An artist’s rendering of 4306 Market St. The city approved the adjacent building to the right in October.
The 4300 block of Market Street, which includes a Checkers, some vacant lots and a handful of row homes, will likely look completely different by next summer.
A proposal for a six-story, 22-unit apartment building at 4306-4310 Market St. met with a favorable reaction from the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee on Monday. The building would be fit in between a cluster of existing row homes and another building, 4312 Market St. that was approved last year. The two projects are related.
The proposal would combine three lots into one for the building (one is the former site of the Dirt Factory). The proposed building would include 13 two-bedroom apartments, 5 one-bedrooms and 4 three-bedrooms. No information was available on proposed rent prices, but developers said the apartments would be “higher end” and not aimed at students. There are no affordable housing units proposed as part of the project, which several zoning committee members asked developers to reconsider.
The project needs a variance for parking. Zoning requires seven spots and developers are asking to be exempt from providing any parking. They argued that the building’s proximity to the 46th Street El stop would attract residents who don’t own cars. Research has shown that car ownership has declined in the area in recent years and commuting by foot, bike and public transportation has increased sharply.
February 13th, 2019 at 3:24 pm
after the uproar over Arvilla, will SCHA have the guts to hold their variance support hostage in exchange for affordable units? to be fair, SCHA didn’t have a leg to stand on re: Arvilla but i’d like to see them put their money where their mouth is.
why not allow more height here in exchange for more units including affordable + no parking??
February 13th, 2019 at 3:28 pm
This is so exciting, what a great opportunity to offer housing with no parking. Now folks who own cars will be less likely to choose to move into this building, meaning less cars in our neighborhood. We need to be doing everything we can to prevent more cars from coming into the community.
February 13th, 2019 at 8:40 pm
Wondering why 46th St. L train location was cited when in all likelihood 40th St. stop will be used by these “high end market” tenants.
February 13th, 2019 at 10:57 pm
The only problem I’d have with this design is the lack of retail. Too many of the new apartment buildings in that area do not have retail spaces, and we should not let a prime location at a busy Market Street intersection be built without retail space. Any new apartment buildings built on Market Street should have retail spaces.
February 14th, 2019 at 12:48 am
Yeah, I second bw: how about more height in exchange for lower prices and no parking? My family is looking for a 3 bedroom apartment or house in West Philly. I guess we’re middle to upper middle income, but I don’t expect we’d be able to afford anything they’re building here.
February 14th, 2019 at 12:30 pm
I wish SHCA would require the developer include parking spaces.
February 14th, 2019 at 1:00 pm
40th Street is the closest EL. Better to have this building than a vacant lot. Most people will not have a car if they choose to rent a unit in the new building. Mass Transit has increased exponentally as more people choose to use this venue vice their cars.