50-Unit Development Proposed for 813 North Broad Street in Poplar, North Philadelphia

A zoning permit has been filed for a 50-unit development at 813 North Broad Street in Poplar, North Philadelphia. Alternately addressed as 813-23 North Broad Street, the site is located at the southeast corner of North Broad Street and Parrish Street and will span a 12,449-square-foot footprint with 12 underground parking spades, 30 bicycle spaces, and a roof deck. The permit lists Philadelphia Broad Street as the owner. The permit also calls for the demolition of a gas station that currently occupies the site.

The southernmost section of North Philadelphia, located between Vine Street to the south and Girard Avenue to the north, is home to some of the city’s most celebrated and thriving neighborhoods including Northern Liberties, Callowhill, Franklintown, Spring Garden, and Fairmount. In recent years, the lower North Broad Street corridor, located along the area’s principal thoroughfare, is finally catching up to its counterparts with a slew of recently completed, under-construction, and planned developments.

In 2016, the historic Divine Lorraine Hotel at 699 North Broad Street, completed in 1893, reopened as an apartment building after a long period of abandonment. Two years later, the Metropolitan Opera House at 858 North Broad Street, completed in 1908 and shuttered in 1988, reopened as a performance venue. A number of developments, such as Mural West and 1300 Fairmount Avenue are reviving the centrally located and subway-serviced thoroughfare into a dense, urban corridor. Just last week, Philly YIMBY reported that a 32-unit development has been proposed at 836 North Broad Street, catty-corner from 813 North Broad Street.

North Broad Street, with 813 North Broad Street on the left. Looking south toward Center City, with the Divine Lorraine and City Hall in the center. Credit: Google

North Broad Street, with 813 North Broad Street on the right. Looking north toward Temple University. The Metropolitan Opera House is on the center left. Credit: Google

The blocks surrounding 813 North Broad Street to the north, east, and south remain underbuilt, with a gas station, a warehouse-style auto maintenance facility, and low-rise housing in the immediate vicinity. It is all but certain that these blocks will be developed in the future. Until then, 813 North Broad Street will stand prominently and its roof deck will offer expansive skyline views. The Fairmount Station of the Broad Street SEPTA line, located two blocks to the south, offers a five-minute commute to both Center City to the south and Temple University to the north.

No completion date has been announced, but construction may be finished by 2022 or 2023.

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