A recent site visit by Philly YIMBY has shown that construction has still not started in earnest at a four-story, 67-unit multi-family development at 1015 South 3rd Street in Queen Village, South Philadelphia, although construction equipment is present at the site. The development will rise on the east side of the block between Washington Avenue and Carpenter Street. Designed by HDO Architecture, the building will feature elevator service and a green roof.
The structure will rise 45 feet high to the top of the main roof, 49 feet to the top of the parapet, and 55 feet to the top of the bulkhead. This height, which extends seven feet above the local 38-foot limit, was made possible via a low income housing bonus. This bonus comes on top of a green roof density bonus. The number of residential units garnered via the two bonuses may be summarized as follows: via the green roof bonus, the originally permitted 36 units were multiplied by 1.25 to yield nine additional, adding up to 45 apartments; next, the low income bonus multiplied the 45 units by 50 percent, yielding an extra 22.5 units (which were somehow rounded down to 22, against conventional mathematics that would dictate a rounding-up to 23) and bringing the total to 67 dwellings.
Although Philadelphia’s zoning regulations are unduly restrictive to a point where they hold back construction of much-needed housing stock in centrally-located areas, particularly outside of historic areas, 1015 South 3rd Street is an effective example of a developer utilizing several available measures that both benefit the property and the neighborhood while maximizing their property’s potential by significantly boosting its apartment count (67 units make for a whopping 86-percent increase over the originally permitted 36 units).
The Love Kingdom church at 1015 South 3rd Street, prior to demolition. September 2018. Credit: Google Street View
The new building will replace the Postmodern-style Love Kingdom church that was demolished some time around 2018-2019.
1015 South 3rd Street will boast an attractive, sophisticated design with a zig-zag facade clad in red brick and dark panels, made more interesting via loggia balconies. We look forward to seeing how the design shapes up in the future, as no above-ground construction is evident at the location at the moment; the below photos show the rear portion of the construction site, as seen across the vacant lot at 1028 East Moyamensing Avenue, where a hipped-roofed, tower-like utility structure was recently demolished.
Rendering of 1015 South 3rd Street. Credit: HDO Architecture
Rendering of 1015 South 3rd Street. Credit: HDO Architecture
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. October 2022
1015 South 3rd Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. October 2022
We look forward to further progress on the development.
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Could be Councilmantic privilege at work in holding up construction.
The Undemocratic Privilege
Imagine paying all that $$ with a prime view of public housing on both sides! Philly always out-Philly-ies itself!
We really need dense, mixed income public housing. That public housing is a pathetic use of valuable land. I see no reason why you couldn’t have the same number of govt assisted housing units in that area with 3x that number in market-rate units. Toss in some retail, eliminate some asphalt and the city could be generating exponentially more property tax and wage tax revenue from that parcel while still housing the same number govt assisted tenants.
Some of these images are not 1015 south 3rd st, which does not sit at the corner with Washington Ave.