UPDATE: 361 Additional Units Planned for Former Hahnemann Campus

After an 85-unit proposal received zoning permits, another even larger proposal was also given approval at Broad & Vine

If you thought that the brain trust here at JackPhillyRE would be slowing down for the holidays, you’d be mistaken! Though we are most assuredly ready to envision sugar plums dancing in our heads in short order, we couldn’t help but find ourselves drawn once again to a quick perusal of zoning documents. After yesterday’s big news about 85 units planned for a Mid-Century building on the former Hahnemann University Hospital’s campus in a potential zoning overlay, we have even bigger news for the larger and statelier (and historically protected) buildings at 222-48 N. Broad St., at the SW corner of Broad & Vine.

An aerial shot of the potential residential ban overlay, with our focus on the Hahnemann campus buildings

A quick rewind: there’s a potential bill to ban residential development in the highlighted area above, though that bill has yet to proceed. Then, a zoning permit was issued two days ago to convert the building highlighted in orange to 85 units over commercial spaces at the corner of 15th & Race. This was both interesting and surprising to us, but little did we know that even bigger plans for two of Hahnemann’s most recognizable buildings was percolating in the background. After plans from Dwight City Group this summer to convert two towers to 288 residential units, we hadn’t heard any updates for several months.

An overhead view of the two buildings in question, outlined in orange (Photo courtesy the Philadelphia Historical Commission)

Another aerial view of the two towers at 222-48 N. Broad St. (Photo courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer)

A street-level view of the buildings, just part of the large campus

But, dear readers, we now have updates to tuck under your tree. In fact, the plans have grown, with the most recent zoning permit - yet again so fresh that it hasn’t even been posted - stating that a total of 361 residential units will fill the vacant buildings atop ground-floor commercial space. This would be yet another huge injection of activity for the mostly empty block, adding 24-hour foot traffic to a stretch that is currently dominated by vehicular traffic.

Again, we aren’t certain if this is just a permitting play, getting approvals before any potential bills become the law of the land, or if this is indeed the first step to seeing the towers turned into apartments. Either way, it is certainly telling that there is such a burst of action on these ready-to-develop properties, as it shows that there is both momentum and the will to move forward with conversion plans. And while it is certainly a shame that Hahnemann won’t be making a comeback here, we think that redeveloping these buildings into relatively affordable apartments so close to transit is about as positive of a step as we could hope for.