Permits have been issued for the construction of a multi-family building at 2401 Harlan Street in Sharswood, North Philadelphia. The new building will rise three stories tall once completed. There will be six residential units within the structure, adding a solid density boost for such a small parcel. In total, the new building will hold 3,884 square feet of space. Construction costs are estimated at $1,133,505, with comes out to under $189,000 per unit.
2401 Harlan Street. Credit: Google.
The building will rise on the corner parcel of a large vacant lot that covers a significant portion of the block. Unfortunately, the reality in the surrounding area is that many blocks still look much like this, with many to almost all of the original structures demolished in the postwar exodus from the area. The result is a neighborhood that sometimes appears to have more unused patches of grass than buildings, but fortunately it seems that this is rapidly changing.
The new building will be a major improvement for the site, as it will be adding six residential units to a location that currently houses none. If all of the other many vacant properties in the surrounding neighborhood were to develop similarly, the population and density of Sharswood would skyrocket and allow it to continue to develop moving forward.
The area continues see a Brewerytown-style change in population, though this does not to be helping to sustaining affordability. The solution, of course, would be to add more residential units, following the simple supply-and-demand way of economics. This may be achieved by performing actions such as upzoning, so that the neighborhood can add new housing units and thrive without the loss of the original residents.
No completion date is known for the project at this time.
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Who is the contractor on this project?
Domus Inc. (215) 849-4444 (from the permits)