2213-15 N Broad StCleared to build

A five-story, 17-unit apartment building is cleared to build at 2213-15 N Broad Street in Strawberry Mansion, with ground-floor retail spanning the full frontage and running 30 feet deep. The building will include a roof deck and rise from a 4,750-square-foot lot, a relatively narrow footprint for a project of this height. Developer 1508 N 8th Street LLC picked up the site in 2021 and secured approval to move forward by mid-2022, though construction has yet to begin.

The zoning here is CMX2.5, a commercial mixed-use designation that allows this sort of mid-rise by right, no variance needed. The modest lot size means the project will likely present a tight, vertical profile along this stretch of Broad, which has long been a patchwork of low-slung commercial and vacant parcels. The ground-floor retail space will require separate permitting and a certificate of occupancy before anyone can open for business, and the building will be fully sprinklered with an elevator serving all floors.

This project sits within a pocket of notable infill activity—nearly 90 units are under development or recently delivered within a half-mile radius, including a 35-unit building at 2132-38 N 10th Street and a 19-unit project at 1108 W Dauphin. Most of these are mid-scale residential developments, signaling a shift toward denser, by-right housing in a neighborhood that has historically seen little new construction. The Broad Street corridor in Strawberry Mansion has struggled with vacancy and underutilized commercial space for decades, and this project joins a modest but growing roster of developers willing to test the market here.

If 2213-15 N Broad gets out of the ground, it could help establish a template for other shallow lots along the corridor—parcels that have sat idle because they were too small or awkward for conventional rowhouse development but may now pencil for taller, transit-adjacent buildings. The addition of ground-floor retail, even in a neighborhood where storefront demand remains uncertain, at least preserves the option for future activation along one of North Philadelphia's main commercial spines.