In December, we told you about five homes replacing empty lots at 2001-09 W. Oxford St., a few blocks north of the Girard College campus. At the time, the developers had just gone to zoning. Now, these buildings have been framed out and are getting facades.

In the past

Yesterday

At the time, we wondered whether, as the zoning applications stated, the homes would all be different, with one of the structures rising 53′ high. As we can now see, the five homes all look the same on the outside, though there are likely some interior differences between the units. The location tells us that this is more student housing for Temple students, which should be ready just in time for the beginning of the fall semester.

View on 20th St.

We do wish that the developers would have made a different choice both in terms of design and materials for the frontage on 20th Street. In a more perfect world, there would be more windows, larger windows, and something other than vinyl on this wall. Sure, we get it that these are rentals, but did they really have to announce it like that?