A couple of readers have reached out over the last few days to give us the heads up that some new permits have appeared on a chain link fence on North Broad Street, in between Uhuru Furniture and the appropriately named Tire Shop. We made our way to 836 N. Broad St. earlier today and discovered a vacant property looking much like it has over the last few years. But that's about to change in a big way.
About a year ago, developers bought this property which extends all the way to the corner of Carlisle & Parrish, paying $475K. According to the permits in the Zoning Archive, the plans call for an eight story building (nice!) with ground floor commercial and thirty apartments on floors 3-8. The building will also include a bunch of parking, with 14 spots in the basement, 8 on the first floor, and 9 more on the second floor, with those second floor spots accessed via a freight elevator. The Broad Street frontage will include a 1,340 sqft retail space, and access to the parking will come from Parrish Street. With CMX-4 zoning for the property, it appears to be entirely by-right.
This isn't exactly the most desirable location in town, with a gas station and a Pep Boys across the street and the vacant former Metropolitan Opera House located a few doors to the north. But when you consider the increasing momentum on North Broad Street, with the Divine Lorraine coming back to life and the same thing happening sometime soon at the Met, the area should become more and more exciting in the years to come. It also bears mentioning that Ridge Avenue is just two blocks away, and several new mixed-use buildings should soon have new retail tenants which will bring more amenities to the folks who will eventually live in these apartments. We just hope they don't mind living next door to the Tire Shop.