6044 Chestnut Avenue

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 is making steady progress at Matson Mill, a 280-unit multi-family development at 101 Washington Street in Conshohocken, PA, a town situated two miles to the northwest of the Philadelphia city line. A topping-out ceremony was held on June 29th, when an American flag was hoisted atop one of the gabled pinnacles at the five-story-tall, 426,000-square-foot structure. The project team includes Hord Coplan Macht as the architect; High Street Residential as the developer; IMC Construction as the construction manager; Structura, Inc. as the structural engineer; Bohler Engineering as the civil engineer; and Girard Engineering, PC as the MEP engineer.