A 149-unit apartment project is being proposed along Spring Garden Street, adding to a stretch of new development around the North Broad corridor.
The eight-story, 98,700-square-foot building at 1314 Spring Garden St. would be built using modular construction. In addition to apartment, plans include 1,600 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The developer on the project is Volumetric Building Cos. The Philadelphia developer signed a 100-year lease on the 20,600-square-foot vacant parcel owned by U.S. Realty Associates Inc., according to Michael Palmer, Volumetric’s head of strategy and real estate.
A previous plan to build a six-story storage facility on the site was met with pushback from community members.
Volumetric hopes to move quick on the project. Palmer said the builder plans to break ground in early June and begin leasing in mid-2024.
He said the ground-floor retail space could be a “quick fitness class type of retailer” like Orangetheory Fitness or SoulCycle. Other options include a cafe or coffee shop, with a goal of incorporating a small business, rather than a chain into the space, Palmer said.
Documents filed with the Philadelphia planning department call for 96 studio apartments, 48 junior one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units. The project would include an amenity area and a 28-space underground parking garage. A distinguishing feature on the building would be a green roof with a deck and common area that would reduce carbon emissions by 60% to 66% in construction and when the building is in operation.
Development is closing in on all four sides of Spring Garden and Broad streets as the ripple effects from the popularity of neighborhoods like Northern Liberties, Fairmount and Center City push toward the area.
“No wonder why there’s a lot of people building here, but the challenge has been there’s been a huge demand of people moving here because it has access to all of the corners of the city and there’s a lack of attainable housing in the area, and it’s made prices go up considerably,” Palmer said.
Palmer said the “impetus for bringing our building here was affordability and density.” He said 1314 Spring Garden would cater to residents in the 50th to 70th income percentile, adding he wants it to be accessible to a “wide range of people.”
The Business Journal reported in November that Volumetric planned to raise $75 million to help position the company as “a leader in providing meaningful, high-quality and cost-effective solutions globally to the housing and hospitality industry,” CEO Vaughan Buckley said. Volumetric has a goal of becoming a $1 billion company over the next few years, Buckley has said.
The project joins a number of multifamily buildings taking shape along both Spring Garden and Callowhill streets to cater to to the influx of people. It sits adjacent to the recently completed, 410-unit LVL North, and a Toll Brothers luxury apartment building under construction on the corner of Broad and Noble streets. On the corner of North 5th and Spring Garden streets is the Carson, a 373-apartment building, and at 1201 Callowhill St. is a planned 144-unit building.
More information found in “149-unit Apartment Project Planned on Spring Garden Street” | Philadelphia Business Journal
