People tip us off about projects all the time. We get emails, phone calls, texts, tweets, etc etc etc. Sometimes though, we find out about a project but cannot remember how it came across our path, and such is the case for 171 W. Berks St.
Somewhere along the line, somebody told us that something would be happening with this property. We didn't remember the exact address, but we did remember to look on the same block at the planned South Square project, a residential development coming soon to the 100 block of W. Berks Street. Without doing any research, we snapped photos of some other buildings on the block but had to make a return trip today to actually photograph the relevant property. No matter, there are some nice enough buildings in the vicinity and hey, we sure do like taking pictures of buildings. Note the blue skies from when the photos were taken last week, in contrast to today's cloudy situation.
But enough lede burying! The less than handsome one-story structure at 171 W. Berks St. will soon get demolished and in its place developers are planning a mixed-use building. Look for a five-story project with ground-floor commercial and 32 apartments on the upper floors. There will be 22 bike parking spaces but zero car parking spaces, which seems quite reasonable when you consider the Berks El stop is just a block away. As for the height, it will certainly dwarf the homes immediately to the north but it should be shorter than the excellent old warehouse building next door. Regrettably, we don't imagine it will compare architecturally, but so it goes.
Most importantly, this project will bring even more life to this block, joining forces with the aforementioned South Square project. As South Kensington development continues its sprawl northward, it makes us wonder what kind of retail tenant the developers will be able to attract. What do you think could work at this location?