At this point, you’re surely familiar with the narrative that Philadelphia was once an industrial powerhouse, but not so much anymore. As the city’s industrial might has waned, we’ve been left with numerous former industrial buildings which possess significant character but limited utility. We can point to a fine example of this phenomenon at 2200 N. 8th St. in the Hartranft neighborhood, where a collection of old industrial buildings fill the entire block contained by 8th Street, 9th Street, Dauphin Street, and Susquehanna Avenue.

We believe that this collection of industrial buildings was originally constructed for the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, a precursor to Septa. Over the years, the property housed offices, a repair shop, other types of retail shops, and warehouse space. More recently, and by that we mean starting in the 1960s, the property usage shifted, pivoting to manufacturing and storage of rubber and metal products. Edward Darby & Son, a leading US supplier of wire mesh and wire cloth, operated here in more recent years. It’s possible they’ve moved already, but if not, the clock is seemingly ticking.

Developers purchased this property in 2023 and have residential goals in mind. Soon after buying the property, they proposed redeveloping the site with a 501 unit project which never came to fruition. Now they are coming back to potentially pursue a different, less dense residential plan. Coming to Civic Design Review next month, look for a 232-unit project with 92 parking spots. Here’s the site plan:

Rather than going for a single large apartment building, the developers are instead planning a collection of triplexes and quadplexes. Looking at the site plan, we see 14 quadplexes on Susquehanna, 14 quadplexes on Dauphin, 20 triplexes on 8th Street, another 20 triplexes on 9th Street, and a sizable surface parking lot in the middle. On the one hand, we might argue that this 2.5 acre site could accommodate even more density and that the developers are leaving some meat on the proverbial bone. Then again, 232 market rate units in Hartranft is a huge number and we’d expect it will take years to complete construction and fill these units.

If these renderings from HDO seem oddly familiar, it’s because we covered a rather similar design recently, right across the street. Indeed, nine triplexes are planned at 2301 N. 8th St., on a property owned by the same development group. That project already has ZBA approval and could conceivably start construction sometime early next year. The larger project at 2200 N. 8th St., on the other hand, still has some work to do, first going to Civic Design Review in November and then going to the ZBA in February.

Given the size of the project and the density it proposes, we can see some changes requested from the local community in exchange for support. We hope the developers and the community are able to get to a mutually comfortable place, as this project would bring life to a property whose industrial usage hasn’t made much sense in recent decades. New housing, however, would surely be a boon in an area that’s experiencing a rebirth. There’s still plenty of room for Hartranft to grow, and this project would be a terrific anchor for future development in the area.