South 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.

Permits have been issued for the construction of a six-story, 200-unit mixed-use development at 1625-35 North 5th Street in Olde Kensington. The new structure will rise from a vacant trapezoidal lot situated on the east side of the block between West Oxford Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue. Designed by HDO Architecture, the structure will span 133,326 square feet, which, in addition to the abovementioned 200 apartments, will include several thousand square feet of commercial space, over 1,000 square feet of miscellaneous assembly space, artist studios, and parking. Permits list Urban Renewal Builders as the contractor and specify a construction cost of $20.1 million, of which $300,000 is allocated toward excavation.