We've seen student housing sprout up all over West Philly in recent years. We've seen it in a concentrated area near 40th & Baring. And we've also seen it pop up at various Mantua locations, sprinkled around the neighborhood in projects large and small. Most recently, we told you about plans for a new building coming to 34th & Hamilton, and expressed concern that it would probably look bad. We're sticking with that prediction.
A much smaller project is on the boards for 526 N 31st St., which sits on an interesting block just north of Spring Garden Street. As recently as 2007, this was a vacant and blighted building which was formerly owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. After they demolished the building, they sold it to an individual who we suspect may have flipped the property to a developer. Earlier this week, a project came before the ZBA to build a triplex here, but a decision was held pending a meeting with the local RCO. The ask seems reasonable- if the lot was 75 sqft larger, it would be a by-right application.
This triplex, assuming it gets built, will sit across the street from a collection of train lines that run through 30th Street Station. Fortunately, those rail lines are blocked by some greenery. We would have to imagine the trees don't block the noise though.
As we mentioned, this is just north of Spring Garden Street, where the bridge crosses over the river and the rail lines. So it's probably a quicker walk to the Art Museum than it is to Drexel. But if Drexel's plan to build up the railyards to the south as part of a thirty-year master plan comes to fruition, Drexel could actually come to the property eventually.
It's certainly not something we'll be seeing for quite some time, but we have to wonder whether it's at least part of the attraction to the developers for building in this location.