Residents discussing 4224 Baltimore Ave. design plans at one of community meetings in 2013.

A coalition of community groups are urging Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell to introduce legislation that would help move along the large residential and commercial complex proposed for 43rd and Baltimore, across from Clark Park.

The project has stalled because the property owners do not want to navigate Philadelphia’s zoning process.

So the Friends of Clark Park are circulating a petition asking Blackwell to take “swift action” to prevent the property owners from abandoning a proposal that has been devised after a series of public meetings. (For a full history of the project, click here.)

The Spruce Hill Community Association and the University City Historical Society have also sent letters to Blackwell asking her to introduce an ordinance that would exempt New York-based Clarkmore LLC from the zoning process, which can be a gauntlet of delays and even legal challenges. Clarkmore already has the right to build a no-frills 92-unit building on the property at 4224 Baltimore Avenue as it is currently zoned and the firm is reportedly willing to go ahead with that plan rather than go through the zoning changes required to build the 132-unit complex proposed after more than a year of consultation with the community.

“We do not want to see that ‘by right’ project to go through,” said Barry Grossbach, chair of the Spruce Hill Community Association’s zoning committee. “It’s going to be a box and it’s going to be ugly.”  Continue Reading

4224 Baltimore Avenue site. (Archived photo/ West Philly Local)

There’s a new date for the first community zoning meeting for the apartment complex proposed at 4224 Baltimore Avenue. The meeting, which was postponed due to snow, will take place at 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26 at University of the Sciences, Rosenberger Hall (43rd Street between Regent Sq and Woodland Ave), Room 101. Community members are invited to provide their feedback on the project.

And here’s what to expect at the meeting, according to Spruce Hill Zoning Chair Barry Grossbach:

“The developers will present their plans on massing and design for the site reflecting ideas emanating from the three community meetings held during 2013, as well as the current assessment on  the economics of the project. We will also receive details on the nature of the variances that the project will require should it reach the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. We urge all interested parties to attend and take the opportunity to ask questions and offer comments.”

The first zoning approval meeting for the proposed apartment complex at 4224 Baltimore Avenue, which was scheduled for Monday, March 3, has been cancelled due to severe weather forecast, Spruce Hill Zoning Chair Barry Grossbach announced via e-mail. A winter storm watch is in effect for Philadelphia from Sunday evening through Monday afternoon, according to Accuweather.com.

“We do not want to hold a meeting that people might have difficulty traveling to and incurring unnecessary risks in the process. This project is sufficiently important to our neighborhood that it should be scheduled free of nature’s complications,” Grossbach writes.

The meeting should be rescheduled within the next couple of weeks. We’ll post details as soon as we have them.

The proposed building looking east near the corner of 43rd and Baltimore.

After a year of debate, planning, and collaboration, the zoning approval process will finally begin next month for the widely discussed and advertised development at 4224 Baltimore Avenue. The Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) Zoning Committee has scheduled its first meeting in that process for Monday, March 3, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in room 101 of the University of the Sciences’ Rosenberger Hall on 43rd Street and Woodland Avenue.

During the meeting, U3 Ventures—the development team and liaison behind 4224 Baltimore Avenue—will review their progress and details of the project’s potential design, which they unveiled in late July at the last of three public meetings held throughout the 2013. The final development plan, established based on feedback from the community meetings, includes a proposed glossy 153,000 square foot mixed-use building with 108 residential units and retail on the first-floor—an alternative to the conditional zoning permit property owner Thylan Associates received in March 2013 for a four-story, 92-unit residential building with six parking spaces and no commercial space.

On March 3rd, the SHCA Zoning Committee will also consider zoning variances U3 Ventures is seeking in order to make this sizeable project a reality. According to the 4224 Baltimore Avenue website, there are two possible roads for U3 Ventures to take in obtaining permits for the alternative plan: either by receiving a zoning variance by the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) or adopting a land-use change ordinance issued by the City Council. The team hopes that, by having this meeting, they’re able to reach “a community consensus as to precise project scope and related project details” that will make choosing which approach to take a bit clearer.

Interested residents and stakeholders are invited to join the March 3rd meeting to both share their insights and ask questions about the plan, as well as offer comments regarding the variances sought by U3 Ventures.

–Annamarya Scaccia

A drawing of the proposed building at 43rd and Baltimore. The five-story section in the foreground would include first-floor retail.

The developers of 4224 Baltimore Ave. – across from Clark Park – unveiled drawings during a public meeting last night of a modern, glassy residential building that would include a terraced section that peaks at 10 floors and includes upscale condos.

The design also includes a 5-story section on the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue with first-floor commercial units that would wrap around the structure and, if built, could house a large, street-level restaurant with outdoor seating along 43rd Street. A large rooftop terrace on this section would overlook the park.

The “if built” part is important. The development firm that is proposing the project, U3 Ventures, is a liaison between the community and the property owners, Clarkmore Group LLC, have not seen the drawings. There is no guarantee that the ownership group, which paid $3.5 million for the property in 2008, will go for the plan.

Clarkmore currently has as conditional permit to build a four-story, 92-unit apartment building with six parking spaces. That building would unlikely include any retail space. U3 is hoping the group can be persuaded to build a larger building that could support retail and underground parking. A large majority of the approximately 40 community members attending last night’s meeting gave tacit approval to the plan, which includes 108 rental units – mostly one bedrooms – and 55 resident-owned condos (though that number could drop considerably if the condos are built larger). Continue Reading

Architect Cecil Baker discusses a proposed building plan for 4224 Baltimore Avenue. The plan essentially divides the structure into two parts, with retail space (beginning near his hand) running along 43rd Street and Baltimore Ave.) that would include residential units above and a larger residential section with underground parking (behind his head).

Developers unveiled a couple of possible design plans on Tuesday for 4224 Baltimore Ave., the vacant plot of land across from Clark Park. A key remaining question is whether the building owners, who have the right to start building whenever they want, will go for one of the proposals.

About 50 community members attended the public meeting Tuesday night at the International House on Penn’s campus to offer input on building proposals that include underground parking, retail, possibly owner-occupied condos and one catch – more units. The land owners, Clarkmore Group LLC, currently have a “by right” permit to build a 92-unit residential building with no retail and only six parking spaces. They could start building tomorrow if they wanted to, with no community input. Instead the firm hired U3 Ventures, a development firm headed by former University of Pennsylvania executive and neighborhood resident Omar Blaik, to come up with alternative building plans and present them to the community.

The proposals unveiled on Tuesday included a residential and commercial structure divided into two sections. The first, closer to Clark Park near the southeast corner of 43rd and Baltimore would sit on an angle, opening the entrance to the park and allowing many of the existing trees on the property to be saved. This section would include some 8,000 square feet of retail on the first floor that would front both Baltimore Avenue and 43rd Street. Under one plan, this section would be five stories. Under another plan, just two stories.  Continue Reading