Major renovation of conspicuous North Philadelphia warehouse into apartments

The Pyramid Electric Supply Company warehouse, a long vacant and derelict warehouse building in North Philadelphia’s Brewerytown neighborhood, is about to be renovated into apartments.  The large building, also known as 3101 Glenwood Avenue, is a common site at the five-point intersection of 31st Street, Glenwood Avenue, and Oxford Street.  It is very visible to those taking the (formerly known) R7 train to Trenton through North Philadelphia.  The warehouse, which is mostly five storeys with a lower level along the hill on Glenwood Avenue, has been vacant for so long that the windows are partially broken out and have quite a bit of graffiti.  It was part of the stalled Brewerytown Square (now just called Brewerytown) development by Westrum Development, which has developed a large block on 31st Street with stacked townhouses and has been renovating an old factory across the street from those homes.  Westrum decided to sell 3101 Glenwood to developers Iron-Stone, who have decided that apartments would be the best use of the building.  They haven’t yet decided on a name for the project, but are considering the names “Glenwood Lofts” or “The Pyramid Building“.  The project has already been approved by the Philadelphia City Planning Commission at their December meeting.

The renovated building will have 46 rental units, including 36 one-bedroom units and 10 two-bedroom units.  There will be 14 parking spaces on two levels, some on the lobby level and some on the lowest level on the south end of the building.  Access to both levels of parking will be on Glenwood Avenue, through the large garage entrances that are already there.  The building renovation, by Morrissey Design, will thankfully have new windows, of course, as the old windows of multiple-colored and partially opaque window panes were an eyesore that had been indicative of the blighted building.  There will be no retail in this building, but the neighborhood is experiencing a retail rebirth on other spots of 31st Street.  At 31st Street and Girard Avenue is a small new shopping center with a Bottom Dollar Food supermarket and a couple of other retail spaces, across the street from the supermarket (at Baltz Street) is a new cafe and eatery, and the large industrial building that Westrum has been renovating across from their existing Brewerytown homes will also have new retail spaces in a former garage.

This renovation is key to the revitalization of Brewerytown.  The renovation will finally rehab one of lower North Philadelphia’s most conspicuous blighted industrial buildings and will bring more middle-class residents to the upper part of the Brewerytown neighborhood.  It’s not the only redevelopment occurring in the upper end of the neighborhood or in nearby Strawberry Mansion.  A couple blocks up and around the corner is a small redevelopment of nice new homes at 32nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue and further up 31st Street (which is interrupted for a couple blocks by other derelict industrial buildings along the railroad tracks) is the sizeable Strawberry Mansion Townhomes development of a couple dozen attractive new brick rowhomes and two large townhouses on Diamond Street, that resemble the historic brownstones that line that street.  The renovated 3101 Glenwood, and these other developments, would be just a block or two from the huge green expanse of Fairmount Park and the currently off-limits East Park Reservoir.  Coincidentally, just last night a community meeting was held for a proposed 50-acre nature and educational center around the 37-acre lake and surrounding bird sanctuary, to be created and managed by the National Audubon Society and Outward Bound Philadelphia, to be known as the East Park Leadership and Conservation Center.  Also, on nearby Bailey Street, a thin street that runs north/south parallel to 27th Street, developer MMPartners is renovating several buildings to try to create a “Bailey Street Arts Corridor” with artist studios and loft apartment space.  South of the building, besides the developments I previously mentioned, Westrum plans to eventually begin the Brewerytown homes development again, which would redevelop a couple large empty lots and renovate the old Red Bell Brewing Company brewery just across Glenwood Avenue from 3101 Glenwood.  And on Girard Avenue, there is now a proposal by MMPartners to build a four-storey apartment building, with retail on Girard, at the intersection of 27th & Girard and another proposal to renovate a church at the same intersection into apartments or condos.  Just around the corner, MMPartners has built a new small condo development called North 28 a couple of blocks north of Girard, as well.

It’s clear that 3101 Glenwood is a major component of a neighborhood experiencing extensive revitalization, all of which is bringing new housing and important amenities to Brewerytown.  Now is a great time to buy a home or invest in the Brewerytown, Fairmount, Strawberry Mansion, and Sharswood neighborhoods.  If you are interested in buying a home or investment property in this, or any other, neighborhood in the city, feel free to contact me at gabriel.gottlieb@lnf.com or check out my Long & Foster agent portal, here, my Facebook realtor page, Gabriel G. Philly Realtor, or follow me on twitter, @GabrielGPhilaRE.  And, you can learn more about our Long & Foster Philly Center City Office, here.  And, you can see my many pictures of the Pyramid Electric Supply Company Building, 3101 Glenwood, and its surrounding neighborhood, below, and check out the links to Iron-Stone and Morrissey Design websites, above.

3101 Glenwood, from 31st Street

3101 Glenwood, from the middle of the five-point intersection

Looking down Glenwood Avenue

Angular edge of 3101 Glenwood, @ Oxford Street and Glenwood Avenue

Sign for Westrum’s Brewerytown development @ 31st and Glenwood

Looking south down 31st Street

Eastern facade of 3101 Glenwood, from Glenwood Avenue

Looking up at the building from the south on Glenwood Avenue

Looking north on Glenwood and old warehouses that will likely be redeveloped soon

Side of the building on Oxford Street

Looking east down Oxford Street towards Temple University

Western facade of 3101 Glenwood, as seen from Oxford Street

Looking east down Oxford Street at Temple’s new Morgan Hall, from the bridge

Looking at 3101 Glenwood from the west, across Oxford Street bridge over the railroad tracks

Looking west on Oxford Street towards Fairmount Park

SEPTA tracks next to 3101 Glenwood

New townhomes at 32nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue

3101 Glenwood can be seen from behind one of the new townhomes at 32nd & Cecil B. Moore

Strawberry Mansion Townhomes, on 31st Street a few blocks north of 3101 Glenwood

Old Red Bell Brewery, across from Glenwood Avenue from 3101 Glenwood, as seen from 31st Street

Former warehouse being renovated by Westrum will have new retail on 31st Street

Westrum stacked townhouses, from the north side, on 31st Street

Townhouses, built by Westrum, on 31st Street

Baltz Street is experiencing much renovation and has a new cafe and eatery at 31st Street

War memorial at 31st & Girard, down the street from 3101 Glenwood

Looking north on 31st Street, @ Girard Avenue, with Bottom Dollar Food in front

Looking east down Girard, from 31st Street

Looking west on Girard Avenue, from 31st Street, towards Fairmount Park

Bottom Dollar Food store on Girard Avenue, with Brewerytown stacked townhouses, Red Bell Brewery, and 3101 Glenwood in the background

Route 15 trolley runs along Girard Avenue

Looking down the Schuylkill River from the Girard Avenue Bridge

Kelly Drive and riverwalk along the Schuylkill

Fairmount Park off of Kelly Drive