The one-story building on the southeast corner of 46th and Spruce, the former Transition to Independent Living Center, will be demolished soon, six years after it was gutted by a fire. A permit for the demolition of the building was issued on July 19, 2017.
The proposal for construction of a mixed-use apartment building in that location was approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in June 2016. The developers presented their plan to build a 21-unit, mostly two-bedroom apartment building at 4534-36 Spruce St. in a series of public meetings with the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee in early 2016. According to the proposal, which was approved by the ZBA, it will be a four-story building, with a roof deck and three ground-floor retail spaces. You can see the building rendering in this photo:
August 7th, 2017 at 3:11 pm
That’s a shame. They renovated it, put in new windows and painted it too. What happened? We really don’t need anymore luxury apartments in this neighborhood.
August 7th, 2017 at 3:12 pm
Nice of them to replace an ugly building with a bigger, uglier one.
August 7th, 2017 at 3:17 pm
Is there any timeline for demo/build that has been provided by the developer? Also, here is the link to the renderings from MSC – http://www.mscretail.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/4536-Spruce-Street-Brochure_sm-3.pdf
August 7th, 2017 at 3:42 pm
I’m all for increasing density of the available units include not just “affordable housing” units but ALSO low-income units. Any word on the proposed rent levels?
August 7th, 2017 at 7:28 pm
I live across the street i can not imagine the noise and construction traffic this is going to cause now… uuughhh
August 8th, 2017 at 2:11 pm
What a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of the rich cultural diversity and architectural history of the Spruce Hill neighborhood. I am curious would this include higher income living units perhaps to entice the more *established* of our Philly neighbors to settle in this tree lined neighborhood. Mockups please, when they become available. I would love to run my eyes over a few. (Obviously, not my first time)
August 10th, 2017 at 9:55 am
What an eyesore!! More housing for college kids who have no desire to stay here once they graduate!!
August 12th, 2017 at 11:12 am
Woman lives in University City. Complains about college students.
August 12th, 2017 at 9:56 pm
How do they get away with putting in housing without putting in PARKING for them. That’s just mean! (to the renters and to the rest of the ‘hood)
August 12th, 2017 at 10:06 pm
Not mean at all- it will entice renters that do not own cars to live there. The rate of car ownership goes down each year, and this building is on a major bus route. Having parking would have increased the price of the units, making them less accessible to people looking to join our neighborhood.
August 30th, 2017 at 9:04 pm
To Jennifer’s point, they didn’t “renovate” the burnt out building. They were getting citations from L&I for having a blighted building, for which having functional (rather than boarded up) windows) was one of the measures. Putting in cheap windows and painting was their attempt to sit on the (still obviously blighted building, still burned out on the inside) without getting more citations.
I’m glad to see this development, happening, and glad they aren’t including parking. None of its neighbors have parking, including the apartment buildings on the other three corners of that intersection. Parking just isn’t part of the character of our neighborhood, and if near neighbors want better street parking, they should start by petitioning for permit parking on Spruce Street and 46th below Spruce, both of which are currently unpermitted and therefore full of random abandoned cars.