Construction was recently halted temporarily when developers came upon bed rock while excavating the southwest corner of 19th and Arch Streets where initial work on a 14-story mixed-use apartment building is underway.

The corner

Instead of blasting the rock, developers decided to compress the underground garage. In addition, because developers had to slightly adjust their previously agreed to plans to raise the roof five feet in one section above the elevator shaft to comply with code, they had to have the revised plans looked over by representatives from the Kennedy House and Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA) who drafted the original project agreement.

Digging deep

“It’s not what was agreed upon,” said Ed Panek, LSNA zoning chair, about why even simple, logical adjustments must be examined again by parties party to the agreement.

It’s a stipulation that can prove to be trivial, but it also protects neighbors from unexpected changes to plans. According to Panek, five feet could be the difference between a neighbor possessing or lacking a view.

Rendering for the building from several months ago

The current construction in Center City plans to add hundreds of new apartments to a three block radius in the next few years. More, across the street on the northwest corner of 19th and Arch, primary plans, still without renderings, for a 27-story mixed-use building were presented by developers from Liberty Property Trust to the LSNA and others last month, as we told you yesterday.

With all the new Center City apartments, to countless new homes in developing neighborhoods, to Samchick’s Penn Treaty Village plan, we wonder, who are the new companies these new residents will work for? Or are we just expecting current residents to relocate to these new places? And if so, what’s going to happen to the places that these people currently live?

–Lou Mancinelli