12-unit residential new construction, zoned RTA1.
A new 12-unit building has landed at 4820 Chester Avenue in Kingsessing, a three-story walk-up with a roof deck that fills a formerly vacant 4,050-square-foot lot. DVF Properties LLC cleared construction in late March 2024 and pushed through to delivery, adding a modest but finished piece of inventory to a corridor that's seen scattered but persistent infill over the past few years. The building includes underpinning work at the rear, a detail that likely kept the attached neighbors quiet during framing and points to the tight-lot realities of working mid-block in older rowhouse fabric.
The site sits in RTA1 zoning, which allows multifamily development by right and suits the scale here—three stories of residential over a compact footprint, with no parking requirement to eat into the unit count. DVF Properties picked up the parcel in 2025, though construction timelines suggest the deal and planning work started earlier. The developer isn't a household name in the broader Philadelphia development conversation, but the execution here is straightforward and reflects familiarity with the approval process and the neighborhood's building stock.
This project isn't alone. A 15-unit building at 5222 Chester Avenue sits within a half-mile, part of a slow but steady wave of small-scale apartment construction that's picking through the neighborhood's collection of underutilized lots. Twelve units won't remake the corridor, but it's another data point in Kingsessing's gradual densification—proof that developers are willing to bet on the area without waiting for a catalytic anchor or rezoning push. The immediate blocks still hold plenty of vacant and tax-delinquent parcels, and this project offers a template for what fits: modest, by-right, and built to move quickly once approvals land.
What DVF Properties delivered here is a finished asset in a neighborhood where finished assets remain scarce. The roof deck is a nice touch for a building this size, likely a selling point for upper-floor units, and the attached configuration keeps construction costs in check while maintaining street wall continuity. For investors watching Chester Avenue, this is a reminder that the barriers to entry remain low if you're comfortable with the hold period and can line up debt for projects that won't command Graduate Hospital rents but won't sit empty either.
📄 View the project's plan drawings (PDF)As this density arrives, InvestPHL is tracking 71 under-built parcels within a half-mile that a developer could still acquire and build — each carrying a builder's max bid. Addresses and figures are members-only.
Unlock the 71 nearby opportunities →Major (8+ unit) new-construction projects filed within a half-mile since 2022 — the density gathering around this site.