Just a block and a half from the Pearl Theater on Broad Street, the 1600 block of N. Sydenham Street is pretty much in Temple's backyard. You'd think, given the location, that the entire block would be student housing. But it's actually a mix of vacant land, older homes, buildings that have been renovated into student housing, and new construction student housing.
The Open Door Community FBH Church has also made its home at 1609 N. Sydenham St. for many years, but zoning notices on the building and the property next door indicate that the church has either closed its doors or moved to another location.
The zoning notices indicate plans to demolish the two buildings and construct a pair of quadplexes in their place. It goes without saying that these new buildings will target Temple students, like every other newer building on the block. We should mention, since the ZBA gave their approval last month, it's only a matter of time before these buildings come down. We wish we could have seen them when they were first built, the northern property looks like it might have been a stable at one point.
One other interesting note on this project, the developers are 1522-58 W Girard LLC, the same folks planning three large apartment buildings on the 1500 block of Girard Avenue. This is a much smaller build, but we wonder whether they'll use the same architects.
If so, perhaps we can expect two ultra-contemporary buildings on Sydenham, which we'd consider a win. Much of the student-housing architecture of the last few years near Temple, Penn, or Drexel has evoked the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, circa 2007. Something a little different is always a welcome change of pace.