Toward the end of 2012, we noticed some 'For Sale' signs posted at a vacant lot at 1312-16 E. Passyunk Ave., and were even kind enough to share this info with the world, with the hope that someone would purchase and redevelop these properties. It may have taken a few years, but developers finally bought these lots and are now trying to find a way to build a project that makes sense with their $600K purchase price.
If your Passyunk Avenue mental geography isn't so great, we'll help you out by telling you that these properties are located just around the corner from Wharton Street and sit just south of Pat's and Geno's. Despite a location so close to a retail mecca though, these properties are zoned for single-family homes.
Three new homes would work here, though we'd contend that the location is just a hair too close to tourist central to really get the needed sale prices. We lived a block from here many years back, and the crowds weren't so bad, but the sauteed onion smell was pretty constant. Ah, the memories. Wait, where were we?
Oh yes, the developers are trying to come up with a project that works for them, and they came to Passyunk Square Civic Association a couple months ago with a proposal for a 12-unit building with parking for 3 cars, accessed in the back via a small adjacent vacant property on Wharton Street. According to the PSCA website, the developers go some feedback from neighbors and agreed to come back to the community at a later date. We don't think this has happened yet.
We weren't at the meeting so we can't be sure of what kind of feedback came from neighbors, but we'd have to think that it related to the height (the proposed building would be 60' high) and the density relative to the number of parking spots provided. Considering the purchase price, we don't know whether the developers have any kind of room to chop off a floor and lose those units, but they will have to find some places to compromise because of the single-family base zoning of the property. We do hope they find some kind of middle ground, as this property has been sitting empty for too long. And we'll say it again, density is really good when on/near a commercial corridor, so for our money, not living anywhere nearby (anymore), 12 units sounds pretty good for this location.