Student housing construction has been all the rage near Temple, with projects large and small changing almost every block in the neighborhoods surrounding the school. So when we heard about a zoning notice at 1412 W. Dauphin St., just a couple blocks north of campus, our minds immediately went to student housing. And upon reading the notice which calls for fifty-four units and eighteen bike parking spots, we had no doubt that another big student housing building was on its way.
But we were wrong! Hey, it happens every now and again.
Doing a little digging, we realized that plans for this site aren't for the kids at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. According to a Civic Design Review presentation from August, developers want to build an affordable housing building for senior citizens on this site (creatively) called Dauphin Street Senior Residences. Has a nice ring to it, no?
On the first floor, there will be five apartments, a common area, office space, a protected outdoor patio, and possibly some additional space for use by the broader community. Upper floors will have eleven or twelve apartment units, with an additional common area and roof deck on the fifth floor. With incredibly close proximity to the Broad Street Line and bus routes, there's no car parking in the plan. Wallace Roberts and Todd did the design work.
This project will replace a collection of dated vacant structures with a sparkly new building, which is on its face a great thing. We're speculating, but we'd imagine that neighbors probably weren't thrilled with the height or the lack of parking but given the need for senior housing, the ease of street parking in the area, and the close proximity to transit, the basics of the project make sense to us. It's interesting to consider it alongside the thirteen home Ingersoll Commons affordable housing project under construction just south of Temple. Recognizing that they're targeting very different markets, we prefer the project with some height and density.
The project went to the ZBA this week and developers are awaiting a decision.