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.

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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.

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Home prices, rents, commercial construction and salaries in the neighborhoods that comprise the University City District (UCD) continue to outpace the rest of the city, according to the annual “State of University City” report issued late last week amid increased concerns about federal policies that could slow down the growth of “Eds and Meds.”

Median home prices in the neighborhoods (including Cedar Park, Spruce Hill, Powelton Village and Walnut Hill), were down slightly in 2024, settling at about $375,000, but the number of home sales was up slightly. Median home prices in Cedar Park jumped about 35 percent compared to 2023 and Spruce Hill continued to have the highest home value at about $550,000.

The median home sale price in Philadelphia was about $200,000 last year.

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A bicyclist riding along Woodland Avenue while a new separated bike lane is under construction. (Photo by West Philly Local)

UPDATE (10/1/2024): Legislation authorizing a bike lane on Woodland Avenue from Chester Avenue to South 42nd Street was introduced on Sept. 26 by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier. This is part of the Phase 2 of the Woodland Ave Complete Streets Project. If the bill is passed it will authorize the replacement of the parking lane with a 2-way bikeway on the south side of Woodland Avenue in 2027. The bill to turn the parking lane into a bike lane in front of the Woodlands cemetery was passed in 2022 and the work is currently underway (read more below). 

(9/20/2024): Streets Department crews have begun work on Woodland Avenue between the VA Medical Center Driveway and Chester Avenue, as part of the Woodland Avenue Complete Streets project which aims to improve safety for all users – drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists – between VA Driveway and 42nd Street.

Phase 1 of the project, which is expected to be completed this fall, includes the addition of a separated bike lane from VA Driveway to Chester Avenue along north and south curb and installation of traffic signals with crosswalks at Chester Avenue and 40th Street Portal/The Woodlands. To accommodate the addition of the bike lane, street parking in this section of Woodland has been removed.

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The Habitat for Humanity project starts to fill in the gap along a Reno St. rowhouse block. (Photos by Tony West)

Work has begun to create new affordable housing in West Philadelphia on four lots at 40th and Reno in Mantua, in a project by Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia. Part of Habitat’s strategy: free land and labor.

Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide nonprofit organization, now 48 years old, whose mission is to build or repair homes that low-income people will own. This development began with four vacant lots that had been picked up by the Philadelphia Land Bank. Habitat Philadelphia worked with Mantua Civic Association and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier to acquire them for 3-bedroom owner occupancy houses.

“Volunteerism is a key part of the method, recruiting corporate partners as well as homeowners,” said Habitat spokesperson Adam McGrath. On a day last week two dozen workers from Children’s Hospital and Gilbane Building Co. joined Habitat crew to assemble the framing for exterior walls, a task that will keep them busy the rest of September.

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