The Women’s Community Revitalization Project (WCRP) has recently broken ground on its newest affordable housing development, the Linda Lockman King apartments. The four-story multifamily building will replace an empty lot at 5500 Haverford Ave. and will offer 33 affordable rental units to low-income Philadelphians.

The new apartment building will consist of four one-bedroom apartments, 19 two-bedroom apartments, and 10 three-bedroom apartments, all with in-unit laundry and air conditioning. Nine units will be wheelchair accessible, and 23 units will be supported by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA).

Continue Reading

Saint Joseph’s University announced today that it has reached an agreement to sell its buildings south of Woodland Avenue to the Belmont Neighborhood Educational Alliance for an undisclosed sum.

“Potential plans for the space include a new affordable teachers college, which may help alleviate Philadelphia’s chronic shortage of well-qualified and experienced teachers, as well as a potential new school emphasizing public service and leadership,” a university statement emailed to university faculty and staff this morning read.

Property developer Michael Karp is the chair of Belmont Neighborhood Educational Alliance’s board of directors. The non-profit runs a charter school network in West Philadelphia and Center City.

Continue Reading

An artist’s rendering of the proposed parking garage at 41st and Filbert (Images courtesy of ISA). 

A five-story parking garage is coming to 41st and Filbert (one block north of Market Street) as part of the life sciences and commercial office campus that has been built in the area over the past several years. A Civic Design Review hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.

“5.0 University Place” will include 495 parking spaces with a special, secured section of 29 spaces reserved for vehicles connected to the new Philadelphia Police Department forensics lab, which will be housed nearby in 3.0 University Place at 41st and Market.

Continue Reading

Here’s a short update on the demolition work that recently began on the 4700 block of Spruce street to make way for a 13-story mixed-use building.

The developer began work at the site in late May/early June with an expired demolition permit. The Department of Licenses and Inspections ordered work at the site to stop on June 6 by issuing an “Order to Correct”, which required the developer to obtain a new permit. The developer obtained a new permit on June 24 for “full demolition to create a vacant lot.” Since then the demolition notice has been posted on the site and the work is expected to resume shortly (see photo).

As a reminder, a 13-story apartment building will be built on the site, between the Garden Court community garden and the intersection of 48th and Spruce. It will include ground floor retail space and 170 mostly studio and one-bedroom apartments and  have 28 underground parking spaces. Read more about this project here.

First-time owner Raphael Freeman was welcomed to his property, freshly rehabbed by Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia. “It’s good to come home to 19139,” he said. (Photos by Tony West)

Born in the Mill Creek neighborhood, Raphael Freeman is a worker at Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania. On June 18, affordable home ownership became a reality for himself when Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia gave him the deed to a vacant Overbrook rowhome next to Cobbs Creek that its apprentice program had restored to modern standards.

Freeman underwent a yearlong training program to provide him with the knowledge base and skills to manage property ownership. Meanwhile, Habitat’s Carpentry Fellows Program set three apprentices to learn the art of rehabbing Philadelphia’s traditional affordable housing stock.

Continue Reading

Architect renderings of the project (PZS Architects) on the 4700 block of Spruce Street.

UPDATE (6/19/25): The Department of Licenses and Inspections has ordered work at the site to stop until the developer obtains a building permit. The developer has until July 10 to obtain the permit, according to an “Order to Correct” issued June 6.

6/9/25: Demolition work has begun to make way for a 13-story apartment building with ground floor retail space on the 4700 block of Spruce Street, across from the Henry Lea School. The building will include 170 mostly studio and one-bedroom apartments and 28 underground parking spaces.

Zoned CMX-3, which allows residential and commercial uses without zoning variances, the project drew criticism during a May 2022 community meeting but developers were not required to implement design changes because of the zoning designation. The project has been on hold while an addition was being completed to the adjacent Garden Court Plaza complex.

Continue Reading