Facade Rises at Ovation aka Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street in Hawthorne, South Philadelphia

A recent site visit by Philly YIMBY has discovered notable construction visit at Broad Street Flats, a seven-story mixed-use development rising at 701 South Broad Street in Hawthorne, South Philadelphia, since our last visit in April. Furthermore, a recent zoning submission indicates that the project’s name has been updated to Ovation, though the Broad Street Flats moniker also appears retained, at least for the time being. Designed by PZS Architects, the building will span 50,462 square feet (or 49,950 according to zoning blueprints) and feature commercial space and 50 residential units. Permits list Ferraro Construction Group as the contractor and a construction cost of $8 million.

Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. August 2022

Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. August 2022

Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. August 2022

Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. August 2022

Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. August 2022

When YIMBY stopped by the site in April, we found that the steel-framed lower two floors were still largely exposed to the elements, while exterior assembly was underway on the wood-framed upper floors.

Four months later, we find significant construction progress on the lower floors, which have been sheathed in a curtain wall and received windows and brick exterior, which now rises up to four stories high in at least one location. In the meantime, the upper floors have received additional layers of exterior wrap and appear well on their way to receiving final exterior cladding.

As the project moves closer to completion, it becomes easier to compare the structure to the renderings as the structure starts to take on its final shape. So far, the development seems to follow the renderings rather closely, although the lower-level brick appears darker than what was shown on renders.

A highly encouraging development is the appearance of cantilevered awnings at the top level, which means that the building’s signature crown element has not been valued-engineered out of this design. As such, we may also expect to see other fanciful elements to make an appearance, such as the rooftop pergola shown on renderings.

Ovation aka Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Zoning submission for building signage. Credit: PZS Architects and Forman Signs via the City of Philadelphia

Ovation aka Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Zoning submission for building signage. Credit: PZS Architects and Forman Signs via the City of Philadelphia

Ovation aka Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Zoning submission for building signage. Credit: PZS Architects and Forman Signs via the City of Philadelphia

Ovation aka Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Zoning submission for building signage. Credit: PZS Architects and Forman Signs via the City of Philadelphia

Another notable change took place regarding the building’s apparent name. Last month, a zoning permit has been issued for a sign to be mounted at the ground floor at the intersection of Broad and Bainbridge streets at the building’s northwest corner. Designed by Forman Signs, the vertical sign will consist of large, 13-inch-high backlit letters spelling “Ovation” in an avant-garde font, with smaller, four-and-a-half-inch-high non-backlit letters spelling the building’s address. The sign appears at the same location as where the Broad Street Flats sign was shown in original renderings.

At this point, the project name still remains somewhat ambiguous. Certain real estate listings continue to call the development Broad Street Flats, although a delay for in-progress projects on incomplete listings is understandable. More to the point, although the zoning submission for the sign clearly shows that only “Ovation” will be displayed on the actual building, the submitted blueprints refer to the development as “Ovation Project at Broad St. Flats”

Ovation aka Broad Street Flats at 701 South Broad Street. Zoning submission for building signage. Credit: PZS Architects and Forman Signs via the City of Philadelphia

On our end, we are satisfied with the name upgrade to Ovation, as it is snappier and less inert and generic than Broad Street Flats.

Ovation promises to be a fantastic addition to South Broad Street, where ground-level retail will enliven the sidewalk experience at one of the city’s primary thoroughfares while a novel design will jazz up the appearance of the streetscape. Still, while the addition of 50 residential units is significant, the centrally-located site, situated a block sough of the Lombard-South Station on the Broad Street Line, ought to have housed a much larger (potentially much taller) building with many more residential units.

Much as we appreciate the Ovation project, we hope future development along South Broad Street will be closer in scale and density to Broad and Lombard, a 43-story tower proposal that has been recently unveiled at 500 South Broad Street just a few blocks to the north.

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