When we covered a nine-unit project slated for the location of the former Northern National Bank last week, we noted it wasn’t the only project coming to the oft-overlooked Hartranft neighborhood. And indeed, a recently approved 31 unit building around the corner serves as even more evidence of a fledgling transformation in this pocket of North Philadelphia.

2301-13 N 8th St. sits on the northeast corner of 8th & Dauphin and has been largely vacant for decades, but it has a colorful industrial history. The Apex Coat-Apron-Towel & Linen Supply Co., which operated out of several buildings on the site, seemingly had ties to the mob, as more than a dozen linen supply companies in the region were investigated by the Justice Department for price fixing in the 1960s. You really never know what you’re going to find when you start digging up the histories of vacant lots in Philadelphia; sometimes even clean linens come up dirty.

This isn’t the first time a project has been proposed for this site, as developers got a zoning variance for a 39-unit building here in 2021. According to plans from Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture, the previous version also included commercial space on Germantown Avenue, and a dozen parking spaces with a driveway off Dauphin Street. The project needed a variance due in part to the fact that it sits in two zoning districts, but also because of its <ahem> unusual shape.

While the plan from a few years ago called for a single large apartment building, the latest effort takes a different approach. Nine triplexes will front 8th Street, with a quadplex planned for the Germantown Avenue section of the property. The revised proposal (also designed by HDO) will rely on red brick along the facades and will vary the cornice lines to provide some visual interest. As you can see, the parking has been nixed from the project, and the lack of a curb cut will only improve walkability on the block.

When a property sits in two different zoning districts, any project will trigger a bunch of refusals. For this project, the lack of parking was an issue, as was the elimination of commercial space on Germantown Avenue. Though this will be a market rate project, the developer expects rents to be affordable for households at 60% AMI. This, combined with the inclusion of some three-bedroom units, resulted in support from the 37th Ward RCO, and ultimately got the ZBA to approve the project.

In theory, we could see this project get underway in the middle of next year. Then again, a project was proposed here four years ago and never moved forward, so there’s no guarantee this project will ever break ground. Hey developers, let us make you an offer you can’t refuse: You’ve got twelve months to develop this property. And just to show you we’re serious, you have six months.