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With real estate in South Philly east of Broad Street at a premium, the swath of South Philly that includes Graduate Hospital, Point Breeze and Grays Ferry is, perhaps, the next frontier of development in coming years. And with a zoning approval to move forward on an empty parcel at 24th Street and Washington Avenue, the fate of Washington Avenue West is being rigorously debated among business owners, residents, developers, planners and politicians.
With a recent zoning board decision, 2401 Washington Ave. is poised to be converted into a 113-unit residential and retail mixed-use complex. A mix of studios, one and two bedrooms for rent with 57 car parking spots and room for parking for 53 bikes, the complex will be five floors at its highest. Green Construction LLC is the developer, and Hercules Grigos is their attorney.
“[Green Construction] build and develop a number of properties in the South of South neighborhood and other neighborhoods in Center City,” Grigos said. Was it a push to get Registered Civic Organization (RCO) and resident support for a mixed use complex? “I wouldn’t say it’s a push, I would say the zone has changed and it’s really not viable for industrial use as you see a lot of change going up and down the avenue. And the construction of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and [the University of] Penn coming across the river, I think it’s a natural progression of development.”
The South of South Neighborhood Association (SOSNA) and the Washington Avenue Property Owners Association (WAPOA) have given their stamp of approval, but the North of Washington Avenue Coalition (NWAC) isn’t sold.
“We support people being impacted by it — they don’t want it,” NWAC’s president Madeline Shikomba says. “Those on Kimball Street and on 24th and 25th Street, they don’t want it, especially on Kimball.”
She’s been at the intersection in question for nearly 40 years and when asked what it’s like to have watched her corner of South Philly evolve, she said “one word: gentrification. That’s it.”
SOSNA’s zoning committee approved the project 6-0, its general membership approved by a vote of 38-7, and the near neighbors voted 7-5 in favor. Shikomba’s neighbors fear parking scarcity and an influx of opportunists eager to get a piece of these hot neighborhoods while driving up tax rates.
“There were some neighbors that were concerned that there wasn’t enough parking,” Grigos said and noted that Green Construction’s maintained a one to two ratio (one spot per two residents), more than necessary (which is three spots per 10 residents). “Hopefully, with carshare and proximity to Center City, we suspect that people living here will be urban, hopefully working at CHOP or in University City or in the central business district, they’re utilizing public transport and bikes,” Grigos said. “People that live urban don’t want to drive from 24th and Washington to the central business district — that’s probably not the best use of their resources.”
Shikomba doesn’t exactly see it that way. “Having a bike doesn’t preclude you from having a car,” she said. “Give me a break. Bikes this and bikes that, you’re still going to have a car.”
As for the affordability of these units, Grigos says some will be deemed affordable, but not many. “Right now we’re at a five percent [of the units] number,” he said. “There’s some language we’re working on to make them affordable. [The rest] will be market rate and they’re going to be nice – a nice product in an area that’s a little underserved.”
The 2401 Washington Ave. development is a talking point in many along Washington Avenue West: there’s Bart Blatstein’s impending development at the northeast corner of Broad and Washington, a litigious-stalled property at 1601 Washington Ave., and, recently, rumors are swirling about a Toll Brothers project that would face Blatstein’s, deemed Lincoln Court. But there are also some pioneer businesses anchoring retail development: NextFab, a collaborative fabrication hub at 2025 Washington Ave., Kermit Bake Shoppe at 2204 Washington Ave., Springfield Beer Distributor next door at 2206, a CrossFit Supercharged on 1931 Washington Ave. and Café Ynez at 2205 Washington Ave. as well.
Thom Donatucci heads up WAPOA as the proprietor of Donatucci Kitchen, Bath & Appliances, 1901 Washington Ave. His father started the company in 1964, but his family’s owned the building since the ‘30s. With nearly two dozen dues-paying members, they champion Washington Avenue West’s future as a walkable, pedestrian-friendly retail corridor. They say yes to 2401 Washington’s rezoning, right? “Yes,” Donatucci said. Was it contentious? “No.”
“Washington Avenue is suffering a lot, and the businesses are suffering. If you go down Washington Ave. from 18th all the way to Grays Ferry Avenue — corners are your prime location, and there’s at least one dead corner on every intersection.”
A large and complex sub-issue to Washington’s development is the City Planning Commission’s much-needed rezoning efforts. Unfortunately, the avenue falls halfway in the Central District’s plan, which is in the works, and the South District’s plan, which hasn’t yet begun. In the meantime, Donatucci says, they want to spur dialogue about the Avenue as a future hub.
“We want leadership from SOSNA, Point Breeze, Newbold, us, anyone else wants to come, whoever is willing, let’s have a meeting about what’s right to do for Washington Avenue,” he said.
Donatucci’s of the belief that Washington Ave.’s huge industrial shells create a unique opportunity for exciting but reasonable development – “you can hit a home run” with it, he says.
Lauren Vidas, SOSNA’s chairperson, contends that the answer isn’t to oppose all development but to find real solutions to serious neighbors’ concerns. “We’re a post-industrial city with vacant swaths of land that are sandwiched between two burgeoning neighborhoods,” she said. “The next big thing is what do we put there? The term gentrification is used far too frequently as an umbrella term for very legitimate concerns that people have, [but] the solution is not to stop development.” Parking often drives near neighbor concerns, but Vidas is convinced that even those fears can be mitigated with modern solutions. “These are issues that we should absolutely be talking about. There’s a lot of room for compromise with all this stuff [but] people tend to take an all-or-nothing approach which makes compromise difficult.”
Speaking for the 2nd District Councilman who represents the area, Kenyatta Johnson, Steve Cobb hears it all. And he and his boss are watching closely as development proposals like 2401 Washington gauge neighborhood readiness. “It’s really an avenue that’s in somewhat of a transition period,” Cobb said.
Developers “have an interest in taking a look at some of the more commercial, retail and residential mixed use projects and they see that as a sort of shift in Washington Avenue. [It’s there] where we’ll see more of these projects and still work to maintain some of the light industrial character in the neighborhood while making way for development that’ll bring jobs and opportunities to live near Center City.”
Contact Staff Writer Bill Chenevert at bchenevert@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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