Renderings have been revealed for a five-story, 51-unit multi-family development located at 800-30 Vine Street in Chinatown, Center City. Designed by WRT Design and developed by Pennrose, the development will feature units designated as affordable housing for senior citizens and will include parking for 11 cars.
800-30 Vine Street. Credit: WRT Design.
The new building will have a modern exterior that makes use of economic materials that have been used on other similar affordable housing projects throughout the city in the past. The ground floor will include brick that matches the surrounding neighborhood styles, and makes for a more pleasant street presence. The upper floors, will be predominantly clad in white metal paneling, making for a somewhat dull look, although brightly colored paneling accents can be found near windows and vertical rows rising up to the top of the structure.
800-30 Vine Street. Credit: WRT Design.
A curb cut will be created on the sidewalk to serve the parking space included with the project, which is unfortunately situated on the surface. While a small outdoor amenity area will create a nice space for building residents, the adjacent surface parking is unfortunate. The reason for the building’s unusual triangular shape and surface parking on a large portion of the site is due to the underground SEPTA tracks along the ridge spur, which has a stop farther south on the block.
800-30 Vine Street. Credit: Google.
Currently, the site at hand is entirely covered with surface parking space, as is the vast majority of the rest of the block. Development proposals have come and gone on this block, which persists in its auto-oriented state likely in part due to the tracks beneath the block, which impact building footprint and usable space along the block. Nevertheless, seeing this prime location handed near entirely to parking space just a block from Franklin Square and a variety of businesses is very disappointing.
800-30 Vine Street. Credit: WRT Design.
The new development will have a rather mixed impact once completed. The addition of 51 affordable residential units in this location is an obvious improvement over the existing parking lot and is fantastic for the neighborhood. However, the scale of the development seems somewhat small, as the site could likely support a much larger building with even more residential space that would further benefit the area. While the surface parking lot included with the project makes sense given the property’s considerations, it is still disappointing land use, especially given the presence of a subway station on that very block, and the walkable nature of the surrounding environment.
800-30 Vine Street. Credit: WRT Design.
Lastly, the design could certainly use a bit of further refinement. It is important to use more affordable building materials to have more affordable resents within new developments, but this usage of teal paneling may not age well.
800-30 Vine Street. Credit: WRT Design.
No completion date is known for the project at this time, tough YIMBY will continue to monitor progress moving forward.
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UGLY UGLY UGLY
Looks like Sixers will not get that site as a alternative site if they cannot build where they want to build. The subway line has precluded anything to be built.
If the Sixers can’t build on either site, more likely it will be 8th and Market and the Sixers will take both the city and Chinese to court if they still object.
I thought the Chinese loved basketball. I’m surprised they don’t want it.
WRONG !
“the Sixers will take both the city and Chinese to court if they still object”
Gross
When will housing like this be available in Society Hill or Rittenhouse? This is ugly and cheap construction. Another eyesore that will not be maintained.
I am not for the 76ers location in Chinatown. This new housing is not very beautiful, perhaps purposely so to discourage non-Chinese from resettleing in the area too quickly by building much more appealing but higher rent housing that might attract outsiders.The Chinese will settle for something not so ostentatious to help preserve their community and sacrifice, in this case, beauty.
It’s not the prettiest building, but look at the area it’s going in. The most forward design in Chinatown is the slim apartment building on the SE corner of 12 and Vine. But, the positive here is the removal of a surface lot. That corner is gross now.