The proposed building looking east near the corner of 43rd and Baltimore.

After a year of debate, planning, and collaboration, the zoning approval process will finally begin next month for the widely discussed and advertised development at 4224 Baltimore Avenue. The Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) Zoning Committee has scheduled its first meeting in that process for Monday, March 3, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in room 101 of the University of the Sciences’ Rosenberger Hall on 43rd Street and Woodland Avenue.

During the meeting, U3 Ventures—the development team and liaison behind 4224 Baltimore Avenue—will review their progress and details of the project’s potential design, which they unveiled in late July at the last of three public meetings held throughout the 2013. The final development plan, established based on feedback from the community meetings, includes a proposed glossy 153,000 square foot mixed-use building with 108 residential units and retail on the first-floor—an alternative to the conditional zoning permit property owner Thylan Associates received in March 2013 for a four-story, 92-unit residential building with six parking spaces and no commercial space.

On March 3rd, the SHCA Zoning Committee will also consider zoning variances U3 Ventures is seeking in order to make this sizeable project a reality. According to the 4224 Baltimore Avenue website, there are two possible roads for U3 Ventures to take in obtaining permits for the alternative plan: either by receiving a zoning variance by the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) or adopting a land-use change ordinance issued by the City Council. The team hopes that, by having this meeting, they’re able to reach “a community consensus as to precise project scope and related project details” that will make choosing which approach to take a bit clearer.

Interested residents and stakeholders are invited to join the March 3rd meeting to both share their insights and ask questions about the plan, as well as offer comments regarding the variances sought by U3 Ventures.

–Annamarya Scaccia

A crew working on the building at 722 S. 49th St. on Friday afternoon.

Part of an abandoned residential building at the corner of 49th and Florence collapsed this morning. No injuries were reported when the rear of 722 S. 49th Street caved in.

City Paper‘s Ryan Briggs reports that neighbors have been warning city officials about the building. The city declared the building “imminently dangerous” in September and ordered its demolition.

The building’s lengthy list of violations is available here.

The long-abandoned building has a lengthy list of code violations and was slated for demolition. It’s unclear why it was still standing. (Photos by Mike Lyons/West Philly Local)

Algernong Allen standing in the remains of the Elena’s Soul building. (Archived photo/ courtesy of Algernong Allen)

Sad news for readers waiting on Elena’s Soul’s return: it seems the neo-jazz joint, which was destroyed by a fire in 2012, won’t make a second appearance on the lot of its former home at 4912 Baltimore Avenue—well, at least not for another two years.

That might not be such bad news for green thumbs, though. On Tuesday, Elena’s Soul owner Algernong Allen signed a contract with Greensgrow Farms after two months of talks to bring the urban farming hub to West Philly. As part of the deal, Greensgrow will lease Allen’s lot for two years, operating a multi-tiered site that the Kensington-based farm plans to open April 3. And during those two years, Allen told West Philly Local, he will consider the “feasibility of reconstruction” and redevelopment of the site.

“Realizing the void that Elena’s left both physically and culturally in the neighborhood, I wanted to do something that would be beneficial for a community that has been so kind to my family and I,” Allen, who’s currently running for state representative, told West Philly Local. “The Greensgrow deal not only provides a valuable resource to the urban greening community, but will also add more pedestrian traffic to Baltimore Avenue, attractiveness to the block, and even a few jobs for our local economy.”  Continue Reading

UPDATED (2/11/2014): Due to heavy snowfall forecast, the meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School, Drew Elementary School and Walnut Center buildings has been postponed until Wednesday, Feb. 26.

The School District of Philadelphia has scheduled informational meetings where you can learn more about the potential sale of some West Philadelphia school buildings that have been vacant since their closure last summer. The meetings will provide updates on efforts to sell the buildings, communicate next steps in the sales process and share details about how the public can give feedback and comment.

The remaining meetings are:

• Tuesday, Feb. 11—Shaw Middle School building
  Meeting location: 5400 Warrington Ave.
  Registration: 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  Meeting: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Feb. 26—University City High School, Drew Elementary School and Walnut Center buildings
  Meeting location: West Philadelphia High School, 4901 Chestnut St.
  Registration: 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  Meeting: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Here’s a summary of news coming out of our neck of the woods in the past few days and a reminder on a couple of community events this week. Editor’s Note: The meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School has been postponed until Wednesday, Feb. 26.

Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building. (Archived photo/West Philly Local).

• Another hurdle has been cleared for the plan to move the police headquarters into the Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. building at 46th and Market Streets. Last Thursday, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell introduced two bills that would allow the city to borrow up to $250 million for the project, according to a report by Philadelphia Inquirer. The 87-year-old building has been vacant since 1983, when Provident Mutual Life Insurance Co. moved out, and has been put on the endangered properties list by the Preservation Alliance of Philadelphia.

• A rally was held on Saturday, Feb. 8 to protest recent purse snatching and shootings in Philadelphia. The rally was held at 53rd and Market Streets, the site of the most recent purse snatching, when a 29-year-old woman was shot to death and her companion, a 34-year-old woman, was wounded. Dozens of people attended the event, organized by Handbags 4 Piece, and many people spoke out, including the mothers of the victims (check out the Handbags 4 Piece Facebook page for photos and videos).

• Ground was broken last week at the site of the new high-rise apartment building at 36th and Market Streets. The 28-story 364-unit mixed-use structure is a joint project of the University City Science Center and Southern Land Co., of Nashville. The project, which will also include 14,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking for 200 cars and 140 bicycles, is expected to be completed in spring 2015.

• Residential burglaries are still a cause for concern in University City, according to the latest crime update released by the University City District. Over 20 burglaries took place in the area in January, which is a double of the number of burglaries in December. Three burglary-related arrests have been made. UCD also reports that there were about a dozen robberies in the area, four of them at gunpoint, with arrests made in nine of these cases. August and September were peak months for robberies in the area, with over 30 incidents reported.

• Great news for fried chicken and gourmet donuts fans: Philly’s super popular chain Federal Donuts is close to opening their location in University City. The awnings to their new shop at 3428 Sansom were recently complete:

Awnings at 3428 Sansom, complete! Nice and bright to lead you straight to lunch. pic.twitter.com/ZFpucdlUOC

— FederalDonuts (@FederalDonuts) February 6, 2014

Another tweet by Federal Donuts said that the new location is opening “very soon” but the date hasn’t been announced yet. We’ll keep you posted.

• Two meetings on the sale of vacant schools and other School District of Philadelphia properties in West Philadelphia will take place this week: on Tuesday, Feb. 11 you can learn more about the future of Shaw Middle School (54th & Warrington) and on Wednesday, Feb. 11 (postponed until Feb. 26) there will be a meeting on the potential sale of the University City High School, Drew Elementary School and Walnut Center buildings. Click here for more information. If you missed our story on the Wilson School building’s future, click here.

School District Chief Operating Officer Fran Burns talks about the district’s plan to sell the Alexander Wilson School building at 46th and Woodland to developers who will likely convert it to a retail/residential building.

It appears that a mixed-used retail/residential building will replace the Alexander Wilson School (46th and Woodland), which the school district closed last June.

Officials from the School District of Philadelphia said during a public meeting Thursday night that all of the leading bids on the building proposed similar uses – a combination of street-level retail and housing. The district’s Chief Operating Officer Fran Burns told about 25 residents gathered in the auditorium of the Henry C. Lea School that it’s “probably not going to be a demolition, but a major renovation within.”

The final bid will not be officially announced and approved until the School Reform Commission (SRC) meeting on Feb. 20 or March 20 (we’ll let you know when we know). No other uses for the building, which many in the community hoped would reopen as a charter school, were proposed by developers and no more offers will be accepted.

Although the purpose of Thursday’s meeting was to elicit public comment on the proposal, officials offered very few details, which frustrated many in attendance.

“I’m a little frustrated about how little of this process seems to be about the impact on the neighborhood,” said a resident who lives near the school.

Burns hinted that the offers proposed student and “multi-family” residences and that senior housing was not part of any of the proposals. No charter school offered a bid, but the nearby University of the Sciences expressed some interest, Burns said.

There are more opportunities for public input, including at the SRC meeting and during the zoning process, but that will be input on the project’s details, not on whether the building should become housing or something else.

Neither the names of bidders nor bid amounts were released. Burns would not say how much is owed in bond payments on Wilson, but said that the sale of the closed schools will not do much to offset budget problems.

“The budget will not be fixed through property sales,” she said.

Here are some more details on the sale process.

The district hopes to close the sale of the school by June 30.

–Mike Lyons