The property at 4301-4303 Baltimore from an archive photo taken in 1912, when a butcher shop was located where Clarkville is now. Crews work to install the trolley tracks on Baltimore Avenue. (City of Philadelphia, Department of Records).

The days of cheap slices and cold 40s at the corner of 43rd and Baltimore are long gone. At the Spruce Hill zoning committee meeting last night, the owners of 4303 Baltimore Avenue (the row home adjacent to Clarkville and across from Clark Park) threw out a couple of names of restaurants interested in moving into the first floor restaurant space they have proposed.

They include:

• Koreana – A Korean street food place with a current location at 3801 Chestnut St..
• Ant’s Pants – Café/brunch. Current location at 2212 South St.
• Southeast Bistro – Southeast Asian meets Cajun. Current location near 19th and South.
• House – A more traditional lunch/brunch place in Media.
• Same Same – A Vietnamese street food restaurant with a location in Northern Liberties. 

The owners, who also own the adjacent property where Clarkville is located and include neighborhood resident Tom Lussenhop, need a variance from the city to open the restaurant in the run-down rowhome. At 1,100 square feet, the commercial space would be small, be mostly take-out with no table service and no liquor license.

“By its design it’s not a place that’s going to be open until 2 in the morning,” said Lussenhop, adding that the café Ant’s Pants is “kind of a prototype for us.”

A closer look from the photo above at the two decks proposed to be rebuilt.

The proposal also includes two upscale apartments on the building’s second and third floors. The owners are also seeking variances to reconstruct two decks, which were part of the original design of the building.

Nearby residents have voiced concerns that the proposal may signal commercial creep up the residential block.

But long-time resident Ed Halligan, who lives a couple of doors away on Baltimore Avenue, welcomes the plan.

“4303 has been an eyesore and a nuisance since I’ve been living there,” he said. “This will be a good thing.”

4301-4303 Baltimore as they look now (Google Street View).