Considering that it replaced a suburban style 7-11 with a surface parking lot mere steps from the El, the seven story mixed-use project at 23-29 W Girard Ave. was always going to be a major improvement. When we first reported on this 107-unit building, we were pretty happy with all of the brick planned for the first five stories, giving the building a neo-traditional look. At least it looked good in the renderings, but that doesn’t always mean the finished project will turn out as depicted in the plans. But when we recently swung by to check out construction progress, we were happy to see the structure nearly complete, and pretty similar to what was promised.

The building is now being marketed with the name 23 West and apartments are available for rent. Back in 2023 we guessed that anything from a high end restaurant to another convenience store might move into the commercial spaces in the building, but instead a Wonder location has opened on the eastern side of the building. That’s not so surprising, as they’ve been popping up all over Philadelphia.

As for the commercial space on the west side, recently approved sign permits indicate that Haraz Coffee House will be opening a second Philadelphia spot, joining their University City location. While the adjacent food hall will focus on delivery and probably won’t induce too much foot traffic, hopefully this coffee shop will bring more visitors to the corridor from early morning to late evenings. Considering that 2/3 of the first floor is taken up by a couple dozen parking spots, these two retail tenants are a pretty great outcome for this building.

Next door to this property is a vacant building that was most recently home to a Dollar Tree location. This building was previously occupied by a discount retailer called Deal$ (whose opening we covered back in 2011), and before that a thrift store was located here for years. Though none of the original details remain on the outside of the building, it was originally constructed as the Jumbo Theatre in the early 1900s, operating as a movie house through the 1960s.

For years, we’ve been hoping that someone would come forward and redevelop this property, creating a retail gateway of sorts between Northern Liberties and Fishtown. With a similar footprint to the property next door, this site could accommodate a building with about a hundred units over commercial, with its density similarly limited by the parking requirement. Though City Council passed Mayor Parker’s bill to remove parking minimums for the most permissive commercial mixed-use zoning categories, CMX-3 parcels were not included in the recent reforms, so a project here would still require parking. This is a shame, given its location next to a train station and the impact that parking would have on a theoretical first floor. Until a developer comes forward that’s willing to take on some risk and pursue a variance at the ZBA, we fear this property will continue to sit empty. At least it’ll have a nice looking next-door neighbor with some exciting food options on the first floor.