Flash back to around 2017 and there was a sea of vacant mega lots and underutilized properties just north of Girard Avenue between Germantown Avenue and North 2nd Street in Kensington. Walk through this area today and you’ll be surrounded by new construction buildings and development sites. We’ve reported on several of these sites as they went through the entitlement process and were under construction over the years. It’s time to tell you about another.
Work is underway on a 190-unit mixed-use project between Germantown Avenue and North American Street just north of Thompson Street at 1307 Germantown Avenue. The project includes a 6-story, 120-unit building with roughly 9,500 square feet of ground floor commercial space fronting North American Street. 26 duplexes (52 units) will be located behind the mixed-use building with half of them fronting Germantown Avenue. Another 18 units will be located north of the duplexes along Germantown Avenue. There will also be 106 parking spaces and 64 bicycle stalls included in the development. An exterior courtyard will be located between the duplexes and 120-unit building.
This development is replacing a massive surface parking lot and a meat processing plant. The property was fenced off from the neighborhood and was a dead zone, especially in the evening when the meat company occupied the space. This project should activate the site with the commercial activity and other eyes on the street.
It’s great to see homes for hundreds of people being built in an area that is seeing increased housing prices due to lack of supply. We’re also excited to see a large amount of commercial space added along American Street. This development will help further connect Northern Liberties with all of the other action happening further north on American Street.
Do you remember when this area was filled with a bunch of vacant lots? Could you ever have imagined that it would be built out so quickly with so many residential units?
Kyle is a commercial real estate agent at Rittenhouse Realty Advisors, a homeowner, and a real estate investor in Philadelphia. Kyle uses his extensive Philadelphia real estate market knowledge to help his clients buy and sell multifamily investment properties, development opportunities, and industrial sites.
Email Kyle@RittenhouseRealty.com if you are looking to buy or sell a property
Instagram: @agent.kyle