It was standing room only last night at the Community Education Center as residents and business owners discussed the future of the 3600 block of Lancaster Avenue, one of the signature blocks in the Powelton Village neighborhood (photo by West Philly Local).
Residents and business owners met in the Powelton Village neighborhood last night and vowed to take a stand against the possible demolition of the 3600 block of Lancaster Ave., a historic commercial block that stands in the shadows of glassy high rises encroaching on the neighborhood.
Known as the Lancaster Mews and built in the 1870s, the block of ground floor commercial and upstairs apartments on the south side of Lancaster Ave. is the latest neighborhood symbol of angst over rapidly increasing development in the neighborhood. The Powelton Village Civic Association (PVCA) has tried to stave off the rumored demolition of the block by having it added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.
The PVCA filed the application after it became known that AP Construction, which owns the block, reportedly began interviewing demolition firms.
“The threat of demolition was imminent,” Powelton Village Civic Association zoning chair George Poulin told the standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people gathered at the Community Education Center last night. “We feel really really threatened by what we are seeing in the neighborhood.”
AP Construction officials were not available to comment.
Looking west from the southeast corner of 36th and Lancaster at the “Lancaster Mews” the commercial and residential strip along the 3600 block of Lancaster that dates back to the 1870s and that appears slated for redevelopment (Photo by West Philly Local).
The application for preservation lines up a set of hurdles that developers are required to navigate before renovations or demolition. But if the developer can prove that the present state of the buildings presents a financial hardship, demolition could still go ahead.
Powelton Village, along with the nearby neighborhoods of West Powelton and Mantua, are under siege by developers looking to capitalize on the expansion of nearby Drexel University. Powelton Village currently has a home ownership rate of about 12 percent, which has steadily dropped from nearly 20 percent in the 1990s. Development of student housing has increased markedly in the neighborhoods in recent years, including Drexel’s construction of a 24-floor residence hall at 34th and Lancaster.
“The developers are moving in just as fast as their little legs will carry them,” said Mary Norris, who lives on the 3600 block of Hamilton. “Every tiny thing between two buildings is being built on.”
The Lancaster Mews property is zoned CMX-2, meaning that the owners could tear down the existing buildings and erect housing without community oversight as long as no variances – for things like taller buildings – are required. That lack of oversight – what is called building “by right” – is what worries many in the neighborhood.
“We’re watching people put holes in the ground and we just have to wait to see what comes out,” said Mike Jones, a former president of the PVCA.
Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell told those gathered at last night’s meeting that she would arrange a public discussion with representatives of AP Construction, which has developed several properties around the city.
Several residents and business owners stressed that they were not against development. But they want to be part of the process.
“There’s too much history in this neighborhood for this to happen,” said George Steven, president of the Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business Association.
As for the 3600 block of Lancaster Avenue, the next step is a hearing on June 9 at 9:30 a.m. with the city’s Historical Commission on adding the block to the historic registry, which would funnel all building and demolition permits through the commission for review.
– Mike Lyons
May 22nd, 2015 at 10:57 am
So sad but hey Ms. Blackwell will help out those citizens I mean she really cares for the community and wants only the best for the long time residents RIGHT?
May 24th, 2015 at 6:49 pm
The issue at stake here is how to preserve the required community interaction and development that serves Powelton Village and Mantua citizenry and not have the institutional objectives of serving the students as a determinant of what new development is important to foster and maintain stability and growth for this important major link between the neighborhoods and the campuses.
May 27th, 2015 at 10:56 am
One issue is that these developers get 1/2 of their development costs back in rebate from the state the other issue is that new buildings get a 10 year tax abatement. If these two corporate welfare bail outs were eliminated it would stop the excessive demolition of historic areas and end the construction of these horrible erector sets.
May 27th, 2015 at 11:42 pm
The tax abatement is available for rehabs. Private homeowners doing renovations can even apply and receive the abatement though that’s not widely known.
I suspect this is more about the developer cramming as many by-right apartments into the lot as possible.
May 28th, 2015 at 11:52 am
If we could get in front of the developers, we could offer them to build higher than what the by-right allows and in exchange for the extra height they would preserve the facade, and set back the building as it rises above, say, 15 feet or so. The facade could be propped up during construction and then finally attached to the new structure when the time comes. Building higher and generating the extra revenue would offset the additional costs of preserving the facade.
May 28th, 2015 at 12:52 pm
That would allow a other developers to then build higher. There are so many empty apartments and houses already existing in west philly ucity mantua I for one am hard set against this mass development of sub standard McApartments that will fall apart in ten years. These carpetbaggers and quality of life vampires do not live here and do not give an iota of concern for the city. It’s all about the mighty dollar. When our own council person Jannie Blackwell has abandoned us to these vultures it is absolutely up to the citizens to protect and preserve what little beauty we have left.
I for one am exigent and steadfast in pushing these guys back to their suburbs. In ten years these buildings will be empty. The universities are planning on having students to fill these spaces but in reality enrollment into universities has dropped and will continue to do so as more and more people are having less and less children. This plan and others like it are short sighted and will cause fiscal hardship in the city when the developers defunct and derelict their properties to get the write offs. It is statistically proven that these developments will in the future be nothing but another reason why Philadelphia is in the shitter