135 Apts. OK’d As City Plan Goes Zoom

A Philadelphia-based developer’s plans to build a new nine-story apartment building on Crown Street and 30 new apartments atop the back of the former Chapel Square Mall won unanimous approval during the City Plan Commission’s first entirely virtual meeting.

That meeting took place Wednesday night, not in the commission’s regular gathering space on the second floor of City Hall, but instead online via the Zoom video-conference app.

The three-and-a-half-hour meeting represented the latest move of regular municipal business onto the Internet in an attempt to keep the gears of city government grinding amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mayor Justin Elicker closed City Hall indefinitely to the public early last week when he declared a state of emergency around the spread of the infectious, novel coronavirus, which public health experts say is best mitigated by people keeping distance from one another.

“I think it’s refreshing that we’re able to proceed with business tonight,” said local attorney Chris McKeon. Fellow local lawyer Bernie Pellegrino agreed. ​“I work in a lot of towns, and business is completely halted” elsewhere in the state, he said. ​“I want to compliment [City Plan] staff for putting this meeting together. You should be very proud of what you’ve been able to accomplish.”

City zoning director Jenna Montesano (pictured) said that she and her colleagues have attended multiple webinars over the past few days about how to host a municipal land use meeting while complying with Gov. Ned Lamont’s order that public meetings do not have to allow the public to be physically present so long as they can participate virtually.

“It’s a challenging time, but we will all figure it out together,” she said.

Calling in from their respective homes, the commissioners unanimously approved a site plan application by 232 State Street Associates LLC to build a new nine-story building and 105 new apartments at 232 State St. 

They also unanimously approved a site plan application by CSD Mall LLC to build a two-level addition containing 30 new apartments to the third floor of the former Chapel Square Mall at 46 Church St.

Both holding companies are controlled by the Philadelphia-based PMC Property Group, Inc., which owns a number of residential properties throughout the city, including a Crown Street apartment complex adjacent to 232 State St. as well as the apartment complex at the former Strouse, Adler corset factory in Wooster Square.

McKeon (pictured above) explained that the proposed nine-story, 105-unit building would be built atop a surface parking lot at the southwest corner of State Street and Crown Street.

Civil engineer Tom Daly from Milone & MacBroom said that there will be 22 parking spaces built on-site, and that the developer will lease another 26 spaces across the street at a parking lot at 15 Crown St. The building will include a 163 square-foot bike room with storage space for approximately eight bikes. And the developer plans to install some crosswalk enhancement at Crown and State, including painting the crosswalks and building out handicap ramps.

“Is there any open ground space?” asked Commission Chair Ed Mattison. Or does the building fit every square foot of the parcel.

Daly said that there will be an open-air patio area in the back of the building. Architects Scott Garvin and Andrew Rogerson said there will also be outdoor terraces built on the roof.

“We’re designing it so that the building addresses the corner in a very appropriate manner with brick and glass,” Garvin said. ​“A very inviting facade.”

And what about beneath that facade? asked Commissioner Ernest Pagan (pictured). What materials will be used to build this complex: metal or wood?

“It’s going to be concrete and steel,” Garvin said.

McKeon said that the proposed addition to the former Chapel Square Mall would add two stories containing 30 new apartments atop the Church Street side of the block.

The new apartments will be built on top of 10 existing apartments. All 40 units will be connected to the elevator tower at 900 Chapel St., so that the occupants will not have to walk outdoors on platforms to get to the connected building.

“I think it will provide some lighting along there and give that walking area a little more vibrancy,” McKeon said about the addition’s potential impact on the Church Street block between Crown Street and Chapel Street.

Garvin said that, from the architect’s perspective, ​“the goal is to let these [new apartments] retreat and appear as penthouses that are accessory to the existing structure.”

What’s the time frame for the construction of these apartments? asked Commissioner and Westville Alder Adam Marchand (pictured).

PMC Chief Operating Officer Greg Webster said that the developer intends to begin construction this summer or fall and have the apartments occupied by the summer or fall of 2021.

“So you think it would take a year to do?” Marchand asked.

“That’s conservative,” Webster said. ​“We usually do move a lot faster than that. We’d like to do things quicker if we can.”

“The building of the structure will not take nearly that long,” added McKeon. That time frame is from beginning of construction through occupancy, not construction completion. ​“Once permits are pulled, the structure will be put up as quickly as possible to minimize the interruption to the street.”