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Here’s a short update on the widely discussed mixed-use residential and commercial project at 4224 Baltimore Avenue across from Clark Park. Construction of the 132-unit building, which will include upscale rental apartments aimed at young professionals and condo units for sale, is not expected to start until late summer 2016, according to a letter to the SHCA Zoning Committee and the Spruce Hill community sent by the land owner Clarkmore LP and project developer U3 Ventures. The project was approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment in June after weeks of delays, clearing the last hurdle for the project to go ahead.

“We are now pursuing detailed design, construction cost estimation, [and] retail tenanting along with other detailed planning work,” reads the letter signed by Lenard Thylan, Omar Blaik, and Tom Lussenhop.

Although more details are not yet available, the 17,000 feet of commercial space may include a large fitness center and a full-service restaurant with outdoor seating, among other retail options. We’ll keep you posted when we have more information.

The proposed apartment complex at 43rd and Baltimore.

After weeks of delays, the city has approved the proposal for a large residential building at the corner of 43rd and Baltimore that will include a large restaurant overlooking Clark Park.

The planned glass and brick building at 4224 Baltimore Ave., which has been two years in the making and has included a half-dozen community meetings, will include 132 units, a mix of upscale rental apartments aimed at young professionals and condo units for sale. It also includes 65 underground parking spaces and 50 indoor bike parking spaces.

The Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee, the Friends of Clark Park and the University City Historical Society all approved the plan, but the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the city governmental body that reviews zoning variances, narrowly approved the project 3-2, according to Plan Philly. Opponents argued that the proposed building, which required a zoning change to include a five-story wing, would be out of character with the rest of the block.  Continue Reading

The large residential project proposed for the corner of 43rd and Baltimore across the street from Clark Park has cleared another hurdle and will now go through a series of reviews at the city level.

The Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee, the Friends of Clark Park and the University City Historical Society have all approved the plan, according to a recent email announcement from the Spruce Hill Community Association’s zoning chair Barry Grossbach.

The 132-unit building at 4224 Baltimore Ave. would include a mix of condominiums and market-rate apartments. The plan also calls for first-floor commercial space, including a large restaurant.

Three project hearings have been scheduled for this month at the City government offices at 1515 Arch Street. All meetings are open to the general public. The community participation is encouraged, especially for the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, April 29.

Next week, on Tuesday, April 7, the Civic Design Review Committee will examine the project. Large development projects with over 100 dwelling units, like the proposed apartment building at 4224 Baltimore Ave, require a Civic Design Review. You can read more about this here.

Here are more details on the upcoming meetings at 1515 Arch Street:

Tuesday, April 7 – 1:00 p.m. – Civic Design Review Committee – Room 18-029

Tuesday, April 28 – 1:00-4:00 p.m. – Philadelphia City Planning Commission, 18-029

Wednesday, April 29 – 4:00 p.m. – ZBA (Zoning Board of Adjustment), ZBA Hearing room, 18-002

Community members are invited to the monthly meeting of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) on Tuesday, Feb. 10 to meet Henry C. Lea Principal Jennifer Duffy, who will talk about the happenings at Lea.

Duffy is in her first year as principal of Lea and one of about 50 first-time principals hired across the School District of Philadelphia this year. Duffy has placed a priority on raising academic standards and strengthen the school’s relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, where she is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership.

The SHCA meeting gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at the association’s headquarters (257 S. 45th St.)

In other Spruce Hill news, the zoning committee meeting to consider the well-publicized plans to build a residential/retail complex at 43rd and Baltimore (across the street from Clark Park) will be held Feb. 19 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The University of the Science’s Rosenberger Hall (the small building on the west side of 43rd Street, just north of Woodland Avenue). This is the meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 26 that was cancelled due to weather.

The meeting actually begins at 6:30 p.m. when committee will consider a liquor license request from Fresh Grocer at 40th and Market and a residential project at 4100-02 Ludlow St. This is also open to the public. The 4224 Baltimore Ave. project discussion will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. The development team for the site is preparing materials for presentation to the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee and will share those plans to date.

UPDATE (1/26/2015): Monday’s SHCA Zoning Committee meeting has been cancelled due to the inclement weather. The meeting will be rescheduled for sometime in mid-February, according to Spruce Hill zoning committee chair Barry Grossbach. Stay tuned for more information.

The Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) will be holding a Zoning Committee meeting on Monday, Jan. 26 to consider the widely discussed residential and commercial project at 4224 Baltimore Avenue.

As a reminder, the development team for 4224 Baltimore Avenue has applied for zoning to get the city’s approval to construct a 132-unit residential complex at the site. The project evolved from a series of neighborhood meetings and was discussed at an open meeting of Spruce Hill zoning last spring. Now that a formal application has been made, the project development team, U3 Advisors, are required to have public meetings with neighbors through community associations.

The zoning meeting will be held at the SHCA headquarters at 257 S. 45th Street, starting at 7 p.m. All interested neighbors and residents are welcome to attend.

At this meeting, you can also learn about The Fresh Grocer’s application for the right to sell beer under conditions specified in its lease agreement with the University of Pennsylvania.

The firm overseeing development of a prime piece of real estate at 4224 Baltimore Ave. – across from Clark Park – has announced that it will take its chances with the zoning process and will go ahead with plans to build a 132-unit residential complex.

“[U3 Advisors] will comply with every regulation of the zoning variance process and we look forward to meeting with area RCOs, community groups and interested neighbors,” said Tom Lussenhop, the firm’s senior vice president.

Lussenhop said the firm will file an application with the Zoning Board of Adjustment soon.

There was some doubt that the firm would go ahead with its plans after news surfaced that appeals to City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell for an ordinance that would allow them to sidestep the sometimes tumultuous zoning process were rejected. The parcel’s owner, Clarkmore LLC, already has permission to build a small residential building that would have no commercial amenities and very limited parking. But the plans for the 132-unit building, which grew out of a series of community meetings, include underground parking and commercial space. That plan requires zoning changes for the parcel.

A series of public hearings will be scheduled once the zoning change request is filed, including a community meeting with the Spruce Hill Community Association planning committee.

“Spruce Hill will follow its traditional process of dealing with this zoning application once a filing has been processed,” said the planning committee’s head Barry Grossbach.

(See all our posts on 4224 Baltimore here).