Lehigh 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.

University City, the central hub of West Philadelphia, is teeming with new under-construction developments. Of these, one of the most significant is the 361-foot-tall, 28-story mixed-use tower currently rising at 3025 John F. Kennedy Boulevard. Designed by the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism and developed by Brandywine Realty Trust, the building will span a total of 559,583 square feet of interior space, combining commercial space on the lower floors with 326 residential floors situated above. Today YIMBY looks at imagery of the development’s proposed amenity space, both indoor and outdoor.