Will Condo Project Put a Damper on Viaduct Park Expansion?

Land around the Art Museum Area is at a premium these days. As one of the hottest nabes in Philly, developers are vying against each other for a chance to build in this desirable chunk of the always-hot Center City. In today’s news, a newly-approved condo project could put the kibosh on plans to expand Viaduct Park, the raised linear public park that has been build over the old Reading Viaduct rail line.

The 10-story condo building in question would be positioned at 21st and Hamilton, and is being developed by Tom Bock. The project only recently received permission from the zoning board for construction of the 33-unit building, which would also include underground parking for 48 vehicles. The land where the building would go up is a below-grade area that advocates of the Viaduct Park had hoped would be used for expansion of the public space. It is, at present, being used for parking for the 9th District of the Philadelphia Police Department. The group Friends of the Rail Park and other advocates of the 3-mile linear park had hoped to incorporate this land into expanding the much-liked park.

There’s still hope. As per the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Bock said in an email that the plan preserves a right-of-way easement for the below-grade railway passage, but allows him to cap the section through his project site, although he has not yet decided whether to do so.”

According to the Philadelphia Business Journal: “Bock’s project, which can be built by right according to zoning regulations, follows a spate of development activity in and around the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Across the street from the site of this future development is the Dalian, which opened two years ago and sits above a Whole Foods and a CVS.”