Yesterday, we told you about a dollar-centric new shopping center currently under construction on the 900 block of Girard. Today, we have a horse of a different color just a few blocks to the west. A reader tipped us off awhile back about some new construction on the 1500 block of Girard and today we finally made our way over there to check it out.

Building is rising

According to the L&I Map, the developers have combined 1509 and 1511 W. Girard Ave. into a single lot and are constructing a building with seventeen apartments and eleven parking spots. The lot size is huge, measuring about 52′ by 150′, which we believe has allowed the build to be by right. It also extends all the way to Flora Street, giving us the sense that the parking will be accessed via the back of the property. The lack of an apparent garage entrance on the front reinforces this theory.

It seems likely that these units, like so many others built in the area of late, will be offered as rental apartments. We’re likewise guessing that they’ll be targeted toward Temple students, as an off-off-campus alternative. While the apartment market right near the school is fairly saturated these days, perhaps these developers see an advantage in their location a little further away from Temple and across the street from Francisville. Possibly the same idea that the developers had at 16th & Poplar when they recently built 16 apartments there.

While the virtues of more rental apartments can certainly be debated, it’s clear that this development is a step up from what was here before. Hopefully, the architecture will hold up against some handsome buildings already on the block.

In the past

Current view, looking down the street

Does anyone know, is it more expensive to rent closer to campus, or farther from campus these days? We’d think the latter, but the former could make sense too.