18 Units, Medical Office for Handsome East Passyunk Overbuild

Former Micky D's gets a classy treatment next to old bank on S. Broad St.

South Broad Street, especially once you make your way south of Washington Ave., is perhaps the most underrated part of the city from an architectural standpoint. Brownstone-y rowhomes line much of the boulevard, with much of the architecture maintaining its appeal, with the occasional dashes of Mid-Century whimsy that pop up from time to time. One less-than-stellar building is 2033-35 S. Broad St., just off the NE corner of Broad & Snyder at this major intersection. Formerly a McDonald’s, the building has been empty for years as it sits next to the former (and historically protected as of January 2024) Beneficial Saving Fund Society building, most recently a Wendy’s (also for sale right now for $1.8 million).

A recent look at the NE corner of Broad & Snyder, with 2033-35 S. Broad St. highlighted

Zoning permits for this parcel were issued several years back for a five-story, 18-unit mixed-use building, though we hadn’t seen any action on the site. Until just yesterday, when zoning permits were once again issued for an addition to the low-rise building. And what’s coming? An extremely handsome throwback look from Ian Smith Design Group that takes cues from the historical bank next door. The light masonry and traditional massing/windows work wonderfully for the site, which will be anchored by a ground floor medical practice, per permits. Though not a towering building, this is one of the best-looking projects we can remember seeing in a long time - and all without parking for this CMX-2.5 zoned lot that’s steps away from the soon-to-be revamped Snyder BSL station.

The view to come for the NE corner

Another look shows the building going all the way to Watts St. to the east

A classic look, with some space between the addition and the existing corner building

A rendering of the ground-floor medical space

New BSL headhouse coming right across the street

18 gorgeous units over functional commercial space, sans parking and immediately accessible to newly accessible transit? Sign us up about a thousand more times, as we could only wish for projects like this to pop up all over the city. Would we like to see Broad St. upzoned along this corridor? Yes, for sure (should be CMX-4 from Washington to Snyder, if we were to remap things), but this is a pretty sweet outcome either way. This looked to potentially be a “what-might-have-been” situation, but we’re thankful that this seems to be making legit moves forward. And you can even snag some game night Dollar Dogs from Juana Tamale a block away, so this might be the perfect future spot for a redefined brat summer, if you will.