1541 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.

As Philadelphia’s ongoing renaissance is generating new growth throughout centrally located neighborhoods, the development boom is spreading to adjacent communities that have long been neglected by real estate developers. A prime example of this phenomenon may be found at the 2100 block of Cross Street in the Point Breeze neighborhood in South Philadelphia. In the past few years, the narrow and seemingly nondescript street, with a roadway measuring just around 14 feet wide, has seen a major influx of new development, both in the form of ground-up construction and vertical additions to existing buildings. YIMBY’s recent site visit has revealed that, over the course of the past year or so, construction has been completed at a back-to-back series of structures spanning from 2141 through 2153 Cross Street, undertaken by two different sets of developers and contractors. The buildings offer a total of eight residential units as well as retail space.