Construction work is underway on a 42-unit multi-family development at 1408-18 East Oxford Street in Fishtown, Kensington. Designed by Ambit Architecture, the building will rise four stories tall and will include a garage with 34 parking spaces. The buildings which will hold 42,211 square feet of space and cost an estimated $5.25 million to build.
Philadelphia has had certain key years when skyscraper construction saw a notable surge, when many developments were underway at the same time. For instance, much of the current Center City skyline took form in and just after 1987. Another key year for construction took place in 2017, when various high-rise projects spanned multiple neighborhoods. Most of these developments stood under 500 feet, with some barely noticeable from afar, yet others added significant bulk to the skyline. The tallest skyscraper under construction was the Comcast Technology Center, the city’s first supertall tower and still the city’s tallest building. In this publication Philadelphia YIMBY looks back to when this collection of developments was underway four years ago.
Permits have been issued for the construction of two side-by-side multi-family structures located at 2413 and 2415 North 7th Street in North Philadelphia East. Upon completion, each building will rise three stories tall, with a roof deck accessed via a pilot house. Five residential units will be located in each building, for a combined total of ten. Each building will hold 4,464 square feet of space, and cost $250,000 to build.
Exterior work is nearing completion at 1868 Frankford Avenue, a five-story, 21-unit mixed-use development rising in Fishtown, Kensington. The new building will feature an approximately 5,500-square-foot retail space on the ground floor, with residential space will be situated above. The project is proceeding as-of-right due to the planned fresh food market on the ground floor, which allows for a height and density bonus.
During Philadelphia’s period of rapid growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, much of the development in the city’s outer neighborhoods and in the suburbs was driven by the city’s expansive regional rail network. Today the trend is seeing a revival as a number of large developments are currently in progress near various regional rail station across the city and the metropolitan area. One among these is Station Square, a five-story, 49-unit mixed-use development underway at 308-16 West Chelten Avenue in Germantown, Northwest Philadelphia. The site sits across the street from the Chelten Avenue Station of the SEPTA Regional Rail. On July 21, 2021, developers Zatos Investments and R+M Development, as well as contractor Tester Construction Group LLC, celebrated the groundbreaking of the building, officially marking the start of construction.
