Penn’s New College House West will be built near 40th and Walnut (Photo by West Philly Local).

It looks like the green space behind the Walnut Street library near 40th and Walnut will not remain open for too much longer. Penn has announced plans to build a new 250,000-square-foot residential building, New College House West, in the space where 40th Street summer concerts are held. The design for the building was approved last week. The University of Pennsylvania Board of Trustees approved the design of the building last week.

View of the New College House West from 40th St and Locust Walk (rendering image by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects)

The new undergraduate college house will occupy a site bounded by Locust Walk, Walnut Street and 40th Street. The new construction will not affect the West Philadelphia branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which will remain open.

The new project will serve as a “new western gateway to campus,” according to Penn President Amy Gutmann.

The project is designed by Philadelphia-based Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects, the company that recently completed the New College House at Hill Field. The 450-bed residence will include a mix of 6- and 5-bedroom two-bath suites and 4-, 3- and 2-bedroom one-bath suites and will house sophomores, juniors and seniors.

The construction of the $163-million project will begin in Spring 2018 and is expected to be completed by Fall 2021. More information can be found here.

The Porch at 30th Street Station, built by UCD.

University City District, a nonprofit, had always insisted on building public spaces – parks, plazas, a composting facility – that were accessible to all. But, about two years ago, UCD’s Vice President of Planning and Economic Development, Andrew Stober, and his co-workers had a realization: When it comes to equity and inclusion, “We don’t really know what we’re talking about,” Stober said. With a new initiative called “Just Spaces,” they hope that will start to change.

UCD, which built The Porch at 30th Street Station, collects plenty of data on who uses its spaces and how, but it knows less about who doesn’t, and why not. Enter the group’s new self-audit, “Just Spaces,” which is focused on identifying groups that feel unwelcome at UCD’s public spaces, and to help welcome them instead. Most obviously, the initiative might examine proximity – Who can get to a space easily?; infrastructure, since even a swing-set can be inaccessible to some; and commerce, How expensive are the concession stands? Sometimes, inclusion just means selling something other than a gourmet hamburger.  Continue Reading

The next Spruce Hill Community Association Zoning Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 30. Residents are invited to learn more about two proposed constructions in the area – at 4125 Chestnut and 4000 Market Streets.

Rendering of one version of the proposed building at 4125 Chestnut Street.

A 130-unit, six-story residential building, which is a “by right” development, will replace the “Wash N Lube” car wash at 4125 Chestnut St. The project was presented to the Spruce Hill community last month at the previous zoning committee meeting. “By right” means that the project is not required to go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA). However, it will go before the Committee on Design Review (CDR) at the Philadelphia Planning Commission. The CDR requires that the applicant meet with the designated convening RCO for the site – Spruce Hill Community Association.   Continue Reading

Though its Friday celebration will include a life-sized West Philly-themed board game, the People’s Emergency Center (PEC) knows their work is dead serious. Created 25 years ago, the group’s Community Development Corporation (CDC) has worked to ensure that the neighborhood’s ongoing transformation creates far more beneficiaries than victims. Now, at an outdoor party on 4050 Haverford Avenue, the CDC will mark what it believes has been a successful quarter-century.

“The history… It’s tremendous. It’s not easy doing this work,” said James Wright, PEC’s Director of Community Economic and Real Estate Development.

Wright says that PEC has helped catalyze an economic turnaround in the five neighborhoods it focuses on: Saunders Park, West Powelton, Belmont, Mantua, and Mill Creek. Vacancy has plummeted while incomes and high-school graduation rates have risen, and the group said home values quadrupled between 2000 and 2013. PEC has contributed to this upswing by converting vacant lots into housing; eliminating vacancy tends to increase surrounding home values.  Continue Reading

With rapid development in Cedar Park, what steps can be taken to protect historic buildings? Community members are invited to learn more about building preservation issues in the Cedar Park area on Monday, Oct. 16 at a Neighborhood Preservation workshop presented by the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. The workshop will feature an overview of historic preservation policies and the current extent of preservation protections in the neighborhood.

At the end of the workshop there will be an opportunity to share thoughts and concerns about preservation and development in the neighborhood.

The workshop will be held at the Calvary Center (in the chapel, 801 S. 48th St), beginning at 7 p.m. and will be followed by the Cedar Park Neighbors monthly board meeting.

Demolition of the one-story building at the southeast corner of 46th and Spruce Streets, which began early last week, is nearly complete. The building, which served as a social services building, Transition To Independent Living Center, was gutted by a fire in 2011 and remained vacant since then.  Continue Reading