1539 South Bambrey Street

Urban development is a delicate balancing act, and sometimes we must say goodbye to cherished local destinations in order to make way for a plan that is ultimately more beneficial to the community and to the city at large. One of such trade-offs is slated to occur at 7619 Germantown Avenue in Mount Airy, Northwest Philadelphia, where the Trolley Car Diner is set to meet the wrecking ball, to be replaced by a six-story, mixed-use residential development designed by Morrissey Design. Although the charming chrome, neon, mural, and freestanding trolley of the diner will be missed, the proposal at hand makes for more effective use of the site, bringing significant residential density within a two0-block walk of the Mount Airy Station of the SEPTA Regional Rail and replacing the auto-centric restaurant with pedestrian-friendly retail.

Construction permits have been issued for the development of a three-story single-family dwelling at 343-45 Shedaker Street in the Wister neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia, near LaSalle University. The new structure will rise from a vacant property situated at the western corner of the intersection of Shedaker and West Sheldon streets. The development, known as Workforce Germantown in zoning documentation, will hold 1,358 square feet of interior space. The project team, which frequently collaborates on similar development, consists of the Civetta Property Group and the Philadelphia Land Bank as the owners, Moto Designshop as the architect, Ruggiero Plante Land Design as the civil engineer, The Ramtin Group as the structural engineer, and Spruce Builders as the contractor.