We were cruising through East Kensington today and came upon a significant construction site where Hagert Street meets Emerald Street, in a sea of huge vacant lots. We quickly realized that we've actually covered this project before, though it was over two years ago.

Construction site

At that time, the plans for this site called for a project for seniors who "wish to maintain an independent lifestyle in an urban community setting." Since we can't actually find the permits for the project, we're assuming that the thing hasn't changed. The project will rise three stories and will include forty residential units, eight parking spots, and a lot of open space. Particularly worthwhile, there will be a bunch of planting beds on site that green-thumbed residents will be able to use. Here are some visuals from when we first told you about the project:

Birds eye view

Project rendering, view from Letterly Street

Interior courtyard

Project site plan

Again, assuming that the construction we're seeing is unchanged from the original plan, we have all sorts of problems with this project. It looks like it was airlifted from the suburbs.

Let's start by agreeing that senior housing is important and there's a real need for more of it in Philadelphia. With that being said, wouldn't this very site be an opportunity for much more senior housing? There was once a huge hosiery mill here, and the developers are building a little three story building with setbacks from every street. Building up to at least five stories would have allowed for dozens of additional units, and expanding the footprint of the building would have creating more living space too.

Also, let's agree that green space is fabulous and the planting beds are a really cool feature of the project. But what's with the space on the corner of Hagert & Emerald? Looking at the birds-eye view, it's going to be fenced-in, and not open to the public. Again, expanding the foorprint to the corner would make much more sense.

What do you think? Have people in the neighborhood heard about changes to the project that we don't know about or is the project proceeding as presented two years back? Are people just happy to see some of the land filled in on Emerald Street that they're willing to look past the flaws in the project? Or are near neighbors as disappointed as we are? What say you, East Kensingtonians?

Er, East Kensingtians?

East Kensingtoners, maybe?