Westpark Apartments (Photo: West Philly Local).

The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), which provides affordable housing for Philadelphia’s low-income residents and which has been working on the redevelopment plan for the Westpark Apartments in West Philadelphia, will receive $21.3 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The grant will support the creation of a new street grid and pedestrian infrastructure to facilitate the redevelopment of the apartment complex located near 46th and Market.

The project will include an extension of the existing street grid in order to create new space for housing and connect the Westpark Apartments footprint to SEPTA’s 46th Street station. It will also create a new network of shared streets, sidewalks, and bike infrastructure that will help integrate new, forthcoming housing more seamlessly into the neighborhood.

U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representative Dwight Evans (D-PA-3) helped secure the grant. The funding comes from a Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) Grant, funded by the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (IIJA).

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An artist’s rendering of the apartment complex proposed for 4601 Market St.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier is once again calling on residents to push developers of a 1,240-unit apartment complex at 46th and Market Streets to include affordable housing during a meeting scheduled for March 27.

The meeting is part of the Civic Design Review process for “Mill Creek Station,” an upscale cluster of five seven-story buildings, one 19-story building and courtyards that will have “outdoor kitchens, lounge spaces and a pool for the residents,” according to the plan. The apartment complex would be adjacent to the city’s juvenile detention center at 48th and Haverford.

You can review the recent history of 4601 Market Street across a couple municipal administrations – from its designation as the new police headquarters and morgue to the current proposal – here. Continue Reading

An artist’s rendering of the planned residential housing on the 4601 Market Street site. Looking east from 48th and Market.

The developers of 4601 Market St. have postponed their community meeting scheduled for today to reportedly discuss adding “deeply affordable” units to what will be one of the largest apartment building project in recent West Philly history.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier last week called on Iron Stone Real Estate Partners to make 20 percent of the planned 1,240 units available to low income renters. Iron Stone included no provisions for affordable units in a proposal submitted to the city ahead of its scheduled March 7 Civic Design Review hearing, which has also been postponed.

“Iron Stone agreed to postpone their community meeting to discuss affordability with the community and the City!,” Gauthier tweeted on Tuesday. “I look forward to working with Iron Stone to keep 20%+ of the homes at 4601 Market deeply affordable.” Continue Reading

An artist’s rendering of the planned apartment complex. This view is east from 48th street. The Provident building is in the background.

UPDATE: The community meeting has been postponed. See the story here.

Councilmember Jamie Gauthier has issued a last-minute call for developers of the massive property at 46th and Market Streets to rethink their plans to build 1,240 apartments to include a “substantial” number of affordable units.

A community meeting with developers, Iron Stone Real Estate Partners, is planned for March 1 at 6 p.m. at the Alain Locke School (4550 Haverford Ave). The meeting is scheduled less than a week before the city’s Civic Design Review hearing on the plan scheduled for March 7, essentially the last chance for the public to weigh in on the proposal.

Iron Stone revealed plans over the summer to build six apartment buildings, including a 19-story tower on the site, which includes the gold-cupolaed Provident building and is adjacent to the 46th Street El stop. The Provident building now houses the Public Health Management Corporation, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia offices, and a charter school. The rest of the site, some 13 acres, is mostly open space. Continue Reading

The developers of 4601 Market St., which includes the stately, gold-cupolaed Provident building, are reportedly moving ahead with plans to build six apartment buildings, including an 18-story tower, on the site.

Executives with Iron Stone Real Estate Partners, which purchased the property in 2019, told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jake Blumgart that the firm is moving ahead with plans to add 1,240 apartments on the site, which stretches west along Market Street from 46th to 48th Streets and north along 46th Street to Haverford Avenue.

The property is zoned CMX-3, a mixed-use designation that means the residential buildings will likely be constructed “by right” with little required community input on things like the inclusion of affordable housing. Continue Reading

The area around 46th and Market Streets has been designated an “Opportunity Zone,” a federal tax incentive created as part of the 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and community groups are asking for residents’ input on the types of development that should be pursued.

A host of local community organizations, including Walnut Hill Community Association, West Park Tenants Association, Mill Creek Advisory Council, and more, will be reaching out to community members over the next few months in order to gather feedback, and build a community tool in the form of “a Letter to Investors” for the 46th and Market Street area. They want to make sure that neighborhood residents’ interests are represented.  Continue Reading