Developers are pushing once again to build a mixed-use
apartment complex at the long-vacant corner of 2nd and Race streets in Old
City. The latest iteration of the project includes 148 rental units, 28 parking
spaces, 51 bike parking spaces, and more than 14,000 square feet of commercial
space on the ground floor, according to site plans submitted to the Historical
Commission’s architecture committee, which will review the project on Tuesday.
205 Race Street is a project of developers Jeffrey Brown and
Greg Hill of Brown Hill Development. It was designed by Peter Gluck and
Partners, a New York architecture firm.
This is the group’s third attempt to develop the property.
Its last attempt, in 2012, met opposition from some neighbors as well as from
the owner of a freestanding, 150-foot tall billboard on an otherwise empty lot
across the street. The developers scheduled a hearing for zoning variances, but
withdrew the application before the hearing took place.
Since then, a zoning overlay was adopted by City Council
that allows the project to be built by right, and the architect redesigned the
building to keep views of the billboard clear. (Yes, that actually happened,
and the billboard features prominently in the latest renderings.)
Greg Hill and his attorney, Dan Reisman, were not available
to comment on Wednesday.
According to the site plan, the building will be 51 feet
tall along Race Street and rise to 197 feet along 2nd Street. The apartments
will be a mix of studios and 1- and 2-bedroom units.
The commercial spaces will be accessible for loading and
trash pick-up on Florist Street, which runs alongside the Benjamin Franklin
Bridge, so glass storefronts will wrap the length of the project on 2nd Street
and Race Street.
The developers plan to claim a bonus for mixed-income
housing, so some of the units will be affordable to individuals making 80
percent of Area Median Income. (An individual meeting this affordability
criteria would make around $44,000 a year.)
The developers have already applied for a building permit.
The Historical Commission’s architecture committee will be able to review and
comment on the plans on Tuesday, and the project will need to go through Civic
Design Review, but otherwise it can proceed by right.
Source: PlanPhilly
No comments:
Post a Comment