It’s probable that you’ve noticed the large vacant warehouse at 9th & Poplar at some point over the years, and perhaps you’ve wondered why it exists and whether it could get redeveloped at some point. We’ve certainly noticed it many times, and back in 2015 we wrote about it and mentioned that it was originally constructed in 1918 as a warehouse for Strawbridge & Clothier. RIP, Strawbridge’s.

We wrote about the property a couple years ago because we noticed some construction activity and were hopeful that redevelopment was on the horizon. We were a disappointed at the time though, to learn that the building wasn’t coming back into active use, but instead the owners, Philadelphia Suburban Development Corporation, were simply pulling out the old windows and boarding up the window openings. Surely this made the building more secure, if not more marketable.

The windows have been boarded up for awhile now, but the building nevertheless caught the eye of a new developer. We heard from a reader recently, who clued us in about a community meeting this week at which neighbors learned about a major redevelopment proposal for the property. Post Brothers has the building under contract and is looking to renovate the building into a 350 unit apartment building with retail on the first floor. We don’t see anything about car parking on the zoning application, but from what we understand there will be a parking component to the project, in the form of parking garages. There’s an odd zoning notice posted to the vacant lot across the street for “multi-family household,” which seems like it could be a mistake. That spot would seem like a reasonable location for a parking garage associated with the apartment building, as would the lot on the northern end of the property, at Percy & Girard.

This project, assuming it gets approved by the ZBA next month, would obviously be a game changer for this area, which has seen relatively little in the way of market rate development. With Northern Liberties and South Kensington continually expanding westward, and with PHA housing rooted in much of East Poplar, the redevelopment of this building seems to make more and more sense, as a sort of western bookend for market rate development. Add in the fact that the developers have pledged $100K toward the renovation of the East Poplar playground and we don’t see how this project would be anything but a major win for the area. Here’s to hoping it gets approved.