1/22/2022

Big New Development in Harrowgate Adds to The Neighborhood’s Revival

Harrowgate is a traditionally working class neighborhood amidst the industry of the upper Riverwards communities. It has numerous old brick factories and warehouses on the edge of Kensington and north of Fishtown, along the Tioga and Erie/Torresdale stops on the Market/Frankford line. Most of the housing stock is rowhomes, with tenement apartments along Kensington and Frankford Avenues. Harrowgate had not been experiencing much development until recently. Some landmark buildings in the neighborhood have been, or are being, renovated into loft apartments and creative office and studio space. Now, there is even brand new construction going on in the neighborhood.

A new development is being planned and designed by Volumetric Building Companies at the intersection of Allegheny and Trenton Avenues. It is being built on a three acre vacant lot. This development will include two twin apartment buildings on Allegheny Avenue. These apartment buildings will have a total of 213 rental units, 40% of which will be studios, 40% of which will be one-bedroom units, and 20% of which will be two-bedroom units. There will be two large retail spaces on the first floor facing Allegheny Avenue, totalling 17,000 square feet. South of the twin apartment buildings will be 76 townhomes, four of which will be duplexes. The average townhome will have 1,900 square feet of living space and most will have a garage. The apartment buildings will have 87 parking spaces, behind the retail spaces. 

The apartment buildings will have metal panels, with orange trim, on the exteriors and the townhomes will have mostly brick exteriors, with some metal panels and woodgrain. The apartment buildings will each have large rooftop decks, connected by skybridges between the two buildings, and green rooves. The townhomes will have terraces on the fourth floor. The development will have numerous outdoor spaces, including small parks on Trenton Avenue, a courtyard between the twin buildings, and an herb garden with benches and planters. There will be murals on the apartment buildings and one of the townhomes.

Harrowgate will continue to have an increasing amount of new development, similar to neighborhoods like South Kensington and Fishtown to the west and south. Planned improvements and development on the Delaware waterfront and Kensington Avenue only make that new development in Harrowgate more likely. The development will be a mix of new construction and renovation of landmark buildings, like the Harbison’s Dairy plant and the Diamond Furniture warehouse.

By Gabriel Gottlieb