What's Up at 11th & Berks?
The Temple-adjacent property has renderings and little else amidst the redevelopment of the Norris Apartments
The area near Temple University has long been an interesting (and often controversial) area from a development standpoint for myriad reasons. Nearly a decade ago, the Norris Apartments were slated to be redeveloped at 11th & Berks thanks to a $30 million grant, reinvigorating this public housing complex after more than 60 years. This multi-phased project has been on-going since then, with a recent phase, dubbed NC5 (seemingly for the fifth phase of the North Central Choice neighborhood), having finished up back in 2021. While this mixed-income project led by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) is exciting unto itself, the parcel that sits at 1915 N. 11th St. just a block away is what draws us to the campus’ northeastern edge.
That highlighted parcel above seems like it may be developed sometime in the future, at least if a mystery rendering from SkyscraperPage is indeed a legitimate proposal. Per the post, it looks as if a multi-family project was perhaps presented to a local community group, though we weren’t able to find any specific references from any of the registered community organizations (RCOs) close by. The original poster stated that this was not part of the PHA redevelopment but is instead a proposal from a private developer, Jonathan Rose Companies. Interestingly, Jonathan Rose Companies was a partner with PHA for the very same North Central Choice projects we just discussed. Interesting, indeed!
While details are scant, we can clearly see a six-story project that looks to take up the site’s full footprint. We would guess we’ll see some parking (even though Temple Station along the in-crisis SEPTA lines is steps away) and likely some ground-floor commercial for this CMX-3 zoned property. We aren’t certain, but we think the design - which takes some design cues from the NC5 next door - might be from WRT, who was also the architect for NC5 and helped design the master plans for the North Central Choice neighborhood. This would all sit right next to the Lenfest Center Opportunities for Workforce Leadership Hub, which opened back in 2021.
Remember, this is all speculative, but we feel pretty confident that we’ll eventually see a mixed-use, mixed-income apartment building with somewhere between 85-120 units proposed. While we will hold off on our full assessment until we have all the details, this proposal seems pretty darn solid for the area, both conceptually and design-wise. As Temple continues to slowly buy up nearby properties, it will be important to keep an eye on the on-going private (and public) development happening in the immediate vicinity.
Love the look of NC5.
That project will also be an affordable development. Per PHFA's website, the project submitted for competitive low-income housing tax credit funding, which means it'll be virtually all affordable.