was issued in October 2025, and the zoning record notes a later amendment approved in March 2026 to remove the front setback at the third-floor level.
With zoning and building permits now issued, the project may proceed as a four-unit attached residential building under the approved plans. The development will replace the existing condition on the lot with a new multi-family structure defined by its cellar level, roof deck, roof access structure, and rear open area.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
The four and a half foot wide sidewalk furnishing zone could accommodate a majestic sycamore, oak, or maple. If a tree were planted, it would be only the third on 5100 block of W. Girard.
Across the street is a wide lawn outside Cathedral Cemetery’s fence that could hold several trees. Because of overhead utility wires, the trees would need to be small, such as a serviceberry, dogwood, cherry, or ironwood.
A Girard Avenue lined with shade trees would have economic, ecologic, social, and health benefits.
I LOVE the idea of advocating for the planting of trees. As a New Yorker I’m used to seeing trees in front of houses, and have noticed the dearth of them in the Philly landscape. I wonder why that is?
Because the City either doesn’t require them or doesn’t follow up if trees are on the plan. In other words, the City doesn’t care.