We tend to focus on larger projects here at Naked Philly, but sometimes a smaller proposal grabs our attention just because it looks cool. And that’s exactly the case with a three story mixed-use building at 329 E. Girard Ave. that came before the ZBA last week.

While Frankford Avenue gets all the love, East Girard Avenue has also experienced a pretty dramatic transformation over the last decade plus. Historically, this corridor has been dominated by three-story mixed-use buildings, offering small neighborhood commercial space and limited density above. We’ve seen several projects consolidate multiple properties, creating larger commercial spaces and greater density. But we’ve also seen some smaller scale redevelopment, like the 2019 construction of a small mixed-use building at 331-33 E. Girard Ave., which replaced an interesting but inefficient triangular building. This playful design from KJO Architecture evokes slightly offset shipping containers stacked on top of each other.

You can see in the photo above, the three-story building that once stood at 329 E. Girard Ave. has been demoed. This utilitarian building had a residential unit upstairs, with the ground floor evolving through the decades. The retail space had most recently been occupied by a home health agency, but the spot hosted a variety of businesses over the years, from an immigration resource center to a grocery, a beauty shop, a law office, and an auto tags renewal center.

In place of this now demoed building, developers are hoping to build a three-story building with three apartments and ground-floor retail. This project, designed by KJO like its neighbor, will take some visual cues from the building next door. Before it can move forward, the project needs a variance from the ZBA for lot coverage and density. This lot could accommodate three units by right in other parts of the city, but this property is subject to the Fifth District Overlay, which is more restrictive with regard to density and only allows two units by right. We suspect that this project will get the variances it seeks, but we have to wonder how this town will ever meet Mayor Parker’s goal of 30,000 new units when City Council’s actions continue to restrict density while increasing the bureaucratic hoops around real estate development.

You can see, the commercial space will share the first floor and basement with an apartment. The apartment will be perfectly livable, but the small size of the retail space will surely limit the number of potential commercial tenants. We’ll hope they can find a commercial tenant, but there’s also a chance we could see this building come back to the ZBA in the future, looking to convert the retail space to a 4th unit.

With the support of the Fishtown Neighbors Association and non-opposition from the the local councilmember, it seems likely the zoning board will allow the project to move forward. The variances requested are fairly modest, and are in line with approvals the ZBA provided next door. Assuming the project gets approved, we’ll look forward to seeing the project completed and how the new building interacts with its neighbor. At the same time, we’ll probably find ourselves wishing that the two properties had been combined half a dozen years ago, providing even more density and much more functional commercial space for the corridor.