An Upper Eraserhood Visit

Let's check out an old favorite area in a new way

Well, hey there, friends, and thanks for finding your way here to read some stuff about Philadelphia. While I have been writing and talking about the best city on earth for several years now, this is my first foray into the world of Substack. So, things will probably feel familiar, but we’ll explore some different topics in some different ways now that we can say whatever the hell we want. Let’s give a nod to a true Weird King and start this drive in the Eraserhood.

A conveniently numbered aerial of the Upper Eraserhood

1.) The first property on the above map is 1314 Spring Garden St., bringing 149 units over commercial space. After a self-storage facility thankfully was proposed and then forgotten, this mixed-use apartment from Volumetric Building Companies went up so, so fast thanks to the modular construction technique. The black-and-white panels aren’t exactly stunning, but almost 150 units with parking for only 28 cars is better than the surface parking lot that was here previously. Oh, and if you have a decent arm, you could probably throw a baseball from the roof to the BSL stop.

1314 Spring Garden at full height with windows in

Rendering of the panel-heavy approach - and green roof

2.) Just around the corner are the Freedom Lofts at 500 N. 13th St., where there are fewer horses than before. The stables that were once here sadly neglected the horses who lived here, and as you can probably gather from the image below, the building received an addition a few years back, with construction slowly wrapping up on this design from Canno. 23 rental units (now available) and ground floor retail are the plans here, with zero car or bike parking as part of the build out. The ghost signs, original brick, and contemporary, receding upper floors make this one an eye-catcher.

Construction covers still on the wires, as viewed from 13th & Nectarine

3.) Catty-corner to Freedom Lofts, 20 units are at full height at 1238 Buttonwood St. for this one from Parallel Architecture Studio. Brick is up along the ground level, with what we assume will be paneling going up surrounding the unusually small windows. Parking for six cars and seven bikes round out this six-story affair.

Looking down 13th St. at the 20 units to come

4.) Finally, we are cheating, jumping to 1201 Spring Garden St. at the corner of Spring Garden & Ridge in West Poplar. After an ESPO-tagged bank was demolished to make way for a seven-story building that will reference the banks which previously stood on the triangular property. 46 units and ground floor commercial space designed by CosciaMoos was pitched by developers Arts + Crafts Holdings, though the site hasn’t seen any action at all in a couple of years after demo and foundation work took place.

Ridge & Spring Garden today; there’s a famous tag on the opposite side of this wall

Clock tower design hearkens back to the banks of the past

So, that’s 238 units of new construction that will be arriving to the neighborhood over the next couple years. We love the influx of people so close to transit (and UT and PhilaMOCA), though overall the designs are just OK. The Eraserhood’s charm (or anti-charm) is the gritty weirdness of the hodgepodge of industrial buildings, dead-end streets and crisscrossing rail tracks. Beyond the brick facade of Freedom Lofts and the clock tower corner, the rest of the designs don’t exactly embrace the creeping decay that drew so many to the area in the past. That being said, the area still has plenty of opportunities to disappear under stone overpasses in the odd warmth of flickering streetlights, if that’s more your thing.

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