An artist’s rendering of the planned residential housing on the 4601 Market Street site. Looking east from 48th and Market.

The developers of 4601 Market St. have postponed their community meeting scheduled for today to reportedly discuss adding “deeply affordable” units to what will be one of the largest apartment building project in recent West Philly history.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier last week called on Iron Stone Real Estate Partners to make 20 percent of the planned 1,240 units available to low income renters. Iron Stone included no provisions for affordable units in a proposal submitted to the city ahead of its scheduled March 7 Civic Design Review hearing, which has also been postponed.

“Iron Stone agreed to postpone their community meeting to discuss affordability with the community and the City!,” Gauthier tweeted on Tuesday. “I look forward to working with Iron Stone to keep 20%+ of the homes at 4601 Market deeply affordable.”

Recently passed City Council legislation defines “low income” as 40 percent of the Area Media Income (AMI), or about $37,800 for a family of four. Developers have argued that to meet this level of affordability while maintaining profitability, they would have to increase the rents for market rate apartments, putting them out of reach for many middle income renters.

Iron Stone revealed plans over the summer to build six apartment buildings, including a 19-story tower on the site, which includes the gold-cupolaed Provident building and is adjacent to the 46th Street El stop. The Provident building now houses the Public Health Management Corporation, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia offices, and a charter school. The rest of the site, some 13 acres, is mostly open space.

The property is zoned CMX-3, a mixed-use designation that means the residential buildings will likely be constructed “by right” with little required community input on things like the inclusion of affordable housing. In a letter to Iron Stone dated Feb. 21, Gauthier says that the sale agreement of the site between the developers and the city requires agreement on housing development.

UPDATE: Iron Stone agreed to postpone their community meeting to discuss affordability with the community and City! I look forward to working with Iron Stone to keep 20%+ of the homes at 4601 Market deeply affordable. 1/2 https://t.co/NCv2MuspL3

— Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (@CouncilmemberJG) February 28, 2023