The 4200 block of Market Street is a bit odd if you ask us, with a real estate mix that one surely wouldn’t predict given its close proximity to the University of Pennsylvania. One might expect a whole bunch of student housing. Or maybe some businesses that target the student market. Alternately, recognizing the Penn’s reach has only really stretched to this part of town relatively recently, one might expect something more like the 4000 block of Market Street, with a collection of low rise buildings, home to businesses mostly targeting non-students in the neighborhood. But none of those apply to the 4200 block of Market.

The south side of the block is dominated by three uses. CL Presser is a construction tool and equipment supply company, and they make their home on the block. The Federal government has office space on this block, occupied by the Social Security Administration. A dialysis center completes the trifecta on the south side, along with a bunch of parking. On the north side it’s a bit of a different story, with a fire station taking up half the block and a mix of six small homes or commercial buildings filling in the rest. Until a few years ago, there were eight such buildings, but 4211 and 4213 Market St. were both demoed relatively recently.

As you would surely expect, a new project is in the works for this location. Developers bought 4211 Market St. for $185K in 2019 and then bought the neighboring property for a more robust $400K last year. Now they’re combining the two into a single property and will be constructing a new building with 16 units and four parking spots. We imagine the parking will be accessed from the rear, on Filbert Street. And we also have to believe that the new building will target students, with Penn just a stone’s throw away.

It’s also possible that some of the units in this building will be occupied by people who don’t go to school over here but work nearby instead. After all, there are plenty of non-Penn jobs in this area, with office space on the upswing. University City Science Center is a few blocks away and is expanding at a rapid pace. Even closer, 2.0 University Place is located around the corner at 41st & Powelton. Even closer still, 3.0 University Place is set to rise just steps away, at 42nd & Chestnut. It’s not the worst idea in the world- take it from us, you can’t beat a short commute!