It’s been nearly a decade since Bella Vista was named the best neighborhood in Philadelphia, and this highly walkable neighborhood continues to shine. People are eager to live here, but the neighborhood is dominated by single family homes, with prevailing zoning limiting the potential for apartment rentals. So we were pretty excited the other day when we discovered a by-right permit for a six unit mixed-use project which will definitely upgrade three underused and not so attractive properties. We’ve been wondering about this location for almost 15 years, so… it’s about time!
824-828 S. 8th St. has been occupied by restaurants for as long as we can remember. When we covered the property in 2011, we were wondering who would take over the space after the closing of James, an award winning restaurant that lasted half a decade. Perhaps indicating the challenges of the location, it’s been a bit of a revolving door, hosting restaurants like the Mildred, Frannie Nicks, Coeur, and most recently Italian restaurant O Sole Mio.
New owners have purchased this property and are planning a mixed-use building they’re calling Essex Place. The plans from Ambit Architecture show a four-story building with a brick facade and a bay window in the middle, to help match the context of the street in a way a more contemporary boxy bay window never would. The fourth floor might stand out a bit, but that hardly seems worth getting upset about, as it’s only a few feet taller than the existing un-noteworthy structure.
Six units on the upper floors will be a breath of fresh air, bringing new residents to this terrific area. As for the commercial space, we would imagine that another restaurant will take over and wonder whether a newly constructed commercial space will offer improved efficiency and result in less turnover. Or perhaps the run of various restaurants over the last several years would indicate that a different commercial concept might make more sense at this location?
The new zoning permit not only details the construction of the new building but also the demolition of the building currently on the site, so we’d expect to see demolition activity in the coming months. In the meantime, we’ll wait for building permits and excitedly look forward to a tremendous improvement just a block away from the Italian Market. We’re always looking for an excuse to stroll around Bella Vista, so hopefully we’ll swing by and snap some demo photos later this summer. And if demolition hasn’t started yet and we have an excuse to grab some John’s, we’ll consider it a totally acceptable consolation prize.