While there are some parts of Center City that look pretty much the same as they did a decade (or decades) ago, Chinatown just isn’t one of them. In this neighborhood in the last number of years, we’ve seen buildings go up on former parking lots, along with plenty of projects that rose in place of demolished buildings. Of course, developers can also add more housing by constructing apartments on top of existing buildings; and that looks like the plan for 921 Race St., which recently received zoning permits to add two floors to a one story building.

Even with the addition of 8 new apartments, the newly renovated building will still be substantially shorter than some of the nearby properties on Race Street, like the the 11 story Bell Telephone Company building across the street. It’ll also be notably shorter than the recently constructed 5 story mixed-use building at 911-13 Race St. only a few narrow lots away, not to mention the ever evolving hotel project down the block that we covered last week.

With relatively permissive zoning and a decent number of taller buildings going up nearby it’s a little disappointing we’re not seeing a proposal for a building with a bit more height. There are certainly some historic commercial buildings worthy of saving in Chinatown, but this one, with an industrial cinderblock facade, isn’t one of them. A demolition wouldn’t have been a loss and might have allowed for something taller and denser. Then again, more density would have triggered a requirement for parking, so we can appreciate why the developers might have opted to go with something on the shorter side.

In recent years, this building has been used by a few different businesses, including a hair salon, an accountant’s office, and a real estate office. Once the renovation and addition are complete, plans call for the first floor to be converted into a restaurant, adding to the already extensive mix of eating establishments in the area. We wonder whether an operator has already been identified or whether the builders will provide a vanilla box with a hood to accommodate a yet-to-be determined tenant.

Whatever business ends up operating in this space, it’s worth celebrating the addition of some more units and space for another restaurant in the heart of the neighborhood, especially at a time when many are worried about residential and commercial displacement from Chinatown. And given that these won’t be especially large units, we’d imagine that the apartments will be relatively affordable for Center City, especially for new construction. On the other hand, living right above a new restaurant could end up being quite expensive in its own way!