The 1800 block of Ludlow Street in Center City – just west of 18th Street – is nothing to write home about. It’s definitely not one of those small, charming Philadelphia streets. Instead, it’s made up of a small surface parking lot, a bunch of blank walls, and some lowrise brick buildings. Around 4 years ago, one of the lowrise buildings at 1812 Ludlow Street was demolished to expand the parking lot. More recently, 3 more buildings at 1814-1818 Ludlow were demolished. We imagined some kind of development was in the works, but were not sure what was planned until yesterday when a zoning permit for a multifamily building was issued.
The parcels at 1810-18 Ludlow along with another vacant lot at 1813 Ranstead Street are being combined to make way for a 12-story, 50,380 square foot building with 84 residential units, 28 automobile parking spots, and 28 bicycle stalls.
The building will have setbacks starting on the 8th floor. Its residential entrance will be located on Ranstead Street, while the parking garage entrance will be placed along Ludlow Street. The facade looks like it will be made out of black brick on the first floor and black and white fiber cement panels on the upper levels.
It’s definitely positive to see this amount of residential density added on such a small site. Combined, all of the parcels total only 4,601 square feet. With that being said, this project won’t do a ton to improve the character of the 1800 block of Ludlow Street due to the plans for garage doors to be placed along this strip. We imagine that the developer would have opted to include no parking in the building, but the zoning code requires this parking ratio in the CMX-5 zoning district. Maybe, one day, the development team will opt to pursue converting the parking area into a retail space, which we think would make for a much better use of the space.
How do you feel about this project? Are you happy to see plans in place for 84 new homes here? Would you rather there be a storefront on Ludlow Street or parking garages?
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
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