The parts of Mantua closest to Drexel have seen a ton of construction in recent years, and the redevelopment is seemingly continuing unabated. Construction is taking place in all shapes and sizes, with one-off projects joined by massive buildings and everything in between. Looking down 34th Street, we see various examples of the different types of development in the area.
On 34th Street between Hamilton and Spring Garden, a 28-unit project has been framed and sheathed. Remember, we first told you about this project over the summer, when a building that previously housed an old deli had just been demolished. Just north of Haverford Avenue, also on 34th Street, an old home was torn down a couple of years ago and a new apartment building is under construction.
In between those projects, yet another residential development is underway. Somehow, we weren't aware that the building at 34th & Brandywine, most recently the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church and originally the 34th Street Baptist Church, was in danger of being demolished. Passing by a couple of weeks ago though, we saw that the beautiful building from the late 1800s is now gone.
In its place, we saw some new foundations.
According to permits, this will be an eleven unit building which we have to imagine will be offered for student housing. The property was purchased last year for $430K, by a company called Phila Rent Inc, further suggesting to us that these units will be offered as rentals. Just like pretty much all of the other projects in the area.
In this neighborhood and others, we're always pleased to see vacant lots redeveloped into new projects. We're generally less excited to see wonderful old buildings lost in favor of new construction. Granted, bringing the old church back into active use would have likely been a huge financial burden and we're not sure there was a buyer out there interested in taking on that challenge. Still, we're sorry to see that the old church has been demolished- it's definitely an architectural loss for Mantua and all of Philadelphia. Sadly, we're entirely confident that it won't be the last one we lose.