First Friday fans had better watch out, because parking is getting more difficult in Old City. As development continues to flourish in Philadelphia, we're seeing heaps of surface parking lots get bought up and built up nowadays. This is generally a very a positive thing, since small surface parking lots are almost never the highest and best use for any property, especially in the core of Center City. In Old City alone, we've seen several residential developments sprout in place of surface lots, most recently at 130 S. Front St. at the Adagio Homes project. And given that the developers for this project are proceeding with a second phase of construction, we can infer that the project is working out pretty well thus far. Nb, there's a unit listed for $3.1M in that development.
We were in the neighborhood the other day and happened upon what looked like a relatively new fence at another parking lot less than a block away from the Adagio Homes project. 24 S. Front St. has been used as a parking lot for many years, dating back at least a decade. And it looks like it's still being used as a parking lot, just not for much longer.
Looking at the L+I Map, we see that there are plans for a building with 9 units and 18 parking spaces. According to the by-right application, the building will rise five stories. What we're not sure of at this point is whether the project will entail nine attached townhomes (technically one building) organized as a Planned Unit Development (PUD) or whether it will mean a condo building. Either way, we think it's safe to assume that these units will sell for a pretty penny, joining the collection of big ticket projects in the neighborhood. Considering the success that we've seen with those projects, it's no shock that these developers are looking to redevelop here.
What is shocking is that we're starting to wonder where the tourists will park as more and more Old City parking lots disappear. Perhaps we can find an answer as part of a comprehensive plan to reimagine Penns Landing? Alternately, there's all that space behind Independence Hall that's just sitting around, how 'bout we turn that into a multi-story parking lot? That idea doesn't seem like it would upset anybody at all.