The long journey for 1843 E. Passyunk Ave. could finally be approaching a satisfying conclusion. We first wrote about this property about half a decade ago, but it came to our attention many years before. The building was home to King of Jeans for many years, and the amazing sign caught our eye long before we were writing about real estate on the internet. Man, it was just so amazing.
When we first wrote about the property, it was listed for sale for $800K, a price that we considered to be too high at the time. It wasn't long though, before a developer came up with a plan to demolish the building and build twelve apartments with first-floor commercial space. The plans evolved some, with the subtraction of three apartments and the addition of second floor office space. Those plans ultimately fizzled and in 2013 Rockland Capital bought the property and came up with a plan for sixteen apartments above retail space, but the ZBA said no dice. By the end of 2014, a revised project with twelve apartments, second floor office space, and ground floor commercial got approval from the ZBA. The building was demolished soon after and then roughly another year passed before construction got underway. It was probably February when the foundations were poured and then… nothing for months.
At some point in the last month or so, construction (finally!) resumed. Two stories of the new building have now been framed out in steel and from the looks of the first two floors, this building will be quite a bit taller than its next door neighbors. The first floor, especially, will have some amazing ceiling heights. We wonder what will end up taking over the retail space.
This building is getting three more floors, so get ready for a building that dwarfs just about everything on Passyunk Avenue. Those 4th and 5th floor units are gonna have some excellent views.
Let's just cross our fingers and hope that construction will proceed in a linear fashion from here on out.