It’s been a week of highs and lows for Temple University, with their first Top-100 ranking in the U.S. News & World Report slotting our favorite North Philadelphia educational institution at the 89 spot. Sadly, this good news was paired with the tragic and sudden passing of Temple’s interim president, JoAnne Epps. By all accounts, Epps was a wonderful leader and person, and positively impacted many, many people – we offer our condolences to the Epps family and the entire Temple University community.

Another piece of news came out yesterday, thanks to a presentation posted in anticipation of an upcoming Civic Design Review (CDR) meeting. Immediately across the street from another proposed residential tower, Landmark Properties is teaming with CUBE 3 on a 28-story tower at 1518-28 N. Broad St., at the SW corner of Broad & Oxford. Let’s scope out the corner (and the proposal across the street) before we get to the exciting details.

We actually alluded to this project earlier this summer, when it was reported that a large proposal was on the way. And now thankfully we have loads of new information on what can be expected to go up. 28 floors and over 300′ tall, this contemporary tower called Legacy on Broad will add 289 units and a whopping 868 beds to this property on the edge of Temple’s campus. Shaped roughly like an L, the building will have 20K sqft of ground floor retail, and will include a 78-space, below-grade parking garage for both residents and retail guests. As this is targeted to students, the amenities include study rooms and other student-friendly offerings, along with a pool at the 11th floor. This outdoor amenity sits atop one of the two volumes that make up the massing of the building. Another key feature is the public landscaped area at the corner of Broad & Oxford, which will provide a much-needed green space for residents and neighbors alike.

The look of the building is very contemporary, with the lighter, taller section broken up by the bulkier, shorter portion. This building screams clean and modern, with the various gray and silver paneling forming vertical, elegant lines as the tower reaches its full height. Even though the broad side of the tower faces Broad St., the stepped down massing does a good job of not feeling like a lifeless slab along the thoroughfare. Let’s scope those renderings, shall we?

While extremely reminiscent of the nearly finished and recently proposed projects coming to us from this same development/design team, we are very excited for these plans. An empty lot and a car-centric drug store are clearly less-than-ideal uses for such a large property immediately adjacent to a large university. This type of density in such a transit-accessible spot is exactly the type of thing that will help bring North Broad back to its glory days. And we are 100% here for it, as this awesome stretch of the city is indeed experiencing a renaissance that we hope continues far into the future.