We’ve been taking advantage of these pleasant late summer days to check out some of the new construction in West Philly, and we recently noticed that 4408 Lancaster Ave., located along the border between Haverford North and Belmont, seems complete and is available for lease. We last wrote about this project back in 2022, commenting at the time that development was continuing to radiate further and further outward, up Lancaster Avenue.
Sitting on two long vacant parcels, the mixed-use building with 9 apartments above ground floor retail required several variances from the Zoning Board of Adjustment for permission to build this modest structure. With the West Philadelphia District Plan recommending zoning changes to encourage transit oriented development along Lancaster Avenue, we’re lucky the ZBA approved the variance for a larger building than allowed by-right by the CMX-2 zoning.
With SEPTA getting ready to spend two billion dollars on a Trolley Modernization project, it’s great to see infill development like this along the agency’s Route 10 trolley line. Unfortunately much of the zoning along this stretch of Lancaster Avenue is still RM-1 and CMX-2, which puts some serious limitations on what a developer can build by-right.
Not far away, we happened upon an even larger project that’s currently under construction. When completed, 4324-44 Lancaster Ave. will include 49 units and 2 commercial spaces over a few buildings, including frontage on Parrish Street, 44th Street, and Lancaster Avenue. Replacing a tire repair shop and parking, the development will take up most of this triangular block, with the exception of two publicly owned vacant lots to the east. The units in this project will be affordable and were partially financed with grants from the Community Revitalization Fund Program awarded by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
Like 4408 Lancaster Ave., this project utilized the lack of parking minimums in the zoning code for CMX-2 properties to take advantage of the transit oriented location to develop a mixed-use project without parking. It’s hard to imagine this project penciling out if it was required to provide parking, so ironically a higher zoning categorization like CMX-3 could have made this project infeasible. Maybe it’s time for the city or state to eliminate all parking minimums near rail transit?
It seems likely this pocket of West Powelton will continue to see more small and medium sized apartments constructed in the coming years as long as demand for apartments within walking distance of University City remains strong. In February the ZBA granted permission for the demolition of 4402 and 4404 Lancaster Ave. for the construction of a seven unit multi-family building. We wouldn’t be shocked to see the double wide lot at 4412 Lancaster Ave. developed soon too, which would cover up the blank western wall of the new building next door. Next up, perhaps we’ll see something rise on the other side of 45th Street?