Excavation is underway for a multi-family building at 1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue in Point Breeze, South Philadelphia. Designed by JKRP Architects, the building will rise four stories tall and will house 69 residential units. The ground floor will hold a mail room, lobby, and bike storage space. In total the structure will contain 51,410 square feet of space. There will be no parking space incorporated with the project.
1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue. Rendering credit: JKRP Architects via the Civic Design Review
The new building will feature a modern exterior that will show nicely upon completion. Along Point Breeze Avenue, the three bottom floors will be covered almost entirely in brick, save for a few abutting dark gray metal accents. Like many new buildings throughout the city, however, the top floor will take on a different style. Light gray siding will be situated here, with more of the dark gray accents. This light gray sliding will also be situated on other non prominent faces of the building, and will help lower construction costs.
1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects via the Civic Design Review
The new building is replacing a vacant lot, perhaps one of the largest. In the neighborhood. The property covers a significant portion of the block, and its frontage along Point Breeze Avenue makes its presence all the more confusing.
1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue. Credit: Colin LeStourgeon.
Luckily, this site is on the outs, with digging equipment now on site and actively working. Work has started fairly recently, so not too much progress has been made, but the indentation that the structure will soon fill is starting to become visible.
1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue. Credit: Colin LeStourgeon.
YIMBY’s Previous update on the project occurred back in February, and reported that the lot still sat idle and no progress had been made towards the project yet. This, of course, has now changed, and the sudden movement forward on the project is exciting, and it will be entertaining to see more progress made in the future.
Overall, the development serves as an emblem for the potential along Point Breeze Avenue. With more proper zoning, dense development of this size could be constructed by right, rather than needing variances such as this one (mixed-income bonus). Additionally, it would be easier to include retail space on the ground floor, to jumpstart the revival of Point Breeze Avenue and transform it into the magnificent commercial corridor it is destined to be. More height would also be more feasible, which would allow for more density, and therefore more growth among the commercial operators.
1622-40 Point Breeze Avenue. Credit: JKRP Architects
The development is anticipated to reach completion in January 2024.
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