310 W Girard AveUnder construction

A 166-unit apartment building is under construction at 310 W Girard Avenue in Northern Liberties, where 310 Girard LLC is putting up a seven-story structure that will include shell commercial spaces on the lower floors, a rooftop deck, green roof, and a basement parking garage. The project, cleared to build in December 2024, sits on a roughly 30,000-square-foot parcel and takes advantage of ICMX zoning to deliver considerable density at a key neighborhood corridor. The design uses a hybrid construction approach—Type IA concrete for the basement and first two floors, Type IIIA wood framing above—separated horizontally to meet code while keeping costs in check.

The site, which changed hands in 2021, occupies a sizable footprint along Girard Avenue, a stretch that has seen steady multifamily activity over the past few years. Within a half-mile radius, roughly 750 residential units are either delivered or in the pipeline, including an 84-unit building at 130 W Girard, a 107-unit project on Frankford Avenue, and a 55-unit development on North 2nd Street. The scale at 310 W Girard slots into the upper end of that range, reinforcing the avenue's transition into a denser, mixed-use spine between Old City and Fishtown.

The project's mix of ground-floor commercial shells and residential above follows a familiar playbook for Northern Liberties, where landlords often leave retail spaces unfinished until tenants commit. The rooftop amenities and structured parking reflect current market expectations for renters willing to pay a premium for walkability and proximity to I-95, Center City, and the Delaware riverfront. As construction progresses, the building will test whether the neighborhood can absorb another wave of supply without softening rents or concessions.

The delivery of 166 units on a previously underbuilt parcel suggests other large, shallow lots along Girard—especially those west of Second Street—may draw similar attention from developers hunting for by-right opportunities in ICMX zones. With Northern Liberties effectively built out in its core blocks, projects like this one mark a westward push along Girard, pulling investment toward parcels that until recently sat as surface parking or low-slung commercial uses.