Developers pitch a proposal for an apartment building at 4045 Baltimore to the Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee on Thursday evening (Photo by West Philly Local)
The owners of a parking lot on the 4000 block of Baltimore are proposing a five-story, 55-unit apartment building.
New Horizons Housing, which owns the lot at 4045 Baltimore Ave. (see Google Street View image below) and an adjacent apartment building, brought the proposal before the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee last night for feedback. A formal zoning request has not yet been made.
An apartment building once stood on the lot, but burned down in the mid 1980s. The proposed building would include mostly 450-square-foot, one-bedroom units and a few studios.
Under one version of the proposal, the plan includes a small 900-square-foot retail space. Concerns included the proposed building’s height. At 71 feet, it would be about 15 feet higher than a nearby apartment building (owned by the same developers) and would be the tallest structure in the immediate area.
The parking lot is seldom used by renters in the adjacent apartment building, according to the proposal.
The zoning committee will provide feedback to the developers, and a formal request is expected soon.
– Mike Lyons
October 14th, 2016 at 3:11 pm
great use for an underused parking lot. plus you get a bonus out of a small retail space. stamp it approved and move on.
cant wait for folks to complain about this one.
October 14th, 2016 at 3:22 pm
Is the new building slated to have any parking? Would like to at least see them maintain or expand the car share that is available at that lot.
October 14th, 2016 at 6:20 pm
I was at the meeting. The scheme with the retail space would have 20 parking spaces, which is plenty for both buildings. Some would probably go to zipcar, and there will be storage for bicycles for the residents. There was another scheme that had more parking but had two instead of one curb cut so would eliminate a spot on the street.
I agree, this is a great use of the space and we can use more commerce on Baltimore, like maybe the bakery that’s going to get nixed on Spruce! The architect is going back to the drawing board to minimize the vertical elements on the facades.
October 19th, 2016 at 4:40 pm
450-square-foot, one-bedroom units??? Those would be micro-units. Sounds like we’re moving towards NYC-sized units.
October 20th, 2016 at 11:45 am
There are plenty of units in the area that fit those exact specs. I lived on Woodland Terrace in the ’90s and several of the houses on that street had studio apartments no bigger than 450. You have to remember that due to the proximity of the university and hospitals, you’ll find a lot of folks looking for a place to merely rest their heads while working 18+ hours a day.
October 20th, 2016 at 9:08 pm
I’d love to see an affordable building for seniors (62+) and vets on fixed incomes. Most of the Section 202 (senior) affordable 1 bedroom units are between 450 and 500 sq. ft. And those have the needed wider doorways (buildings have to be ADA-compliant for wheelchairs and walkers). I’d be quite happy staying in the neighborhood with a 450 sq. ft. affordable apt myself.
October 21st, 2016 at 9:54 am
wen – you should talk to the residents around 46th and spruce who complained and complained until the developer abandoned their plans for 24-unit affordable building, geared towards vets. instead we still have a vacant eyesore and a bunch of NIMDY idiots flexing their muscles…
October 26th, 2016 at 9:25 pm
bw – if I remember correctly the veteran housing at 46th and Spruce fell through because they needed a grant from the state to make it “affordable” and they didn’t get the grant so they dropped it like a hot potato.
October 27th, 2016 at 10:16 am
chicken and egg thing re: the state grant. state grant requires site plan approval/community support and ability to proceed upon issuance of the grant. residents couldn’t stop whining so the developer was forced to cut bait
October 27th, 2016 at 5:00 pm
ONE neighbor swore to fight zoning. Mission First has an excellent record of building and maintaining housing for vets/independently living disabled/seniors. They turned themselves inside out to accommodate everyone. But the zoning hearings kept being pushed back. That, along with the neighbor saying flat-out that they’d fight the zoning, meant that they could not get funding. No zoning, no funding. So we have that empty building still sitting there. It could have been close to being finished and providing needed safe, affordable housing for people who already live in the neighborhood. Now? the latest I heard on that building was it was sold and the new owner wanted to build “high end” student housing with a roof deck. Hope the disgrunted neighbor enjoys blasting music, beer cans and bottles and noise in general if that goes through.