Partial demolition of the former Good Shepherd Community Church near 46th and Spruce Streets has begun to make way for a new apartment building.

A plan to convert the 1930s stone church building into studio and one-bedroom apartments was presented in 2019. Hightop Development are planning to turn the church’s front building facing 46th Street into 17 apartments and build a second, 8-unit building in the church’s garden. The facade on what was the former entrance-way is now being removed. Continue Reading

An artist’s rendering of the proposed apartment building at 48th and Chester, which would be built on the site of a former dog park.

The West Philadelphia nursing home that is proposing to construct an 83-unit apartment building on a former dog park at 48th and Chester introduced its plan to an online community meeting last night.

Owners of the Renaissance Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center seek to combine several land parcels adjacent to the nursing home and are asking the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) for a blanket zoning designation that would allow them to erect the four-story building. That zoning change requires community input before it goes to the ZBA in a few months.  Continue Reading

A Sherwin-Williams paint store is being proposed at 4237 Walnut Street (see photo), the commercial building formerly occupied by a health center and other health-related businesses. The Spruce Hill Community Association’s Zoning Committee will hold a virtual meeting this Wednesday, Dec. 16 to discuss signage for the proposed store. Community members are invited to join the meeting via Zoom (see more information below).

This location was in the news last year when ILERA Health Care was considering to open a medical marijuana dispensary there. That proposal met stiff opposition from the Masjid Al-Jamia mosque across the street, among others, and was scuttled. Continue Reading

An online zoning meeting this Thursday will focus on a proposed 83-unit apartment building on the site of a shuttered dog park and other properties near 48th and Chester, adjacent to the Renaissance Health Care & Rehabilitation Center.

Renaissance seeks to combine several properties it owns – including an empty lot at 4720-24 Chester Ave. (formerly the Chester Avenue Dog Park), and adjacent properties at 1115 and 1119 S. 48th St. The properties are zoned RTA-1, RM1, and Commercial Mixed-Use (CMX-2). The proposal also seeks a single zoning designation for the new lot.  Continue Reading

The University City District this week released its “State of University City,” the annual report that details home price increases, population shifts and research, retail and office space successes in the area roughly bounded by the Schuylkill River to the east, 50th Street to the west, Market Street/Powelton Avenue/Spring Garden Street to the north and Woodland Avenue/University Avenue to the south.

The report includes data from 2019 and shows a decline or levelling off in real estate development in the area, a continued increase in home values and a slight aging of the population compared to 2000. The report does not include demographic information related to race or ethnicity.  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