On Shurs Lane, near Mitchell Street, we told you earlier this week that the Ugly Moose closed its doors after a 15 year run and its building will soon be demolished and replaced with 21 townhomes. While we were in the area, we noticed some site work happening around the corner on Mitchell Street. Google Street View reveals there was a previously a one-story building at 4136 Mitchell St., but that structure is now gone.
Developers bought this property about half a year ago, paying $2.4M for the privilege. At that price, you'd have to think that something significant would be coming here, and you'd be entirely correct. The developers are planning a five-story, 72 unit apartment building for this site with 10 parking spots and a small fresh food market on the first floor. The project is by-right, but since it will mean the creation of over 50 new units, it has to go through the CDR process. It's on the agenda for January 10th.
According to Plan Philly, the project already presented once to the CDR committee, back in November. It was not met with great support, as members of the board took issue with building materials and the windows, while members of the community demanded more parking and questioned the viability of the fresh food market. We're pretty sure that the viability of the market isn't as important to the developers as the fact that the inclusion of the market allows them an extra 15 feet of height by right. Also interesting, in the Plan Philly article, the developers stated that they'd be increasing the parking for the project after meeting with neighbors, but in the revised packet for next week's meeting it appears the parking is unchanged.
Here's an idea of what the project will look like, with credit to architects at KCA Design Associates.
As we've said in the past, the recommendations of the CDR committee are non-binding. And we told you, the project is by-right. So even if the committee and/or neighbors have concerns about the project, there's a very clear path to it getting built pretty much as you see it in the renderings. What do you think about this project? Will a fresh food market be able to make it at this location? Is there enough parking provided? And wouldn't it be a good thing if the laws changed and CDR had some teeth?