A Long Island-based developer is planning a six-story, 100-unit apartment building — with a rooftop pool — at 639-53 N. Broad St.
The property is owned by the Bill Wolf Petroleum Corp., which has expanded into retail and residential properties from its original focus on gas stations and other fuel-related real estate.
The company has already redeveloped smaller buildings in Philadelphia at Fifth and South Streets and 12th and Walnut.
The company acquired the Broad Street property in late 2021 for $6.9 million, according to city records. This week, Bill Wolf Petroleum obtained demolition permits for the existing auto-oriented and light industrial structures on the lot.
The architect for the project is Stuart Rosenberg of SgRA Architects, who has worked with Bill Wolf Petroleum on its other Center City buildings.
“They are looking for dense, urban, Center City development opportunities. They did not want to be on the outskirts like Northern Liberties or Port Richmond,” Rosenberg said. “They like Philadelphia. At the end of the day, you can build stuff here, so that’s why they’re investing in Philadelphia.”
Documents posted on the Department of Licenses and Inspections website show a 72-foot-tall project, which includes the potential for over 4,500 square feet of bi-level commercial space fronting on North Broad Street.
A parking garage is planned in the rear of the property with space for 33 vehicles as well as bike parking. It also sits directly above SEPTA’s Broad Street Line Fairmount Station.
The property has some of the most flexible zoning in Philadelphia, allowing Bill Wolf Petroleum to move forward easily.
The unit mixture will mostly be one- and two-bedrooms, with a few studio apartments. On the top floor will be between eight and 12 bi-level apartments.
For the exterior, Rosenberg is planning designs in keeping with the surroundings on North Broad Street.
“It’s going to be a classic, industrial type of vibe,” Rosenberg said. “It’s the aesthetic you’d see in a lot of New York or Philadelphia.”
The acclaimed interior design firm Stokes Architecture & Design, which has worked on properties such as Parc and La Colombe’s Fishtown flagship, is being retained as well.
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The entrance to both the front lobby and garage will be on Wallace Street on the north side of the site. Retail will front on North Broad Street. In addition to the roof deck with a pool, there will be private balconies for the bi-level units on the top floor and a U-shaped courtyard on the second floor featuring additional outdoor space.
Bill Wolf Petroleum’s project is just the latest in a burst or apartment developments proposed on North Broad Street.
In the last eight months, 1,221 units have been permitted between City Hall and the southern border of Temple University’s campus. Much of the activity is clustered around the former Hahnemann University Hospital.
“This part of the city [North Broad Street] is just really dynamic right now,” Rosenberg said.
Some of the projects, however, are unlikely to break ground any time soon. Property owners like Brandywine Realty Trust obtained zoning permits after Councilmember Jeffery Young proposed a housing ban around the former Hahnemann campus.
Although that bill was put on hold in the face of opposition from most stakeholders in the area — no one outside Young’s office ever publicly spoke in favor of it — the legislation prompted a rush to secure 824 apartment permits before it was shelved.
Bill Wolf Petroleum’s project, which is outside Young’s proposed ban area, stands out because it is one of the only efforts that would not involve redeveloping an existing medical, industrial, or office building for residential use.
The current interest in the North Broad Street corridor comes after an earlier boom, which saw developers like Alterra Property Group, Eric Blumenfeld, and Bart Blatstein scooping up struggling properties and vacant lots after the Great Recession.
Some of those projects came to fruition, such as Alterra’s 410-unit Tower Place at Broad and Spring Garden Streets. Others had a more circuitous fate.
North Broad organizations are watching the new developments with wary optimism.
“I’ve learned to not get excited until there are shovels in the ground,” said Shalimar Thomas, executive director at North Broad Renaissance.
But “it’s the main thoroughfare; it’s a great transportation hub, easy walkable,” Thomas said. “The potential and the bones and the structure are there. Maybe now more developers are starting to see that.”
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