Back in January 2012, the ZBA approved Renewbold, a bold sixteen-unit development planned for the corner of 16th & Moore. Located at the former site of the Drexel School, this project comes from LPMG, the folks behind the SPTR and American Sardine Bar. Postgreen has done the design work, and Hybrid Construction is building it. And now finally, after years of planning, the project will be getting in the ground later this month.

Project rendering

Though some site work will take place in the coming weeks, the official groundbreaking will take place on October 16th, according to LPMG principal John Longacre. The groundbreaking should have a party atmosphere, as the developer will sponsor a cookout-style barbecue on the site to mark the occasion. There will be a small ceremony and a question and answer session for potential buyers.

Cars have been parked here for the last couple of years but they've been cleared out

Renewbold will go up in two phases. The Bancroft Street side of the project, pictured above, will go up first. This will include 6 two-story homes and 3 three-story homes. Several of these units are already spoken for through pre-sale, but there are a few that remain, in case you’re interested. Once the Bancroft Street side of the development is sold out, look for work to begin on the 16th Street side. That side will feature 7 three-story homes, 2 condo units and a retail space.

Current view of the 16th Street side

With groundbreaking imminent, prices on the homes are going up a little bit. The two-story homes are priced in the high $200K range, and the three-story homes are priced in the mid $300K range. These prices were sort of on the high side when the project was first announced, but the changes to the market in the neighborhood mean that the asking prices are now somewhere between extremely reasonable and a really good deal. So we don’t think that these homes will be sitting on the market for long, and we wouldn’t be shocked to see phase two get underway before construction finishes for phase one.

There’s no doubt, it’s extremely exciting to hear that this project will soon get underway. Postgreen’s innovative homes have pretty much only gone up in East Kensington to date, and this entry into a new part of the city could be a game-changer. Hopefully, other developers in South Philly will follow some of the examples of sustainable design and interesting architecture set by this project, and we will soon enter an era where the idea of building a ‘Graduate Hospital Special’ is a thing of the past.