West Catholic High parking lot at 46th and Chestnut.
West Catholic High School has been bitten by the development bug.
Located at 45th and Chestnut, about a block from an El stop, the school sits on property most developers would love to get their hands on. A small group representing the school asked the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee last night to rezone the school’s parking lot at the corner of 46th Street and Chestnut to make it enticing to developers and clearing the way for a large, potentially seven-story apartment building. The revenue from a possible development deal would fund the school’s refurbishment and provide a scholarship endowment.
“Our struggle is how we sustain the school,” said Tony Nichols, a West Catholic alum and the Chairman Emeritus of the development firm Brandywine Trust. “The funding is to sustain West Catholic and guarantee its future.”
But the proposal puts the SHCA zoning committee in a difficult situation. If they approve the zoning change (to CMX-3), they are essentially opening the door for a developer to build a project “by right.” If, as the West Catholic group suggests, the developer wants to build a seven-story apartment building, they would never have to come back for zoning approval.
The land is worth far less if it remains CMX-2, which would limit height to 38 feet and include other restrictions.
The current West Catholic building (now officially called West Catholic Preparatory High School) serves about 500 students, about a sixth of the students who went there in the 1960s and 70s. A majority of the school’s alumni go on to higher education.
October 23rd, 2019 at 5:55 pm
American Dream: “And all those poor cars are going to have to find new places to live because in this unjust land certain poor cars are at the whims of greedy developers. Luckily these cars are forming groups do work against the greedy parking lot owners. This area should remain poor forever with no money going to the schools and children of humans!”
October 23rd, 2019 at 6:19 pm
I would hate to be a tenant of a (greedy) landlord even remotely like goldenmonkey! I feel sympathy for anyone who lives in such properties!
October 24th, 2019 at 10:16 am
But what about those cars!? Where will they find a home?! They’ve been parking there for years! Even though they don’t own the property, I’m sure there’s some pretzel logic you and your fictional anti-developer friends can create to help these poor cars.
October 24th, 2019 at 12:34 pm
Do you want to turn this place into another Manhattan?
I don’t, and I think most people around here agree.
October 24th, 2019 at 2:27 pm
philly will never be manhattan so that’s a horrible argument. a 7-story building one block from the El is exactly what new development should look like. if not taller. leveraging existing public transit is a huge win for urbanism
October 24th, 2019 at 2:48 pm
Yeah, but this shrill reactionary voice obsessed with invalidating people’s concern about parking so that big development can be supported, is really ridiculous.
Only a greedy developer would care about jamming in more people without concern for anything else- because they stand to profit greatly from the new regime.