Over in Passyunk Square, we're seeing a number of one-off developments taking place on little alley-sized streets that run between the wider thoroughfares, and 1536 Camac St., tucked between 12th and 13th, and Tasker and Dickinson, is our latest example.
Last purchased in May 2013 for $100K by Forte Development Group, the property is a vacant one-story garage set among a largely residential two-story home block. So it makes sense that a developer is looking to build residential here. At its January zoning meeting, the Passyunk Square Civic Association voted not to oppose the developers’ proposal for a two-story addition here, with plans for two apartments with parking in the renovated building. Note this design will stray from the consistent two-story theme that dominates this block.
Assuming it’s approved, this will be the second of two recent garages converted into residential apartment use in Passyunk Square- we mentioned the other, on Clarion Street, a few months ago. A few blocks away at 1412 S. 7th St., developers recently completed renovations that converted a large former auto shop into ten new apartments. Another example of developers making the most out of a skinny alley-sized street is five new homes planned for the 1400 block of South Beulah Street.
When you consider the new homes wrapping up at the Latona Court project on 12th Street, and another 10-unit project in the former Jehovah's Witness building at 12th & Federal, you can see development occurring all over Passyunk Square. And if you top it all off with plans for 60 new apartments in a new mixed-use building at the site of the former Armory Building on South Broad, you can see how redevelopment right now in Passyunk Square has really become diverse in terms of scale, too.