An artist’s rendering of the building project at 43rd and Sansom. This is an early rendering and thanks to some pressure from the Spruce Hill Community Association, the building will include some brick facade, windows on the west-facing wall and more landscaping.
Construction of a 4-story, 31-unit apartment building (artist’s rendering above) on the southeast corner of 43rd and Sansom could begin as early as this spring.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the project earlier this month. The building will occupy 121-133 S. 43rd St., which is now a vacant lot near the Bravo Advanced Care Center on the 4300 block of Walnut Street. The Spruce Hill Community Association signed off on the project in February.
The project will include 31 off-street parking spots and 11 bicycle “parking spaces.” Two commercial spaces will also be located in the building ground floor. Most of the 31 apartments are between 600 and 750 square feet.
March 25th, 2013 at 2:57 pm
Interesting that they’re proposing to put a blank wall along 43rd Street. Even though it faces the grocery store parking lot, a blank wall along a street is a poor idea.
March 25th, 2013 at 3:02 pm
With the 43rd and Baltimore project that makes 123 new apartments to be added in the Penn Alexander catchment.
Hard to see how the present catchment boundaries would be sustainable under those circumstances.
March 25th, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Actually Ryan, an unpublicized rental stipulation will be that only people with non-reversable sterilization surgery will be allowed to move into either proposed apartment building.
March 25th, 2013 at 3:37 pm
What a stunningly ugly building. Oh well.
March 25th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
Are the 1970’s back? I think I saw that building in the opening credits of the Bob Newhart Show. (The first one.)
March 25th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
ick
March 25th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
That seriously is hideous and doesn’t fit in with the neighborhood aesthetic at all. I’m hoping this isn’t the final design.
March 25th, 2013 at 5:28 pm
The attached image looks like the first or one of the first designs the developers proposed. The updated design shows ground floor commercial and windows on the west side of the building and incorporation of brick in some form. The zoning committee went several rounds on this for improvements.
March 25th, 2013 at 9:42 pm
They wont even have apartments. Just mailboxes for more PSA catchment scammers. Rent is cheaper than private school.
March 25th, 2013 at 9:51 pm
Thanks for that Andy. The newer image isn’t in the ZBA file. The Spruce Hill Community Associations zoning committee recommendations aren’t either. We will update when possible. – Mike
March 26th, 2013 at 1:50 pm
Definitely the ugliest thing Philly’s built in a while.
March 26th, 2013 at 4:58 pm
Maybe with the right trees it wouldn’t look so bland . And if you must have a blank wall why not offer it to the the mural arts group . Some benches might be nice .
March 26th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Jesus, I live just up the block from here and I haven’t heard a thing about these zoning meanings. Happy to see apartments but otherwise this is very ugly and absolutely overloaded with parking.
March 27th, 2013 at 12:41 am
It’s possible that there won’t be an impact from this building or the 43rd and Baltimore building on the school over crowding situation.
It’s not like at present every vacant apartment in the catchment is snapped up by a family with school aged kids, afterall, so the number of available apartments is not the factor limiting applicants to the school. There are only so many families out there who are interested in the school and are in a position to time their move into the catchment to get their oldest child into kindergarten, and these families already have plenty of catchment apartments in all price ranges to choose from. I don’t see how more availiable apartments is going to create more of these families.
It looks like these apartments are going to be tiny, so it’s not like lots of families are who don’t care one way or the other about the school are going to be attracted to the catchment by these building’s charm and family friendliness. I suspect that any family of four who crams itself into one of these apartments is doing it strategically for the sake of the school, and again, these families have plenty of options already without these buildings.
The only way these buildings would attract more Penn Alexander seeking families is if the increased supply lowered the rents of apartments, making it more affordable to move here (and/or rent a dummy mailbox as Happy Curmudgeon suggests). But I really wonder how much of a premium renters are paying now to live in the catchment. I know several families who rent in the catchment despite having no interest in the school, which suggests to me that the premium can’t be that big. If it’s not that big to begin with, more apartments can’t do much to lower it. I doubt these two extra buildings are going to move the overall West Philly rental market, so if they don’t move the base rate and there never was much of a premium to be moved, it seems like the overall rent should stay the same, not become more affordable.
I’m not 100% sure about the above reasoning, of course, but I just wanted to throw another possible point of view out there.
March 27th, 2013 at 11:32 am
What an ugly, cheap POS! That developer ought to be slapped around. It looks like even the architect and artist didn’t even bother trying. JFC.
March 27th, 2013 at 11:37 am
What about parking? 6 spaces for 92 units? Ridiculous!
March 27th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
Tim
I agree, but you meant your comment for the 43rd and Baltimore project. This one has 31 spots for 31 units.
March 27th, 2013 at 11:17 pm
That rendering is not the final one. The design approved by the Zoning Board includes retail and different exterior materials. I was at the Zoning meeting and spoke to the architect, then I wrote an article about it on my blog. There aren’t any public renderings yet, but that rendering is not correct anymore.
http://philadelphiaheights.wordpress.com/2013/03/20/new-31-unit-apartment-building-at-43rd-and-sansom-streets-adds-to-walnut-hill-neighborhood-renewal/
April 3rd, 2013 at 2:55 pm
This four-story building is 31 units; the one proposed for 43rd and Baltimore is for 92 units — it probably won’t be three times as large as this one, but it will have to be significantly larger. I can’t wrap my head around what that will look like, especially in relation to the existing neighborhood architecture.